Free Jayson: A New Adult / Coming of Age Romance by Nicole Hughes

sleep!” a man yells right out front. I take quick strides to the door to assess the situation with Cast. There’s a pissed off neighbor confronting Kit. “Is this your place? Do y’all even have the necessary permits to do this stuff? You’ve got the streets all cluttered up through the day with all these damn cars. I can’t even park my bike, and those power tools are running day and night!”
    “I’m sorry. I’m pretty sure they don’t work through the night, though. But, w-we have the permits,” Kit stammers, drawing into herself at his obvious ire when he takes a step closer. He looms over her, trying to intimidate her with his height, though he’s thin as a rail and rangy. He’s a cocky young twenty-something with skinny arms covered in tattoos and a bad attitude written all over his face, and while I generally avoid confrontations, I’m not about to let him walk all over my client.
    I step down the stairs and march over to them, scowling as I approach. “Is there a problem?”
    He gives me a wary once-over. I remember at the last minute I’m still shirtless. I pop my knuckles and square my shoulders, consciously showing off biceps honed from years of hard labor and occasional gym time. The message is clear. I could whoop this guy up and down the street if I have to, and he knows it. He changes his tune when he’s talking to me. “You in charge of this rig, sir? Yo, I live with my momma next door, and a lot of the others on this strip ain’t too happy with y’all disturbing the peace, as I was telling your girl here. They might not say nothin’, but I gotta get some sleep. I work nights!”
    “We operate during reasonable hours of the day to minimize the disturbance, though I apologize if our schedule doesn’t mesh well with yours. Unfortunately, I can’t do anything about the noise and neither can Ms. Schneider, but we might be able to work out something if you would kindly not approach the young lady with such hostility in your voice. That’ll be a good start for everyone…especially you.”
    Beside me, Castiel casually materializes a hammer from a rung of his tool belt and drops it into his palm with a promising thwack. The guy skittishly looks from my younger brother to me. I cock my head to the side, challenging him. Without breaking eye contact with the tattooed loudmouth, I tell Kit, “You and Grace can go on. I’ll take care of this.” Out of the corner of my eye I glimpse her grateful nod as she folds her statuesque body into the Fiat on the curbside and drives off.
    “I don’t want no trouble,” he replies, backing down, hands up in surrender. “I work nights at the movie theater, and I just want to get some rest during the day, man. That’s all. I hate that fucking job, but that’s all I can get and I’ll lose that one too if I don’t get some sleep.”
    I size him up. “You got a criminal background?”
    “Why?” he spits. I shrug, glancing off. When I look back I see he’s gotten my drift. I could give him a job that’ll probably pay him a damn sight better than the movie theater. “I mean, I got this one charge for possession, but you see I’m tryna get my life straight.”
    “How about a job with some benefits and a work schedule that won’t keep you up all night? I’m looking for some steady help, but I will run a background check. If you’re lying to me, I’ll find out. You’ll also have to pass a drug test. If everything checks out, I can pay you fifteen an hour.”
    His eyes widen at the sum. It’s my standard pay for general help. I’m not sure he’ll work out at Zephyr Brothers, but I’m willing to give him a try if he’s willing to take the offer. “Are you serious, man?” he asks incredulously. I nod, trying not to smile. I can see in his eyes he hasn’t gotten a lot of lucky breaks in life. He almost reminds me of me.
    “By the way, you will apologize to Ms. Schneider for calling her out like that,” I reply firmly.
    “Ah, yeah, no