Stay: A Shores Novella (The Shores Book 2)

by Allie York

  Chapter Five

  Blair

  I jumped off the bike and wiped it down with my pink towel, throwing it over my shoulder once I wiped up my hand sweat. The clock on the wall told me to get my ass in the shower because I had a date. I’d been out with Justin once before and he called me a million times after, but I never answered. After the bowling trip with Jax and him telling me I couldn’t take a stab at the Iverson brothers, I had to do something. It’s not like I could call Jax for a booty call, it was against the rules. So, I called Justin to tell him I lost my phone. We agreed on dinner at a fancy place across town and he was picking me up at seven. I hurried downstairs and into the shower. I could leave with my hair wet and fix it at home. After drinking so much and tacos with Jax, then burgers, I needed a good work out. I hadn’t seen Jax in two days, but I hadn’t expected to. We made a very clear agreement about the situation and it was a refreshing change from the normal clingy guys. I had almost hoped that he would call for another round, same rules, but he didn’t. So, I was going out with Justin.

  I rushed home, straightened my long hair and put on a snug black dress. Justin had a shitty job, but his family had money, so he picked an expensive place for dinner. I knew he’d expect me to invite him in after the date, so I did a quick clean up and left a note for Ivy. I doubted she would be home but wanted to warn her that I might bring a man home. Justin knocked on the door at seven on the dot, and I let him wait outside while I perfected my smudge-proof red lips. The past couple of days had been a little rough. I spent too much getting my car repaired, Ozma had a doctor’s appointment so I had to cover things at work, and I couldn’t get the things Jax told me out of my head. I had the hardest time picturing him in juvie, alone and scared. I also couldn’t get sex off my mind. It made my vibrator work overtime.

  Justin knocked again, and I ran to the door, opening it when a bark rang out. Ranger came running at me, and Justin nearly knocked me down to get away from the big dumb dog.

  “Close the door!” Justin shouted, getting behind me and using me as a shield. I rolled my eyes.

  “Ranger, sit!” I put my hands on my hips and Ranger sat as soon as he set foot on my porch. “Let me take him home, and I’ll be back.” Leave it to my date to piss me off before we even left because he was afraid of the sweet lug next door. I put Ranger back in the fence and walked back across the dirt to meet Justin at the door.

  “You look amazing.” He leaned in to kiss me. I let his lips brush my cheek.

  “Ready?” I took my handbag and his hand to walk to the car. The date hadn’t even started, and I already wanted it to be over. Justin opened the door for me like a gentleman, and we backed out of the driveway for the restaurant. Neither of us spoke the entire drive, or while we waited for the table, or once we sat down.

  “I’m glad you have a phone now. I’m glad you called.” He finally spoke after we ordered wine. Justin slid his hand across the table to gently take mine. “I thought we had fun last time.”

  I tried to remember the last time. We did something boring and then had sex at his house. I think. “Yeah me too. It was fun.” I smiled.

  “I had a really good time.” He drew out the really in his statement, so we definitely had sex. As soon as the waitress set down our wine after pouring two glasses and I nearly downed mine. Something about the night was so off. “You’re being quiet.”

  “It’s been a crazy week,” I admitted. It had been. Between my car and the party, I was beat. “My bestie is super pregnant, and I had car issues a few days ago.” Justin topped off my wine and I downed it.

  “So bad you need to get drunk?” Justin nodded at my glass. I set it down.

  “No.” I felt my face get hot. I was excited to go out with Justin last time, excited to sleep with him. “Sorry.” He nudged my water glass toward me, and I sipped it, a little embarrassed. The waitress came back and took orders. I couldn’t put a finger on why the evening seemed off, but something just wasn’t right. It had to be the stress from the last couple of days.

  “Are you busy later tonight? We had a great time the first time, I was hoping I could show you a good time again?” Justin took a drink of his wine. He was a good-looking guy. Tall, lean, that clean-cut kind of handsome. He wasn’t jacked, but not skinny. Our last date left a better impression for him than me, obviously. “Is your place going to be free?”

  It was no secret to my dates that they would end up getting laid, but Justin was being a little presumptuous. It’s what I needed after such a shitty couple of days, though, so I allowed it. “Maybe. Even if my roommate is home, does it matter?” I ran my finger around the rim of my glass, looking at Justin through my lashes. It’s what I needed for sure. Some stress relieving sex.

  “I don’t care if you don’t.” He smirked, looking from my eyes to my cleavage. It would get my mind off the car problems, and Ozma, and work. I hoped it distracted me from the real reason for my sour mood. Justin had to distract me. Simple as that, because I didn’t get hung up on anyone. Especially someone I wasn’t supposed to be fucking in the first place. I wasn’t really hung up on Jax, the sex was just the best I’d had in ages.

  “I don’t care.” I smiled across the table at my clean-cut, handsome date.

  “Good.” I watched Justin eat his meal as quickly as possible while I took my time, enjoying eating a real meal instead of the fast food I’d had over the last few days. When he finished, Justin refilled my wine glass, and watched me finish eating. He stared at me across the table like a man would watch a stripper on a pole. I sipped my wine, the knot tightening in my stomach, making me squirm. I finished my meal, trying to push off the feeling of something being wrong. The whole date, from the second he picked me up made me uncomfortable. I just needed to relax, calm down and enjoy an easy orgasm. Justin looked very willing to provide it. What is wrong with me?

  He paid the check and led me back to the car. I was in less of a hurry than him to get to dessert, but I went with it. I needed it after all. The unsettled feeling in my stomach just got worse when we pulled into my driveway. Justin parked and came around to my side to let me out. I almost threw up when he followed me to the door and moved my hair to kiss up my neck. I pushed the door open and Justin walked in with me, wrapping his arms around my middle. My skin crawled at his every touch. I set my things down on the little table and stepped out of my shoes while Justin rubbed my shoulders, kissing my neck. I closed my eyes to pretend it wasn’t him, to pretend I liked it. I needed to get laid, and Justin was offering, but I could barely stand him touching me. It was very unlike me.

  I shuddered when his hand grazed the flesh on my back, and he found my zipper. Justin made a noise in his throat, licking my spine to my neck. “You even taste good,” he whispered. I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned to face him.

  “Kiss me,” I demanded. I didn’t want to kiss him, but something had to shift in the proper direction. I liked sex, loved it, was never not in the mood for sex, but suddenly I wasn’t. Justin gently touched my face and leaned in to kiss me. The pressure of his mouth was too much or too little. His hand on my face wasn’t forceful enough. I kissed him back anyway, draping an arm around his shoulder and aligning my body with his. I felt his erection pressed against me but wanted to roll my eyes. Justin kept his hands on my waist for a second then they moved lower. Once he had both hands on my ass, I thought the rest of me would get on board with the idea of fucking Justin, but it was miserable. It was almost painful to let him touch me, no matter how loud my brain was screaming to just fuck him, my body was rebelling at every turn.

  We kissed, he worked the zipper of my dress, and stepped out of his shoes. Then my phone rang. We ignored it, even if my fingers were itching to pick it up. I thanked my lucky stars that something was there to distract me. The ringing stopped, and Justin let out a little laugh of relief, backing us up to the living room. Each step was painful, fear curled inside me, the realization that I couldn’t sleep with him hit me. My phone rang again.
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  “I should get it. It could be my little niece or nephew coming.” I knew it wasn’t Ozma because it wasn’t her ring tone, but Justin didn’t need to know. I grabbed my phone and swiped, so damn happy to not have Justin touching me. “Hello?”

  “It’s Jax.” His voice sent a shiver through me.

  “Oh, hi.” I glanced at a concerned Justin and smiled. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”

  “Yeah. I guess. Busy?” Jax sounded frustrated.

  “A little. Uh, is it an emergency? You are you okay, sweetie?” I forced my eyebrows together to look worried.

  “Look, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but I wanna come over.” He sounded antsy, stressed.

  “Oh, well. I’m a little indisposed.” I didn’t want to spend another second with Justin, I wanted him to leave, and hoped that Jax got the message. “Is it that bad?” I gave Justin an apologetic look.

  “Yes. I’m coming over. Get rid of whoever’s there. Now,” Jax snapped. Whatever he wanted to talk about must have been bad.

  “It’s okay. You come over and we’ll figure it out.” I pulled out three years of acting in high school and tried to sound sad. “It’ll be okay.” Justin threw his hands up and groaned.

  “Whatever. I’ll be there in fifteen.” Jax hung up, and I tucked my phone back in my purse. Relief washed over me.

  Justin stared at me. “I’m sorry. It’s a friend. Her man was cheating, and she caught him. I’m having her come over. They were even talking about marriage.” I rolled my eyes, looking sad for my non-existent friend. “Rain check?”

  “Yeah.” Justin sounded and looked pissed. “I’ll call you.” Justin grabbed his shoes from the floor, kissed my cheek, and waited for me to open the door. I opened it and Justin stormed out, throwing his shoes in the car, and getting in. He peeled out and a weight was lifted from my shoulders. With Justin gone, I could go change and start worrying about why Jax needed to come over. He sounded pissed on the phone. Really pissed. There was only one answer I could think of. Someone found out about our little tryst and we had to do damage control. As long as it didn’t get back to Ozzy, it would be okay, but any of them would bring it up to Ozma. It was just how our group worked. I put on a tank and some shorts, pacing in front of the door. My relief about Justin being gone vanished, filled with dread about Ozma finding out I hooked up with Jax. How would they find out? Did someone see his car at my house? Did he accidentally tell someone? I couldn’t imagine him telling someone, even by accident.

  Fifteen minutes later, I heard the car door slam and Ranger bark. Jax’s voice came through my closed door, telling Ranger to stay home then he knocked on my door. I opened it, and Jax came in, toeing his shoes off in the entryway.

  “Who found out?” I blurted out, watching him kick his shoes together neatly.

  “What?” Jax shook his head and scanned me from head to toe.

  “Someone found out, right? What did you tell them? Oh god, is Harris going to tell Oz?” I started fidgeting, wishing he would spit it out and tell me.

  Jax shook his head, taking a huge step toward me. His arm came around my waist and shoulders. I instinctively went up to my toes and our mouths slammed together. Jax grabbed my ass, pulling me off my feet. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he started backing us toward the living room. “Ivy coming home?” he growled, stopping us in front of the sofa. With all the panic gone, I could focus on why he came over.

  “No idea.” I pulled my mouth from his, looking up at him. Jax thought for a minute then checked his watch. “Want me to find out?” He nodded, and I went to get my phone, he followed. When Jax stood behind me, kissing my neck, wrapping his massive arms around my waist, digging his cock into my back, my body had a different reaction. I sighed, resting my cheek on his chest while he kissed my shoulder. I sent a text to Ivy and spun in his arms, tucking my phone in his back jean pocket.

  “So, I kicked my date out for a booty call?” I didn’t mind, not at all, but Jax could think I did. “I thought it was an emergency.” I slid my hands up his chest to his neck.

  “Don’t say booty call, its demeaning.” He kissed me. “And he wasn’t much of a date if you kicked him out so easily.” He kissed me again. My phone made a noise and he jerked it from his back pocket. Jax read whatever Ivy texted back and tossed my phone on the table. I waited for him to relay the message, but he snatched me up by my ass, my legs went around his narrow hips, and I took his face in both my hands to kiss him. Message received.

  Jax and I had chemistry the day we met, we flirted since then, but I never thought we’d cross the line. It made us not friends anymore, it made us more, but I had no idea what. Our chemistry continued down my hallway and into the bedroom where he tossed me on the bed. He stood a foot or so away, staring at me, and I stared back. The tension in the room started making me squirm like I was being appraised.

  “I don’t want a woman.” Jax dragged his t-shirt over his head, then started on his jeans. He tossed me my phone, and I made sure Ivy was staying out. His jeans hit the floor.

  “Okay,” I whispered, rubbing my thighs together.

  “But fuck.” Jax closed the space between us in two steps and pulled my tank top off, dropping to his knees in front of me. He ran his hands up my thighs to my stomach then my chest. “I could fuck you all the time.”

  I draped my arms around his shoulders. “All the time seems a little much, but Ivy is staying out tonight.” I raked my nails over his bare skin, and he shuddered.

  “I don’t want a girlfriend,” he repeated.

  “I don’t want a boyfriend.” I leaned in to kiss him, and he took my bra off. “But if you’re asking for sex, then yes. I thought we already agreed on rules.” I punctuated each word with a kiss and Jax smirked.

  “Rules said once. I say I’m not done.” Jax eased us back, on the bed, hovering over me. “Okay?” I nodded, running my hands through the back of his sandy hair. “Good.” We kissed, again, forever. The kissing was almost as amazing as the sex. Both of us naked, kissing like we’d done it our whole lives. He teased me, skimming his hands over my over-sensitive…everything. With Jax nothing needed to be said, we shared a wavelength.

  Finally, he reached over my head for a condom, but stopped, looking me dead in the eye. “You fuck that guy tonight?”

  “No,” I answered honestly, and Jax gave me a sinfully sexy smirk while grabbing a condom. Him calling saved me from a bad decision. Sex with Justin would have been so wrong, but sex with Jax was very right. So, it’s exactly what I did.

  Chapter Six

  Jax

  “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” Blair leaned her head against the window, watching the scenery pass.

  “No,” I answered for the sixth time since I picked her up outside the boutique. Ozma left at noon, Blair told Ivy she was staying late to do some inventory, and instead I got there as soon as Ivy left. Being Friday meant that Ivy wasn’t going home, and the coast was clear. The closer we got to her house, the more I realized this sounded like a date in my head. It wasn’t a date, it just sounded like one if you didn’t know my arrangement with Blair. I pulled into her driveway and waited for her to start yelling about how she hated surprises. Instead she shocked me by crossing her arms and giving me a death glare.

  “It’s getting late and dark, so go put on gym clothes.” I unlocked the doors and waited for her to get out, bracing for her to start a tirade. Blair quietly gets out of the car and walks to her front door. I watch her ass sway as she walks, excited about the prospect of getting some ass after this is all said and done. Ten days into our arrangement and I feel like things are going well. We hook up every couple of days, have soul-shattering sex, and go about our business. Other than being out with the group and our taco stop from the first night, we hadn’t been out. It changed only slightly with my plans for the night, but still wasn’t a date.

  I’d been waiting about five minutes when I heard a familiar bark and saw the flash of
white come barreling toward my car. Ranger jumping the fence and coming for a visit happened nearly every time I pulled in, but this time a man came running after him. My idea got even better, and I hopped out of the Jeep to talk to the man.

  “Gah damn it, dog!” the man shouted just as Ranger lifted his front legs to hug me.

  “Hey, I’m Jax. I work at the vet’s office.” I reached out to shake the man’s hand when he got close enough.

  “Hey. Fucking dog is a menace.” He grudgingly shook my hand. I rubbed Ranger’s head and braced for the guy to tell me to get fucked.

  “I’m about to go hiking with Blair.” I nodded my head at the house. “Could Ranger go with us? I’ll make sure he gets back safe, and it may help with some of his extra energy.”

  The man shrugged. “Do what you want, buddy.” Then he turned and left me with his dog like he really didn’t give a shit what happened to him. I yelled a thanks and loaded the big lug into the car, talking to him about how he had to be a good dog and we were going to have fun. Big tattooed men love dogs too, and Ranger had grown on me since I started seeing him more.

  I dug through my trunk for a leash and hooked the dog up just as Blair came out and climbed up in the front seat. “What the hell?” She gave me a nasty look when she saw Ranger in the back.