Shatter (Unbreakable Bonds 2)

They had some kind of connection he didn’t understand, but it felt solid. And strong. He’d bet his left nut that Snow needed a release that came from something much deeper than physical pain.

He wanted to give Snow what he needed, but if he were honest with himself, there was fear, too. He knew without a doubt that Snow could very easily break his heart.

Someone knocked on his door and Jude groaned before rolling out of the warm bed to grab a pair of sweats out of the laundry basket by the table. He tugged them on, hoping Snow had returned. A smile played on his face when he opened the door.

“Dude, by that look on your face, you were expecting a piece of ass. Gross.” His youngest brother, Jordan, strolled into the room, tugging up his too-loose jeans.

Jude eyed the boxers bunched up over the tops of his jeans as he tried to rub heat into his arms. “I seem to remember taking you to buy jeans that actually fit. Where are those? And why aren’t you at school?”

Jordon grinned, his dark eyes just like Jude’s, his braces shiny. “Some kind of teacher catch-up day or something, so I have to help Mana clean out the garage today. I didn’t want to mess up any good pairs.”

“Yeah, right,” Jude muttered, leaning to hug his brother. His black sweatshirt was damp and cold from outside. Jordan showed up often with hunger as an excuse, but Jude knew he still had trouble with Jude not living at home. Jude was the closest thing to a father Jordan had ever had.

Seeing the braces made him happy. His little brother’s teeth had been a mess and it felt good to know Jude was taking care of them. Both he and their other brother, Carrick, did everything they could to help their mother with Jordan. Their father had died when Jude had been nine and Carrick eight, and Jordan’s father had split when he’d heard he was going to be a dad. Their mother never trusted another man after that asshole. So Jude had pretty much been a father to the boy. He’d moved out last year and Jordan had started showing up for breakfast the very first week.

Paying for things like his brother’s braces made him feel better about getting his own place.

Jude reached out and knocked off his brother’s ball cap. “What’s with that symbol on the hat?” Someone had drawn it small and near the back with a marker—a known gang symbol. Jude knew his brother wasn’t involved. He and Carrick had sworn to beat Jordan’s ass if he so much thought about it.

“It don’t mean nothin’. Lisa thought it was funny.”

“It doesn’t mean anything. What have I told you about grammar? Want people to take you seriously?” Jude snagged a blue sweatshirt out of the laundry basket and tugged it on. “And she’s wrong. It’s not funny and it means something. You really want people to see that and think you’re involved?”

“Nobody who knows me is gonna think that. Come on, Jude.”

His stomach clenched because his little brother had no understanding of the danger just wearing that could cause. “Do you know how many people I help daily because of gangs?”

Jordan threw his arms up. “Fuck a duck, Jude, I know, okay? You don’t have to go into the speech again.” He walked to the refrigerator and pulled out the milk. “Is Rebecca coming to pick you up for work soon?” He grabbed one of the boxes of cereal Jude kept in the cabinet over the refrigerator just for him. Jordan didn’t even have to stretch to reach. He’d passed Jude’s own six feet a couple of years ago.

“Rebecca is fourteen years older than you.”

“She’s hot.”

“And not interested.”

“I know. She likes Carrick. Doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the view.” He dropped into one of the chairs at the table and shoveled a huge spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He got maybe half of it chewed before speaking. “Seriously, sorry about the hat. I forgot Lisa did that.”

He wasn’t fond of his brother’s girlfriend most of the time and this only made him hope his brother clued in fast. The girl was an idiot if she thought it was funny to put his brother in danger like that. “It’s important, Jordan. What if someone is out looking for members of that gang? Someone to shoot?”

Jordan got up, swiped up his hat and stomped over to jam it into the trash by the sink. “Happy?”

“You could just color over it with something else.”

Jordan rolled his eyes, flipped on the television and went back to his cereal.

Jude used subscriptions for shows and movies instead of cable, so he hoped his brother liked the local news because that’s all he could seem to get.