Page 9 of The Compass Series

“Yes, well, things change.” He groaned, shaking his head.

I pushed my tongue into my cheek. “Are you sure you don’t want to lie down on the couch and tell me your current thoughts and feelings?”

He shot daggers at me with his eyes, making him less Dr. Jefferson and more Human Eddie. “I thought you were leaving.”

I smirked. “On my way out.”

“Stop by the office when you get a chance. We’ll have a real meeting.”

“Sounds good.”

“Oh, and Jax?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m really sorry to hear the news about your father.”

I stayed quiet for a few seconds. I didn’t even bother asking how he’d heard about it, because I knew people in our small town were all news reporters without the credentials. It was a town of gossipers who didn’t really give a damn about my father or me.

If anything, they were running around singing songs of joy about him almost being dead. Soon enough, I’d walk down the streets and hear the townspeople’s praises: Ding dong, the dick is dead. Which ol’ dick? The dickiest dick!

My father wasn’t loved by me, and he was even less loved by the town’s inhabitants. If I had to count the number of times he’d been referred to as the town’s Mr. Potter from It’s A Wonderful Life , I would’ve been exhausted by the high number. I couldn’t even argue with the assessment.

My father wasn’t a good man, and now he was in a nursing home, struggling after his third stroke had left him partly paralyzed with vascular dementia.

He no longer knew who he was, and I was no longer able to take care of him.

He’d recently moved into the nursing home where he’d be able to get the care he needed.

Before my father was placed there, I’d spent the previous twelve years aiding him with his health issues—which were a lot.

He never took care of himself, which made it even harder for me to do so.

During all that time, he was quick to beat me, too, to remind me that I was under his control.

My older brother, Derek, left the day he turned eighteen and never looked back.

Mom had Derek from a previous marriage, but throughout my whole life, Derek referred to my father as his—up until the day our mother passed away and Dad turned to us as his punching bags.

Now, Dad had been moved out of the home I grew up in and placed in the care of others. Even though I hated him, the house still felt a little colder at night. Funny how one could miss the demons they used to play with once they had to go away.

Eddie had a field day when I revealed that truth.

I nodded once, trying not to show any feelings about my father’s condition. The truth was, I’d skipped our therapy appointments because I wasn’t ready to talk. I didn’t know what to say.

A frown landed hard on Eddie’s lips. He used to be better at holding his frowns in during our therapy sessions, but the older we grew and the more we became like family, Eddie couldn’t hide his worry about me.

“If you need to talk…” he started.

“Your couch is always open—yeah, Eddie, I know.”

I headed outside to meet Connor at the truck, but to my surprise, I found him standing at the fence, talking with Eddie and Marie’s newest neighbor—the trespasser.

He was holding one of his business cards out toward her and talking way too much—like always.

“So, yeah, I am the founder, owner, and CEO of Cuber Incorporated, and as a new member you get your first ride for free. But, as you appear to be a diamond in this town of coals, I’ll let you have two rides free.

Just download the app and enter the code ‘diamond’.

” He paused and scrunched up his nose. “Okay, don’t enter that code yet because I have to update the app before that will work, but after like sixteen hours, I’ll be free to give you a ride.

” He wiggled his eyebrows in a suggestive way.

“Connor,” I called out, making him snap his head to me. “Let’s go.”

He held up a finger. “One sec, partner, I’m conducting some business. Speaking of businesses, I have more than just Cuber going on. I am a partner at Kilter and Roe Plumbing and?—”

“You’re not a partner, you’re an employee, and currently even that is hanging by a thread.”

Connor laughed me off and waved a dismissive hand my way. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just a grumpy old man before one in the afternoon. Takes him a while to wake up and be a decent human like the rest of us,” he joked.

Trespasser smiled and chuckled a bit, looking my way. “I could see that being true,” she said.

I grimaced, unimpressed by where this conversation was leading. “Connor, truck. Now.”

“All right, partner?—”

“Again, not my partner.”

He rolled his eyes. “Some people and their resistance to titles, am I right?” he said, grinning, and Trespasser laughed once more.

Screw her laugh for being beautiful. “But, anyway, let me get going before Grumpy McGrump pops a blood vessel. Remember, if you need a ride, you got Connor on your side. Also if you have any plumbing issues, don’t be afraid to hit me up at the second number on this card.

” He handed her another business card then winked.

“I’ll be more than happy to snake your pipes. ”

Oh good Lord. The innuendos coming out of these kid’s mouth were painful.

“Connor, get your ass in the truck,” I barked.

“Grumpy McGrump indeed.” Trespasser smirked, which annoyed me even more because her smirk was kind of beautiful, too. I walked back to the truck and hopped into the driver’s seat.

A few moments later, Connor joined me, buckled his seat belt, and then rubbed his hands together. “Couldn’t miss the opportunity to get new clients. You understand, boss.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, so now I’m your boss?”

“Listen, Jax, you gotta understand—women respect men who have their own businesses. It makes me look more professional when I say I’m your partner.”

“Or it makes you look like a liar.”

“Potato, potahto.”

“Let me see this business card you’ve been handing out for us.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

I glanced at it and shook my head instantly. “Kilter and Roe Plumbing: Same Shit, Different Toilet. That’s your tagline?” I groaned.

“It was either that or We Pump Your Dump,” he explained.

“I feel like the one I chose rolls off the tongue better. Now, since I scored some new clientele and assisted with the removal of anal beads, I think it’s a perfect time to stop by the café to grab lunch before our next job,” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

“We just ate breakfast before stopping at the Jeffersons’.”

“Yeah, like two hours ago. I know you’re old and probably already hit your prime and all you have to look forward to in the future is anal beads, but I am a growing boy, Jax! I need all the carbohydrates I can take in.”

I turned the key in the ignition. “We’ll eat lunch during our break at the office. I already packed food for us.”

Connor grimaced in disgust. “Please don’t make me eat another peanut butter and jelly sandwich and your disgusting protein shake. I’m so sick of that.”

“It’s packed with protein, and it will help you build muscle.”

“You know what else would help me? A number nine from McDonald’s.”

I smirked. “You can spend your paycheck on that stuff during your own time, but when working with me, you get the sandwich and a protein shake.”

“With grass in it.”

“It’s not grass. It’s kale.”

“I don’t mean to take away your man card, Jax, but adding kale to your protein shakes makes you look a lot like those chicks who wear Ugg boots and are addicted to Starbucks and Target.”

“Are you calling me a basic bitch?”

He parted his lips to reply but paused, arching an eyebrow. “Are you going to tell me to watch my language if I call you a basic bitch?”

“Yes.”

“Well then stop being a basic bitch and eating kale. Next thing I know, you’ll be Instagramming avocado toast while drinking kombucha.”

“What’s kombucha?”

“Oh, thank God.” Connor sighed and wiped his hand across his forehead. “You still have your balls.”

“Don’t say balls,” I ordered, pointing a stern finger his way. “And don’t say basic bitch.”

He sat back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head, propping his shoes up on my dashboard before I quickly knocked them down.

“Okay, I won’t say basic bitch. Anyway, can we take a minute to talk about the hotness that is the Jefferson’s new neighbor?” he asked.

“No.”

“Come on, Jax. You had to have noticed. She’s smokin’ hot! And did you see her eyes? She has the most stunning eyes I’ve ever seen. They were like…caramel. Did you see, Jax? Did you see her eyes?”

“Yes, Connor.” I saw her eyes, and he was right—they were damn beautiful, but that had nothing to do with me, and it definitely wasn’t any of my business…which was why it confused me that the thought of her eyes weighed heavily on my mind.

The day of plumbing tasks continued, and Connor didn’t stop talking the whole time.

I swore that kid talked about nothing at all twenty-four hours a day.

I’d become pretty good at tuning him out because half the shit that came out of his mouth was just teenage gibberish.

Maybe that was why I liked him, though—because he was nothing like me.

He was warm, inviting—and a complete idiot, yes, but still, I liked having the kid around.

Of course I’d never tell him that because he’d never let me live it down.

As we pulled up to his house at the end of the evening, Connor’s color drained a little as he glanced toward his home. The bright, chatty kid lost all of his light in an instant as he looked into the house and saw his mother walking around inside.

It was only the two of them, and his mother was currently fighting cancer, which was extremely hard on them both. I knew Connor worked as hard as he did because he wanted to be able to take care of his mother. He had a heart of gold, and she was lucky to have him.