"Why didn't they have you bring her home?"
"They wanted to give her a break from all my fussing," he said, pouting.
Knowing there really wasn't much choice in the matter, Trevor threw the car into drive and headed towards the center of town. He still couldn't believe the lovesick bastard sitting next to him was the same man who'd f**ked their Cousin Eric's fiancé at the rehearsal dinner to win a bet. Granted, he'd started that bet, but that didn't change the fact that his cousin had changed and not for the better as far as he was concerned.
Not that he'd ever admit it, but Trevor had always been intimidated by his cousin, not in looks of course, but just in the way everything came so easily to Jason, especially when they were kids. Jason learned to tie his shoes at two, ride a bike by three, read at two, and pretty much dominated any sport he played while Trevor had to ask his mother to tie his shoes for him until he was seven, still rode a bike with training wheels while all their friends were popping wheelies on two wheels and he was ashamed to say that he hadn't learned how to read until he was fifteen and that was only because a teacher discovered that he'd been getting other kids to do his homework for him, including Jason.
Finding out that he was dyslexic had been one of worst moments of his life. He still remembered the look on his father's face when the school counselor explained that he needed to be placed in special classes. That's just about the same time his father started to call him retard, telling him how glad he was that they didn't share the same last name and canceling their weekend visits. When he did show up, which wasn't often, he spent most of their visit talking about how great Jason was and how much he wished Trevor was more like his cousin.
Two months after he started the special classes he brought home a report card full of C-'s and D's, but he'd been so goddamn proud of that report card because he'd earned it all on his own. His father had taken one look at his report card before backhanding him, knocking him on his ass in front of his cousins and friends.
While everyone else ran to get help, Jason took it upon himself to beat the shit out of the man. Jared and the rest of his mother's brothers came running out of the house minutes later and had to tear Jason off the man so that they could get in their hits.
To this day he wasn't sure if it was the embarrassment of getting his ass kicked by a fifteen year old kid or the shame of having him as a son, but he hadn't seen or heard from his father since. After that day he stopped trying in school and gave up on everything, content to sit back and watch as his cousin Jason kicked ass in life.
As much as he tried when they were kids he just couldn't hate Jason. He was a funny, laid back guy, who could be an ass**le and embarrass the ever loving shit out of him, but he was always a decent guy and Trevor loved him, not that he would ever admit that. He'd never begrudged his cousin anything in life because he was family and even though the bastard was insanely smart and a Harvard grad to boot he never acted like it, making it easier for Trevor to be around him and not feel like the loser that he knew he was.
After Jason met Haley he'd changed. He became more serious and cut his ass**le ways for good and made Haley the center of his world. As a result Trevor no longer knew how to relate to his cousin. They no longer hung out and Trevor avoided the man at work just so he wouldn't be reminded that the man with the perfect like was slumming so he could save up enough money to build the wife that he loved and adored the perfect house. How the hell could he relate to that?
He couldn't and had absolutely no plans to try. Marriage for him wasn't going to be about love, romance, and fairytales. It was going to be about finding the woman of his dreams and keeping her. His wife was going to be the one thing in his life that everyone envied and she was going to be absolutely perfect.
"Where are you going?" Jason asked.
"To your house?" he meant that as a statement, but truth be told he had absolutely no idea where his cousin lived, which was kind of sad since he'd helped him move.
"Take a left at the next set of lights," Jason said, chuckling softly. "You'd know where I lived if you took us up on the dozen or so dinner invitations we shot your way each month."
"I've been busy," he lied.
"Uh huh," Jason said unconcerned. "So, your girlfriend seemed nice. Totally wanted me by the way, but that's understandable."
Trevor couldn't help but frown, wondering who the hell Jason was talking about. "Who?"
"Zoe," Jason said, gesturing for Trevor to take a right turn. "She seemed a little shy, but I liked her," he simply stated. "Cole liked her, too."
Trevor just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes. "First off, she's not my girlfriend and I'm actually pretty insulted that you'd think I'd date someone like her. Secondly, I don't date woman based on your son's opinion."
Jason snorted. "You should. My son has great taste."
He threw the man a sideways glance, wondering if he was high. "Are you trying to tell me that you found Zoe hot?" If he said yes, Trevor was turning the truck around and taking the man to the nearest emergency room to have him tested for drugs.
"I didn't say that. I said she was nice. Not at all like the women you usually date," Jason said.
"What the hell's wrong with the women I date?" he demanded, feeling pretty damn insulted. All the women he dated were f**king perfect, well almost.
"They're all ice bitches," Jason stated.
"No, they're not," Trevor argued, but they usually were. Not that he'd admit it to his perfect cousin. Besides all the women Jason dated before Haley were all stuck up, annoying bitches so he really didn't think his cousin had any room to talk.
"It's the next house," Jason said, gesturing to a beautiful two story ranch with a perfectly manicured lawn. Not that Trevor was surprised.
"Why don't you come in? I'll fire up the grill and we can have steaks by the pool?" Jason suggested.
"Can't. I have plans tonight," Trevor said, suddenly feeling exhausted. It was kind of funny how that happened these days. Ten years ago he would have taken his cousin up on his offer, eaten him out of house and home, and hit the bars until three in the morning before he picked up a piece of ass to keep him company for a few hours and he'd still have his ass at work on time. Now all he wanted to do was get his haircut without falling asleep, go home, shower, rub some muscle gel on his aching shoulders, and fall asleep in front of the television.
Getting old f**king sucked.
Jason looked like he was going to argue, but in the end just nodded as he got out of the truck. "If you change your mind the offer is on the table."
"Thanks."
"I still say Zoe is nice and that you could do a lot worse," Jason said conversationally as he grabbed his tool belt.
There was no way he was going to put up with the suggestion that he should settle on someone like Zoe so he did what he had to do.
"You do know that Zoe's a Red Sox fan, right?"
The look on Jason's face was priceless and he found himself still laughing about it an hour later when he pulled into his driveway. He parked next to Zoe's piece of shit car and headed for the door, running his hand through his now thankfully short hair.