by Emily Rose
It was on the third ring when Mia returned with a sack in her hand. I glanced at her and was about to say something when Danny’s voice suddenly came across the line.
“Yeah?”
“Danny?” I said.
“Miles,” she spoke evenly.
Mia didn’t say anything as she went around to get into the passenger seat. The gas pump shut off at that moment and I switched the hand I was holding the phone with to put the pump away. “Is Ray around?” I asked as I shut the gas lid on the car.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Can I talk to her?”
Danny sighed heavily and right then I knew I wouldn’t like her answer. “Um, she isn’t really in the mood to talk right now,” she said.
I closed my eyes for half a second and then opened them. “I figured that would be the case. Can you just give her a message for me then?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Can you just tell her that I love her? Please?” I asked.
“I’ll tell her,” Danny answered.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said and then hung up.
I took a deep breath, held it, and then released it before sliding my phone back into my pocket and getting back in the car. Mia had scooted the seat back already, which was a good thing. I wouldn’t have fit in here with the way she had it. I closed the door and let my head fall back against the seat.
“I take it that didn’t go well?” Mia said.
I shook my head, but decided not to elaborate, and reached up to turn the engine over before I raised my head and then shifted into gear. We skidded out of the lot and headed in the opposite direction of Ray.
In the opposite direction of home.
Chapter Three
Ray
“What do you want to watch next?” Danny asked as she sat on the floor, looking through the movies.
We had been at Jax’s for the last two hours, and had already made it through one movie, and were onto figuring out the next. I tried to focus on that, but my mind kept drifting back to the conversation Danny had with Miles.
When he had called, it took everything I had not to answer it. Maybe I was being petty, but I wasn’t ready to talk to him. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t okay with any part of what happened this morning.
“Ray?” Danny said.
I blinked and caught her gaze as she stared up at me. “I don’t care,” I said.
She sighed and then stood up to come sit down beside me. I looked up at the TV and saw the credits of the last movie still rolling down the screen.
“Did Miles explain anything before he left?” she asked.
“Nope, he basically told me that he had to help her, because he owed her brother or some bullshit like that, but he didn’t actually explain anything,” I said, frustration lacing my tone as the memory resurfaced.
She sighed. “Well, I’m surprised.”
I glanced at her. “That he would do something like that?”
Danny nodded.
“Me too. And it’s not that I don’t trust Miles, but when I had asked him if the situation with Mia was like what Jax had with Cassy, he lied. He said no, but I could see straight through his bullshit,” I said.
“Eww, so you think there’s more between them?” she asked with an incredulous look on her face.
I shrugged, “I don’t know. Apparently, I don’t really know much anymore.”
“When is he supposed to be back?”
“He said it’d be a few days, but he didn’t give me an exact time or anything,” I said.
“What is Miles thinking?” she asked, more to herself than me.
I took a deep breath and tried to forget about the drama with my marriage as I eyed the movies on the floor. “Let’s watch Fast and the Furious. I need to see some hot guys,” I said.
Danny laughed and then stood up to go put the movie in. I checked the time on my phone. It was getting late now, just a little after 8 pm. As Danny got the movie ready, I glanced around Jax’s house. I hadn’t been in here very often and even when I had, I never took the time to notice much about the place. It was rather nice though.
You could tell that it was a man’s house. Everywhere I looked, there was something that was black. The curtains that hung over the windows, the throw pillows that were stacked on the couch, the rug that laid underneath the coffee table. There was no denying his taste in colors.
Danny came to sit down beside me, and I glanced at the TV to see the movie was playing. Neither me or Danny said much after that and before I knew it, I felt everything that happened that day finally catch up to me. I curled my legs onto the couch and pulled a blanket over me as my eyes drifted closed.
And sleep blissfully took over.
*
I was jarred awake by the sound of the door. My eyes fluttered open and turned to slits under the dim light that was still on inside the house. I yawned and heard the door close. When I looked over, I noticed that Danny wasn’t on the couch anymore and Jax was standing next to the bar.
He wore the black Twisted T-shirt and dark jeans with his usual boots, which told me it had to be around 2 am now since he was just getting off work. Jax tossed his wallet, keys, and phone on the counter. I didn’t know if he had noticed me yet or not, but before I could tell him that I was here, he reached behind his head and pulled his shirt off.
There was no way I could not see him. I was staring right at him and it was hard not to notice the muscles that flexed in his back as he threw the shirt over his shoulder or the way his tattoo ran from his wrist all the way up to his shoulder. I shook my head and tried to pretend I hadn’t just noticed that at all.
“Um, hey…” I said awkwardly, finally announcing myself to him.
“Jesus fuck!” Jax said and spun around quickly, every muscle in his torso was tense and looked as if he was ready to do some serious damage.
I peeked up at him then and took in the front side of his bare chest. I hadn’t really paid much attention to how Jaxson looked until that moment.
He was pure, lean muscle. All the way down.
And his jeans were also open, which gave me a clear view of the black boxers he wore and a glimpse of what was hidden behind them. My face heated and I thanked God that it was dim in here or I would have died.
I jerked my gaze away, closed my eyes, and cleared my throat, “Uh, Jax….” I paused and then released a breath, “Your fly is open.”
“Oh shit,” I heard him say and the sound of embarrassment in his voice caused me to laugh.
This was so awkward.
“Sorry,” he said, and I heard the sound of his zipper, “You can open your eyes now.”
I was still smiling, but I refused to open my eyes. “You sure?”
“Yeah, you’re safe,” he said with a slight laugh.
I peeked one eye open. He stood with his jeans zipped and his shirt back in place. When I knew it was safe, I opened my other eye.
“That was…. uh…. awkward,” I said.
Jaxson nodded, but remained silent. I’ve known him for some time now, but there was only one time that I could think of that had been a little awkward between us. It was back when he had asked me to dance at Twisted, but even that was nothing compared to the awkwardness that had descended over the room right now. I wasn’t trying to look, but it was kind of hard not to, considering he had just stripped.
“So, um, why are you here?” he cleared his throat.
I took a deep breath and tried to get over the weird moment between us. “Miles left and Danny thought it would be a good idea if I stayed with you guys.”
Jax looked everywhere, but at me. “He texted me and told me he was going out of town for a few days, but he didn’t explain why.”
“Well, I’m glad I’m not the only one he’s not explaining shit to,” I said.
“You aren’t, but it’s good that you’re here. It makes my job easier,” he said.
I lifted my eyebrow at him and th
is time, he met my gaze. “What do you mean?” I asked.
Jaxson shoved his hands into the pocket of his jeans and took a deep breath. “He told me to keep an eye on you while he was gone. It just makes it easier to do that if you’re here.”
I rolled my eyes, “Of course he would ask you to do that.”
“Would you rather him ask Kevin?” he asked.
I thought about that. Kevin was a great person, but he wasn’t exactly the guardian, trustworthy type. He would most likely forget all about his duties. Kevin was what people called a scatterbrain. He could be doing one thing and then get totally distracted by something else. I swore the man had ADD.
“Right,” I said.
Jax chuckled lowly. “Is Danny in bed?”
I shrugged. “I guess so. I fell asleep here. She was here when I did, but she was gone when I woke up.”
He nodded. “Alright, well I’m headed to bed. It’s been a long night.”
Our eyes met once more. In the dim light, I could barely see the whisky color of his, but it was enough to see the apology in them for the awkward moment we had.
“Ok, goodnight,” I said.
“Goodnight,” he said and then started toward the bedroom, but then I heard him pause, “And Ray?”
I looked over my shoulder to see him standing just short of the hallway. “Yeah?”
“You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want. I’m sure Danny wouldn’t mind,” he said.
I smiled. “Thanks, Jax.”
He nodded before he vanished down the hallway. A few seconds later, I heard the bedroom door softly close behind him and it was at that moment that I flopped back on the couch.
What the hell was that?
Chapter Four
Jax
I heard dishes banging and I groaned as I rolled over onto my back. My head was pounding like I had spent all day drinking; but really, it was from the beer bottle I had taken to the head at Twisted last night.
I was pretty sure that asshole gave me a concussion.
Dishes continued to bang together, and I knew the girls had to be awake. I just wasn’t so sure I could trust either of them in the kitchen. As I laid there, flashbacks of when they tried to cook Rachel’s birthday cake flooded my mind. I took a deep breath and grabbed the pillow next to my head, covering my face with it and hoping I would silently die under it.
Fuck you, Miles.
He had left me to deal with this shit. Lovely, just fucking lovely.
I threw the pillow and I heard it crash into something, but I didn’t care to look to see what it was as I slowly dragged my ass out of bed. My head hurt even more as I stood up and I closed my eyes for a second until the pain went away enough that I could walk straight.
I made sure to put on a T-shirt before I opened the bedroom door. I wasn’t sure I could handle a repeat of last night’s events.
Talk about awkward as fuck.
And I was pretty sure I had seen Ray’s face turn redder than her hair.
I shook my head to clear the awkward as fuck memories and walked out into the hallway. I could hear Danny and Ray talking. I made it halfway down the hallway when I heard my name, which caused me to stop and listen for some damn reason.
“I probably should have told Jax that you were going to be here,” Danny said with laughter.
I shook my head and whispered to myself, “You fucking think?”
Ray laughed, “Yeah, that might have been a good idea. I swear, it was so awkward. I mean Jax is like a brother to me,” she said.
Ok, I get it. I’m her husband’s best friend and last night was awkward as hell, but she didn’t have to make it even more awkward by saying I was like her brother.
That just made it creepy awkward.
I sighed as these thoughts went through my mind and decided I couldn’t hear anymore. I started walking and came into view, announcing my presence like the President had just walked onto stage.
“Jaxson!” Danny nearly yelled my name, which told me that whatever Ray was about to say next, she didn’t want me to hear.
“Danny,” I said evenly.
I refused to look at Ray, but it seemed that I wasn’t the only one feeling embarrassed this morning since she started picking at her nails as if that would somehow make her invisible. I didn’t get it. Girls did that shit all the time, but all it did was tell the guy that they were trying to hide, which fucking made us try even harder to get their attention.
“Did I wake you up?” Danny asked and then made her way over to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and leaned up on her toes to barely touch my lips with hers before she dropped back down to her heels.
“Nah, the sound of banging dishes isn’t enough to wake anyone up,” I said.
She laughed. “Sorry.”
I shrugged as she turned and went back over to the sink, which I realized was the source of the noise as she started washing them again.
I tilted my head to the side. “Danny, why aren’t you using the dishwasher?”
“Because she’s a weirdo. I asked her the same question,” Ray said.
If I thought the moment of awkwardness was over between us, I was wrong, because the second my eyes met Ray’s, she dropped her gaze.
Great. Just fucking lovely.
“I’m not weird. I just prefer to wash them myself,” Danny said.
“Like we said, you are weird,” Ray repeated.
This time, I didn’t look at her. Honestly, I kind of felt bad for making her feel uncomfortable, but then again, I didn’t know she was here either.
“Whatever,” Danny said and then, “Jax, since you left your phone on the counter last night, I took the honor of answering Kevin’s call a little bit ago,” she said.
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned one shoulder against the wall, “Oh yeah? What did he want at this hour?”
It was nearly 2 pm, but that was like the crack of dawn to Kevin.
“Basketball. I guess you told him last night that you’d meet him there sometime this evening,” she said.
“Fuck, yeah, I did,” I said as I remembered last night and agreeing to meet up with Kevin at the courts for some one on one.
“It’s cool. We could probably use some outside time,” Danny said and looked at Ray, “Isn’t that right?”
Ray shrugged.
My head started pounding again and I closed my eyes. This was starting to become an issue, but I did my best to ignore it.
“You okay?” I heard Ray ask and opened my eyes to see her watching me with a look of concern.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to go get ready.”
With that, I left the girls and headed back to the bedroom where I grabbed some boxers, basketball shorts, and a white sleeveless T-shirt. I went to the bathroom and closed the door behind me. Placing my clothes on the counter, I braced my hands on either side of the sink and looked at my reflection in the mirror.
I looked like hell warmed over.
I shook my head and turned away from the mirror to turn on the shower. I made sure the water was as hot as I could stand it, stripped, and then stepped under the stream.
The heat felt good against my skin and I braced my forearm on the shower wall, placing my forehead against it, and closed my eyes.
My headache started easing the longer I stood there.
When I thought I was almost out of hot water, I washed off, turned the water off, and got out. I dried off and wrapped the towel around my waist when I heard a knock at the door.
“Jax?”
It was Danny.
I opened the door just enough for her to stick her head in. She eyed my bare chest and the towel around my waist.
“I guess I should have knocked sooner,” she said with a smile.
I grinned wickedly. “Or you could just come in here. It wouldn’t take me long to get this towel off.”
Even after we’ve already had sex and had been dating for over six months, Danny still got shy around me. It was one of
the sexiest things about her.
“Jaxson…” She said like she was scolding me, but I could hear the want in her voice.
“Danny…” I said and watched her evenly.
She blushed and vanished, but left the door open enough that she could stick her hand back in, which I noticed held my phone, “Miles has been calling you,” she said.
Damn, way to ruin the moment Miles. Fucking cock blocker.
I sighed and grabbed my phone from her hand. “Well, thanks, but there’s no fucking way in hell I’m calling or texting him back while I’m wrapped in just a towel. That’s just, yeah, no,” I said.
She laughed from the other side of the door. “I knew that, but I thought it’d be funny.”
“Yeah, real funny,” I said and pushed the door until it clicked closed.
I could hear her laughing as she walked away. I sat my phone down on the counter and got dressed before I threw the towel over the shower rod to dry. Once I was decent, I grabbed my phone and left the bathroom. I could hear the TV going in the living room and knew the girls were watching that show called Jersey Shore. I felt the need to roll my eyes as I walked into the bedroom.
I closed the door behind me and unlocked my phone. I tapped on Miles’ name and waited as it started ringing.
He picked up on the second ring.
“Hey.”
“What’s up?” I asked and went to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Is Ray there?” he asked.
“Yep.”
“Is she okay?” he went on.
Ok, so this phone call was about her obviously.
“She’s fine. I think her and Danny are watching TV. They’ll probably go with me later. I’m going to meet up with Kevin at the court,” I said.
Miles was my brother, blood or not, but he could sure be a grade-A dumbass sometimes. And this was one of those times.