***

April could barely breathe as he struggled to keep up with that dude. He had known for days that was coming, but he had hoped, like the total moron that he was that he would strike it big. Only that the fucking crypto he invested in had continued to drop like a rock. The last investments in equipment were supposed to cover for the diversification of his portfolio, but it looked like he wasn’t in any condition to use it now.

The gorilla dragging him away seemed to care naught for his struggles to explain his position. Well, the dude wasn’t exactly like a gorilla, but he was pretty buff, and he had just threatened April that he would beat the shit out of him.

And there was also the tattoo. It had been years ago, but April knew that tattoo well. Maybe it was just a frigging coincidence. Maybe there were at least a few thousand dudes who had decided to have a sextant tattooed on their necks, in the exact same position as he remembered.

Now there were more ardent issues at hand. The gorilla let him lock the door behind him and continued to drag him by one arm to his car.

“Man, I’m not going with you anywhere,” April insisted.

His jaw fell when the man opened the door to the back and April saw a baby strapped to a car seat and with the extra seatbelt crossed over him.

“See this kid? You’re going to take care of him.”

April blinked. And then he frowned. The baby started crying like on cue.

“Hear this?” The gorilla pointed at the baby. “I don’t need this shit.”

April opened and closed his mouth a few times, like a fish out of water. And then it struck him. “Do you want me to take care of your kid?”

The other shrugged. “That’s not my kid.”

“Did you kidnap him? Hell, dude, I’m not getting into shit like this. I don’t need to be chased by the FBI.”

“I didn’t kidnap him! Just get in the fucking car and make him stop.”

“Okay, okay.” April put his hands up in surrender. “What’s his name? Is a boy, right?”

“How the fuck should I know?” The other bristled and put one hand on the door handle to climb in front.

“Wait!” April yelled. “The car seat is all wrong.”

“What’s wrong with it?”

“This baby is too young to ride like this.” April congratulated himself on knowing at least that. He had never really taken care of his sister’s kids. They were in another state.

“Then where should I put him? In the trunk?”

“No,” April said and began to unstrap the baby. “There should be something here,” he mumbled to himself, as he searched on the back seat for the LATCH system. “Aha.”

Pretending he knew what he was doing, he manipulated the car seat carefully, which was pretty hard, seeing that the baby was still in it and didn’t stop wailing. There was sweat on his forehead, but April was overly conscious of having the gorilla watching over him.

It took him a bit of time to find the connectors, but eventually, he managed. Feeling a bit triumphant, he turned toward the other. “There, see? Much better.”

Dark caramel eyes measured him up and down. “Are you sure we never met?”

“Yeah, sure,” April said and blinked a few times.

If he looked enough, there was some resemblance, in how the man’s eyebrows knitted together in thought, in the shape of his jawline, and … April shook his head. He imagined things.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“It’s Jett,” the guy threw at him and climbed behind the wheel. “Just make the boy stop crying already.”

“Ah, so you know it’s a boy, after all,” April said quickly.

Just his fucking luck, to meet Jett Huntsman after all these years. The past was the past, and it had to remain that way.

Once he managed to scramble to the backseat, he began to make faces and use his hands to distract the baby from his crying. Luckily, the kid wasn’t some tough crowd. Soon, his large eyes were following April’s elaborate, but pretty clumsy attempts of simulating animals, and the crying stopped. Now that the car seat was rear-facing, he could watch the kid easier, too.

April let his eyes wander to the rearview mirror, and Jett’s caramel eyes met him midway. He jerked his head away, which must have been pretty funny because the baby started giggling.

“I think you’re hired,” Jett said.

“I am?” April asked, his voice weak.

“I’ll pay the Z brothers what you owe.”

“That’s like five grand,” April said.

“Do you want the job or not?”

“To take care of your kid? For how long?”

“Told you. He’s not my kid.”

“Ah, right. You don’t even know if it’s a boy.”

April noticed a small piece of paper next to the baby, wedged between the seat and him. He took it and read out loud. “Assume responsibility, asshole.” He turned it and looked on the back. “By the way, his name is Jay. Asshole!”

“Would you cut it out? And where did you come up with that name?” Jett seemed absorbed by his driving, but April could catch a glimpse of the frown on his face in the mirror.

“It says here, on this paper,” April replied and handed it to him over the shoulder.

Jett shrugged. “I don’t need that. So Jay, ha?”

“Yeah, does it ring a bell? And what the hell happened? Did your girlfriend just leave the baby by your door and ran away?”

Jett almost missed a stop and cursed, stepping the brake and making April lean forward abruptly. Good thing the baby was well strapped in his chair, and this time correctly.

“How do you know that?” Jett asked.

“Just a lucky guess. And seriously, that happened? It’s like you live in a movie, dude. How can you not know you have a baby?”

“Shut up, fool.”

April felt a little goaded by Jett’s condescending tone. “You know, you could hire a normal babysitter for five grand.”

“The last thing I need is trouble with girls,” Jett said promptly.

“Why? The soonest a female crosses your threshold, you feel the sudden urge to impregnate her?”

April knew he should keep his mouth shut. But he still couldn’t believe that was Jett. He was nothing like April would have imagined him growing up to be. So, he had always been a punk. But to become a guy who got girls pregnant and didn’t know he had a kid?

April wanted to slap himself silly. People grew up to be whatever they wanted to be.

“I want you to be the one to take care of little Jay over there,” Jett interrupted his train of thought. “Until I figure this stuff out.”

“Well, seeing how you can’t knock me up --”

“I’m not gay, dude,” Jett said abruptly. His voice was freezer cold.

April gulped. “I was just joking,” he said quickly. “But I can ask, can’t I? Why do you need me for when there are qualified people for this?”

Jett shrugged and appeared to stare straight ahead. “I know I saw you somewhere.”

April stood unmoved in his place, holding his breath. Was it any chance to survive if he opened the door and tried to jump? It was worth considering.

“And look, Jay likes you already. So get in shape and do what’s best for you.”

“Are you really going to pay the brothers for me?”

Jett flashed a grin at him in the rearview mirror. “Cross my heart.”

April looked away and pretended to play with the baby. He had heard those words before. Too bad it had been all lies.

TBC