Hunger Unleashed

Chapter 71: Jean Broody vs. Bradley Jackson ~ When suppressed desires explode… It’s Dad!

***

Bradley turned his eyes on Ty. “Damn, this is hard.” He groaned.

“It gets better with time,” Ty said, patting Bradley on the back. “Come on.”

Bradley tossed the phone to one of the soldiers hovering around and then went to get on board the military aircraft. He sat beside Will who gave him a sympathetic smile and a pat on his hand.

“You alright?” Will asked.

“Yeah.” Bradley sighed. “Let’s go get those sons-of-bitches.”

But even as the aircraft soared into the blue skies, Bradley’s mind was on a certain blue-eyed doctor who he knew, for a fact, was the most important person in his world right then.

***

“Jean?”

Jean heard Sam calling his name and raised his head from the table. And it was only after he raised his head that he saw the wetness on the desk.

“Shit.” He muttered as he quickly cleaned his face with the sleeve of his long-sleeved t-shirt. “In here.” He called out, wincing at the hoarseness in his voice.

Sam opened the door to the study as Jean cleaned the wet spot on the desk with a tissue. Sam watched what Jean was doing for a moment, then looked at his brother’s face in surprise.

“Were you crying?” Sam breathed and groaned when Jean shrugged. “Come here.” Sam pulled Jean into a fierce hug. “I guess he wasn’t the only one melting huh?” He murmured, referring to the conversation he’d had with Jean about Bradley, in their parents’ home on Christmas day.

Jean’s body shook with mirth. “I guess not.” He pulled out of Sam’s embrace. “I hope those gluttons haven’t finished all the food,” Jean said as he and Sam left the study.

“Not possible.” Sam chuckled. “Bradley still giving you a hard time?” It was obvious that Dean had already filled his brothers in. Jean didn’t know with what exactly though, seeing as Dean didn’t even know what was going on.

“No, we’re cool.” Jean smiled.

“Last time I saw you cry was when Nana died,” Sam murmured, drawing a chuckle from Jean.

“I guess it finally dawned on me that he’s going away.” Jean shrugged.

“It’s just a mission, Jay. He’ll be back.”

“I know. I just…”

“I get it.” Sam sighed just as they stepped onto the terrace.

“There he is.” Tyler stared up at Jean. “So tell me what happened. Why did soldier boy call things off? What did you do?”

“I did nothing.” Jean grabbed a muffin as he took his seat. “But we’re cool now.”

“Yeah but I still want to know what happened.” Tyler insisted, watching Jean from beneath his lashes. “Surely you don’t expect me to see you like this, with bags under your eyes and…”

“Drastic weight loss.” Sam chipped in.

“Aw come on, it’s not that obvious.” Jean groaned. “Even Olivia says I look…”

“Never mind what Olivia said.” Sam drawled, sounding almost bored. “She’s always had the hots for you two.” He scowled, making his brothers laugh.

“You can’t possibly expect me not to want to know what happened after seeing you like this.” Tyler persisted. “I want to know what could actually shake the unshakable Jean Esau Broody.”

“Oh, fuck you.” Jean couldn’t suppress his laughter though. Their mum always called him Esau whenever she was angry at him. “I thought we were okay…Bradley and I, I mean. But after the bad guys came to attack, he said he was leaving. And that it had all been just fun.”

“Just out of the blue?” Sam asked.

“Yep.” Jean poured some juice for himself. “Just like that.”

“Maybe he hit his head during the attack,” Dean said.

“It was strange because we’d just had an amazing time,” Jean murmured. “Come to think of it, he didn’t want to initially.” He frowned. “Actually, he seemed different…withdrawn, when we left mum and dad’s.” Jean looked at his brothers. “For a moment, I thought mum had said something to upset him because I saw them talking on the rooftop. But he said he liked whatever it was mum had said to him.”

“Maybe he saw something which he didn’t like,” Dean said. “Or someone else said something to upset him.”

“Dad.” Tyler breathed.

“Huh?” Jean’s eyes locked on Tyler.

“Whilst we waited in the den for you guys to finish helping the ladies, Dad started his usual condemning of homosexuals when the gay pride thing came on TV. That must have…”

“Fuck!” Jean bellowed as he shot out of his seat, causing the chair to topple backward. “Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

“Jay calm down,” Sam said.

“You don’t understand,” Jean growled. He was going insane. “Shit.”

“It was his usual bullshit, Jean,” Tyler said. “Not a big deal.”

“Oh, you have no idea what a big deal it was,” Jean whispered harshly. “He heard that from my father. That’s a hard limit for him, trust me. Fuck!” He was visibly trembling.

“Jay, calm down please…” Dean threw the biscuit he’d been munching on back onto his plate and stood up to hug his brother from behind. He didn’t understand why his brother, who hardly got angry was so angry he was actually shaking. All three brothers looked shocked. “Shhh…” Dean slowly turned Jean around and hugged him.

“You don’t understand.” Jean kept muttering. No wonder Bradley had acted as he had, Jean fumed. It killed him to imagine how Bradley must have felt, hearing his father speak like that. Shit! With Bradley’s history, that must have been devastating. And what was that Bradley had told him that morning? All was for him. He’d obviously pretended not to like him anymore just so that he wouldn’t have to face his father’s wrath. Shit! “I need to speak to dad,” Jean growled. “He can’t go around say…”

“Aw shut up, Jean.” Sam snapped. “Dad is entitled to his opinion. He can say whatever he wants.” Both Jean and Dean turned around to look at him with shocked eyes.

“What the fuck, Sam…” Tyler growled as he got to his feet.

“He’s a grown man and has had those views since before you and I were born.” Sam went on as if Tyler hadn’t spoken at all. “You can’t control his thoughts or impose your views on him. Neither can you tell him what to think or say. That’s not how you do this. Now sit your arses down and let’s think.” He said sternly and waited until all three brothers took their seats. “We need to act smart and sensibly, guys.”

Tyler nodded with understanding and turned to look at Jean who was still glaring at Sam. “Jay, are you and Bradley in a relationship?” Tyler asked.

“What does it look like?” Jean snapped, turning his icy glare on Tyler.

“I just wanted to get things right, that’s all.” Tyler breathed. “Dad doesn’t know this. So before we go all Popeye on the man, we need to let him know that you are with Bradley. It’s only then that we can expect him to watch what he says…around Bradley.”

“Even then, you can’t expect him not to express his views simply because your boyfriend is around and might get upset,” Sam added. “’Cause trust me, nothing will stop dad from saying what he thinks. But, if you’re able to get him to respect what you have with the guy, everything will fall into place. If he respects what you have, he won’t pass silly comments in front of Bradley, and eventually, not at all. If he respects what you have, he will be able to keep an open mind and see the bigger picture…that love is all that matters. If he respects what you have, he will learn to accept it. So we need to get him to respect what you guys have.”

“That is true,” Tyler admitted with a sigh. “Jay, I know you can take the man on. But this is not the time for that. You can’t get him to respect what you have with Bradley by being rude or demanding he does as you say.” He looked at Jean. “You need to make him understand. We all do.”

“Well, since the man is out of town, I suggest we start with his wife,” Dean said. “We all know she won’t give you any grief, but she can help dad accept this. It has never been an issue before so we’ve never addressed it. Now, it is.”

“I need to go see mum anyway so…” Jean stood up.

“Go and talk to her,” Sam said. “Tell her exactly what’s going on and how you feel about Bradley. We’ll be there soon. Go.”

Jean looked at his brothers’ faces. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate this.”

“We’re in this together, lil bro,” Sam said, giving Jean a hug.

And after hugging Tyler and Dean, Jean left for his parents’ house.

“Guess what I’m thinking…” Tyler said, looking from Sam to Dean.

“We need to call Josh,” Dean said.

“Great minds.” Sam chuckled. “Let’s go to the study.”