Page 10 of Jet

I hug him back briefly before he pulls away.

“Kid, looking at you, I know the DNA test wasn’t needed. You look like the double of my pops,” he says, smiling happily. He sits back in the booth, and I follow, sitting opposite. “Shall we order and then get down to talking?”

“That sounds great,” I smile. I really am ravenous from last night’s workout. Maybe I should stop for snacks with my next hook up. However, it’s going to be hard for anyone to match dimples.

Who I absolutely do not need to be thinking about right now.

A server comes over and takes our order, and pours us two coffees. Fucking hell. Did I really forget to drink caffeine this morning?

“So you ride?” Kenny says, nodding out the window to my bike.

“I do. I’ve loved bikes since I was little. As soon as I left home at 19, I bought a bike.” I run my hand through my hair, feeling nervous. Sure, I ride and love my bike, but he is the president of a whole fucking motorcycle club.

“She’s a beauty,” he says with a smile. “The guys at the club are going to be all over her. I mean, they might. If you decide you want to come, stay. Or visit. Fuck.” He looks down at the table.

“That sounds really cool.”

“Yeah? Great,” he says, slapping the table in excitement, making me jump. “Sorry, bad habit. Why did you leave home at 19? You said you didn’t go to college?”

“No. Well, I did some community college classes for a year after high school,” I look at him, and I know that’s not what he’s asking. “I stayed until then for Max.”

“Is he your brother or a boyfriend?” There’s no look of judgment clouding his face.

“He’s my best friend. He’s like a brother to me. We both had parents who treated us as if we weren’t there, so we became each other's family. As soon as Max went off to college, I moved out.”

Kenny clenches his jaw. “Fuck, I’m so sorry you had to grow up like that. I wish I knew you existed. I could have taken you away. You and Max. Where is he in college?”

I have to blink back tears. His reaction means everything to me.

“He goes to Lakehaven U in Idaho. He plays hockey and has a boyfriend who thinks the sun shines out his ass.”

Kenny nods with a smile. Before he gets the chance to say anything else, the server brings our food over; two enormous stacks of pancakes, each with bacon, maple syrup, and coffee refills.

We thank them, and I start to dig in.

“You know, the minute I learned you existed, you became family,” Kenny says after a few minutes of silence. “That goes for Max too. Doesn’t matter how this meeting goes or what happens from here on out. I-we have your back. My entire club.”

That stupid burning feeling you get in the back of your skull when you’re trying not to cry happens. So inconvenient.

I just nod and go back to finishing my food. Kenny gives me the time to get myself together, which I’m grateful for.

My mothercunting parents.

I could have had this man in my life for the last twenty years if appearances hadn’t meant more to them than me. This man has known about my existence for two weeks, and he’s already shown me more love and care than they ever have.

“Can you tell me about you and your family?” I ask when I don’t think my eyeballs are going to betray me and leak. I want to know all about the family I so desperately want to be a part of.

“There’s Stella, my wife. We’ve been married for four years but together for seventeen. We didn’t feel like we needed to get married until I was in a minor accident, and a snooty nurse wouldn’t let her in to see me. We got married in the courthouse the following week.” His face lights up talking about his wife. “She can’t wait to meet you. Not in an overwhelming way,” he pauses for a moment. “Well, she has made you a family Christmas stocking.”

“It’s August.”

“That means nothing to Stella. She shows love with her Cricut machine and Pinterest boards.”

Okay, I’m low-key obsessed with watching Tiktoks of people making Disney themed tumblers with their Cricut machines. It’s art.

“I look forward to seeing it.” I really fucking do. My hopes are well and truly up that I’d get to spend Christmas with these people.

His face lights up. “Yeah, okay, that’s brilliant. You are going to love Booker and Reed. Booker is Stella’s son from a previous relationship. He’s twenty-nine and a tattoo artist. Reed is mine and Stella’s kid. They are fifteen, and he uses he/they pronouns. Booker, Stella, and I are all cis.” He scowls for a second. “Shit, I didn’t ask you yours.”

---