Page 1 of Drunk Dialing

Chapter One

“I swear to God, I miss him. I miss him so much I can’t even bear it, Trapper.” Jake shook his head, gritting his teeth against the fury that just wanted to burst out of him.

Sure, it was fueled by Don Julio and blue balls and making seven-point-nine seconds on an eight-second ride, but that didn’t matter. That was what best friends were for, right? Listening to a guy explain what an idiot dick he was to his ex when nobody else would, because everybody else was tired of listening to him cry.

Not that he cried. He was a fucking cowboy.

And if he did cry, it was only because soap got in his eyes in the shower or something.

“Jake?”

He shook his head. “I don’t even know why we broke up anymore. I was stupid. I was a kid, I guess. I don’t know. He don’t need me. But I swear to God I can’t stop thinking about him. It drives me damn near crazy. I’ve tried everything. Booze. I’ve tried to get with other guys. I’ve tried. Hell, I even went to church once. I would like to note that, contrary to popular belief, I did not set it on fire walking in the door. But no amount of praying helped a bit. I still dream just about him. I still just want him. What is it about that son of a bitch that’s got under my skin so far? I just don’t understand it.”

He slammed his fist on the table watching the tequila bottle jump. Good thing it was empty, so it wouldn’t spill.

“I’m half tempted to go to New Orleans and find me some kind of a witch. Ask her to make me some kind of a gris-gris bag that banishes…”

He had to stop there. There was some things you didn’t even tell your best friend. And things he needed banishing were memories of whiskey-soaked kisses and the way those big brown eyes twinkled at him and the evil shit Treat would say in the dark of the night. The way that callused hand felt on his damn skin. That kind of shit he didn’t share.

Jake sighed. “I don’t know what to do, Trap. I just don’t. I’m drunk, and I’m lonely. My rib hurts, and I’m whining. It’s not attractive, but that’s what best friends are for. And don’t you go biting at me because you had to remember when your wife kicked you out the first time. Who called her and told her to let you back in and forgive you? I did. That was me. So if I have to call and be whiny about my ex, then you just have to sit and listen and don’t tell me that you’re having sex or nothing. Because I know better, because she’s like nine and a half months pregnant and might just kill you if you go knock it against the head of your baby with your penis. Which I tell you what, that is a gross damn thought. And don’t you dare be having sex with that poor little girl. She’s a sweetheart. What the hell?”

“Jake…”

Wait. Wait just a second. He blinked, and he pulled his phone away from his ear. Trying to focus. Which was, he had to admit, harder than advertised. However. He did notice that when he managed to read the name of the person he was talking to that his phone did not say Trapper there on the screen. No. No it did not.

Oh, fuck.

“Jake, you okay?” Treat Halloran said it just as the phone beeped three times and disconnected.

Jake had hung right up on him.

Of course he had.

Treat’s lips curved in a grin. But now he knew Jake’s damn secret, didn’t he? And he was going to figure this shit out. He was a smart damn dog. Now that he knew?

He was going to plan a campaign.

His heart thudded hard in his chest, his cock firming right up. Shit. Jake. What a blast from the past. The not-too-distant past, but still…

He scratched his belly, restlessness overtaking him, so he got up and paced. Okay. Okay, he could do this…

He would call Trapper. He knew the man well, and if Jake was still in touch with him, then he would know where the man was. And then Treat could wage a war to get Jake back again.

They’d broken up because Jake had been scared. That was what it had boiled down to.

Treat even got it.

He was older.

A hell of a lot more experienced.

Not willing to be all the way back in the damn closet.

But it sounded like Jake had an itch that Trent could still scratch. And he wanted to be the one to do just that. Hell, he wanted to be sunk so deep in Jake that the man could never let him go again.

Jake had needs that the kid didn’t even begin to know about, but that wasn’t what this was.

He’d fucked guys before that were in lust.

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