“Well, what if I told you that the only way I can promise you that I will enjoy myself is if you assure me that we will find out just what that hotel bed is made of?” She teased, pushing her hips into his groin.
A devilish smile spreading across his narrow face, Trevor leaned down brushing his lips against hers. “Then it would be safe to say Miss Shaw, that you better start stretching now,” he whispered, placing a kiss on her small lips.
“Hey! If I’m not getting any of that in my own home, than nobody is!” Jax yelled coming down the steps with both his and Liv’s suitcases in hand. Placing them down, he wrapped Chelsea into a big hug, slapping a hand on Trevor’s back.
“Give it time my man. You really screwed up.”
Instinctively, Trevor had been the first person he went to for advice on how to handle things after Liv’s breakdown. He respected his best friend’s opinions and knew Trevor would never mince words with him. He was the only one who really knew about Jax’s childhood and how much Liv’s breakdown messed with his head. Trevor had told him not to move out. To stay put and be there for her as much as he could be, but as much as he respected his best friend and deep down knew that he was right, Trevor didn’t have the same pressure on him as Jax had. Trevor was one hell of a tight end, arguably the best in the league and he deserved just as much, if not more, media attention, but Trevor went about his personal life completely uninterrupted by sports magazine reporters following him or online gossip articles written about him. He also didn’t have two daughters that were getting old enough to understand that their mother wasn’t happy. Trevor didn’t have a wife who had just as much pressure on her, trying to maintain a thriving business on top of the ongoing work she did for the Mav’s. There were unspoken rules and pressures that came with being the quarterback of a team and that filtered into their families as well. Especially with a wife as well known and well liked inside the community as Liv. Trevor also hadn’t grown up and seen the dark side of the profession and how badly it could destroy a family. So he had relied on himself to make the right decision at the time, or so he had thought.
“Yeah, well I don’t know how much more I can take.” Jax murmured, running his hands over his face. Every little thing Liv did was driving him crazy, catching her smiling at the girls or walking around the house in her tight dresses and skirts, had him wanting to grab her by her arm and kiss her until she melted against him. He had been reaching for restraint that he wasn’t even completely positive he had anymore, just to keep his hands to himself the past week. The nights were getting longer and knowing that she was only three doors down the hall was testing his willpower. The nights alone in bed had been bad enough when he was living across town, but now being so close to her and not being able to slide into his bed and hold her. To make love to her, felt like dying a slow death.
He knew his best friend would never judge him, but he also knew that Trevor didn’t agree with his decision to leave Liv. He often wondered if Trevor was disappointed in him for walking out on his wife, the thought cutting almost as deep as how hurt and angry Liv was.
“Like I said, give her time,” Trevor repeated crossing his arms. If Trevor was disappointed in him, he didn’t show it and even though he may not have agreed with his decisions, Trevor always supported him, and he didn’t have a right to ask for any more than that.
“I don’t know.” Jax leaned down on the island staring at Mr. Beans chasing an ice cube across the kitchen floor. “I thought when I first came home I’d try to keep things light, and cut the tension a bit, but it only seemed to make her more irritated.” He watched the pup slap the frozen ice around like a hockey puck. “Then Shay said all this stuff about taking control and rattling her, but that doesn’t seem to be working either.”
“Why the hell would you ever take marriage advice from Shay Cunningham?” Trevor asked, looking at him as if he had lost his damn mind. Only proving how desperate he really was to get Liv to bring down her walls so they could sustain some semblance of a relationship. Selfishly he wanted her back, but he also knew it wasn’t what was best for her.
Shrugging, he looked away from Trevor because if he didn’t feel as though his friend was disappointed in him before, the look on his face told him he surely was let down now because he had chosen to listen to one of Shay’s crazy schemes instead of taking his advice about staying by Liv’s side. He was beginning to think that no matter how hard he tried to make things right, all he was doing was making a bigger mess of everything.
The kitchen fell quiet a minute as the sounds of Beans’ snorting and ice gliding on wood filled the room as Jax looked over at Chelsea.
“Why do you keep smiling?”
Looking at him, she smiled before looking back down tracing her finger on the gray granite countertop.
“No reason.”
“In my experience, that usually means something,” he said, pointing at her. He’d known Chelsea for a long time and she was one of his best friends. She was definitely up to something.
“Honesty,” Trevor said aloud, getting Jax’s attention.
“What?”
“Just be honest with her,” he said screwing off the bottle cap of his water. “The rest will fall into place.”
Jax had every intention of being honest with Liv about his past and why he freaked when she began to fall apart from all the stress and pressure, but what he hadn’t expected was for her to be so guarded and anxious. Whenever he felt her softening, he thought he would try and talk with her, but she dismissed him immediately, finding a new way to avoid him. She was scared, he knew that, but the tension between them was beginning to mess with his head. Instead of focusing on her forgiving him enough to be civil and raise their daughters, he was thinking too hard on getting her naked and gaining full access to that body again. Which needed to stop.
“I doubt she’ll even give me a chance to be in the same room with her long enough to be honest with her before she runs the other way,” he said crossing his arms across his chest.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Chelsea grinned as he waited for her to elaborate. About to ask what exactly she meant, the door opened, Liv coming to a halt as three pairs of eyes landed on her.
“Uh, hi,” she said, her accent drawing out a bit, turning him on again. He loved her adopted southern drawl and she was cute as hell watching all three of them staring at her.
“Hey girly!” Chelsea beamed forcing everyone to break eye contact. Moving from behind the island she wrapped Liv into a big hug.
“Are y’all ready for one of the best weekends of your life?” Liv asked, smiling her million dollar smile and he thought he was going to explode.
“We are,” Trevor said, wrapping his arms around Chelsea’s waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Thank you Liv, for everything.”
“Don’t thank me just yet, we still need to get this woman down the aisle in a few weeks,” Liv said, looking lovingly at her best friends. He could see the adoration and excitement being able to make her friends so happy. It was one of the things he found irresistible about her; her willingness to do everything and anything to make the people around her feel special and loved. But that didn’t include him at the moment because if it had then he would be holding her and making his own promises about the weekend.
“Alright.” Jax clapped loudly forcing himself out of his self-loathing so his best friends could have a great trip. “The bags are packed, the kids taken care of and I have the suitcases right here, let’s get out of here.”
He would be damned if he was going to bring down the mood of the trip because of his frustrations.
“Wait a minute!” Liv insisted stopping everyone. “You, are not wearing that to your bachelorette party,” she pointed to Chelsea’s black shorts and white tank top.
“What?” Chelsea asked, ready to defend her outfit to Liv, like always.
“This is your bachelorette party! You don’t need to be in a fancy dress all weekend, but you do need to be in s
omething sexier than that!” Liv said pointing to the casual outfit looking more like Chelsea was headed to the gym than a weekend away.
“Come on, I’m finding you something appropriate to wear.” Liv grabbed Chelsea by the arm, leading her up to the steps.
“You boys pack the car, we’ll be done in three minutes, I swear,” Liv promised over her shoulder looking at him. His eyes moved to her round ass, swaying lightly beneath her long, thin dress as she pushed Chelsea up the steps. Damn it, she was a tease. Balling his fists to keep from feeling its curve against his palms, he picked up the suitcases. She was killing him!
“Three minutes? Yeah right,” Trevor chuckled pushing himself off the counter. “Better get packing, Cap,” he said, patting him on the shoulder.
Opening the garage door, they were attacked with ear piercing music, causing the black BMW in the driveway to shake, its speakers threatening to blow.
“Perry. Perry. Perry,” Myles and Shay chanted, running around the car jumping on Trevor, roughing him up.
“You ready man?” Shay asked. “Epic weekend ahead!”
“Dude it’s a bachelor party that I’m having with my fiancée, it’s not The Hangover,” Trevor said taking the Heineken that Myles offered him. He wasn’t quite sure what possessed Trevor to have a joint bachelor party with his soon-to-be wife when the groomsmen consisted of mostly young knuckleheads with nothing but booze and boobs on the brain.
“Cap?” Myles asked, handing Jax a cold beer from a cooler in the backseat.
“Nah, I’m driving,” he said putting Liv’s unmistakable purple polka dot suitcase in the trunk.
How much did she pack?
Six years with the woman and she still surprised him with how many shoes and hair products she could manage to smuggle into a weekend getaway.
“Hey Cap, can I talk to you a second?” Shay asked, standing next to the car.
He was still thoroughly pissed off over the comments Shay had made at the carnival in front of his teammates and he hadn’t seen him since. He wasn’t at the training complex as much the past week because he was spending more time with the girls and figuring out how to get through to his wife.
“What?”
“Dude, I’m sorry for what I said last week, I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.”
“You need to learn some fucking respect,” Jax glared. “You know that?”
“I know, I was just trying to get a rise out of you so you would realize just how much you still love Liv,” he said, the morning light glaring off his sunglasses.
So he had been trying to get a rise out of him. Well, he had succeeded but the last thing he needed was a reminder of just how badly he still wanted his wife.
“I thought it would have fueled you to get over yourself and start fixing things with her, but it wasn’t my place and it won’t happen again, brother,” Shay assured, placing his hand out. “You have my word.”
Shay’s hand hanging between them, he contemplated breaking it over him even suggesting that another man touch his wife, but he also had a lot more important things going on than having issues with his friends. Although he still wanted to teach Shay a lesson, he also didn’t want to cause anymore tension for his best friend’s weekend. Taking his hand, Jax shook it firmly not taking his eyes off him.
“I’m going to kick your ass on the first day of practice, you know that.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”
* * *
“I am not wearing that.” Chelsea argued, sitting on the edge of Alivia’s bed.
“Yes, you are,” Alivia retorted tossing the white sun dress into her lap, pointing to the bathroom.
“Now, go put it on, the guys are waiting.”
“You’re a brat, you know that?” Chelsea whined taking the dress with her to the bathroom.
Looking around at the colossal mess on the floor from ransacking her closet for something that Chelsea would actually agree to wear, Alivia kicked some clothes and shoes back into her closet, vowing to deal with the mess when she got home; but knowing well enough that they would be sitting there for weeks.
“Any progress with Jax?” Chelsea asked through the bathroom door.
Opening a plastic wrapper with her teeth, she placed the light blue sash on the bed.
“Well, he walks around shirtless half the day and I’m having erotic dreams about him.”
“Excuse me?” Chelsea asked opening the bathroom door holding the top of the dress over her boobs.
“You heard me,” she said, signaling Chelsea to turn around so she could zip her dress up.
“And I’m fairly certain that he caught me in the middle of having one just this morning.” Zipping the dress up, she reached for the sash on the bed. “I was mortified.”
“Liv.” Chelsea faced her, a spark of hope in her dark eyes. “I really think this weekend will be good for you guys, you know. Just to get away from everything and regroup. Maybe fix things?”
As wonderful as it all sounded, she wasn’t so sure that regrouping and reconnecting with Jax was the best idea. Even though she was losing her mind around him lately, it was still easier than hearing him say that he didn’t love her anymore. She couldn’t bear hearing him say that it was really over, because she was still completely in love with him.
“I’m so scared, Chels,” she whispered.
Wrapping her into a hug, Chelsea squeezed tightly. “I know, but I also know Jax. And I have a feeling he’ll surprise you.”
She needed a break. Maybe a hug, some reassurance, and a lot of courage too, but definitely a break. And an entire weekend with Jax, was not a break. It was more time together which scared her because she didn’t know how much more restraint she had left in her. Restraint from what exactly, she wasn’t quite sure, but she was dancing across the spectrum of raw emotions these days and she didn’t trust herself. And that terrified her.
“Alright.” she wiped the inside of her eyes clearing any threat of tears. “Enough of this ridiculousness.”
Swallowing the lump in her throat, she did what she did best. What she had self-taught herself to do at a young age; she pushed everything deep down inside, covering it up with big smiles and perfect control, praying that it didn’t erupt. Looking in the mirror at the tight fitting sundress, her cleavage on display, Chelsea shook her head,
“I look like prostitute.”
“You look hot!” Alivia corrected, slipping the bride-to-be sash around her.
“Oh no, I am not wearing that thing!” Chelsea protested, moving away from her.
“Oh, yes, you are!” she explained, putting the sash over her head. “This is your punishment for being an ‘anti-bride’ and quite frankly, a pain in my ass.”
“Again, you’re such a brat!”
Following the guys’ voices in the garage, Alivia pushed Chelsea out the door, following behind and locking up. The garage echoed in loud whistles in celebration of Chelsea finally ditching the yoga pants and oversized t-shirts, showing off the beautiful, sexy woman that she was. If the look on Trevor’s face was any indication on how the rest of the weekend would go, she had a feeling it was the start of a very memorable trip for them. As Trevor showed Chelsea just how lucky of a man he knew he was, Alivia couldn’t help stealing a glance at Jax. Although unsurprisingly, he was already watching her. His eyes intense, she had a brief vision of him tackling her right there on the cement floor.
“Alright troops, listen up,” she announced, pulling a pack of papers from her purse for a distraction. Handing one to Shay, Myles, and her husband, who felt the need to follow her every move, she tossed the rest of the packets into her purse. “Here is the itinerary for the entire trip. It includes your room reservations, all dinner reservation times, and group activities that are planned.”
“What about our packets?” Chelsea asked.
“Everything but the resort is a surprise for both of you,” Alivia smiled. “Trevor and Chelsea are driving with us. Shay and Myles, you guys follow, everyone e
lse is meeting us there,” she ordered, opening the car door and checking her phone for a time check. “Now let’s go or we’ll be late for welcome cocktails.”
“Ohhh welcome cocktails,” Chelsea smiled, looking up at Trevor. “I’m starting to think this was a really good idea.”
Everyone moved towards their cars as Alivia climbed in the back seat. She wouldn’t be able to handle being so close to Jax in the front seat, but that still didn’t mean she would pass up the opportunity to watch him when he couldn’t see her. He looked delicious in his light blue Henley that had no choice but to hug his large shoulders. His sleeves rolled up his forearms, and that gosh darn bulging vein running above his wrist, teasing her.
“Liv, you sit up front,” Chelsea’s voice echoed in the garage as Trevor jumped in the back seat while Jax setup the GPS.
“Oh, I thought Trevor would want to sit up front with Jax?” she asked innocently, all eyes falling on her. “More leg room?”
She didn’t want to sit so close to him for almost six hours; with their arms touching and being close enough to smell his aftershave. It was cruel.
“Nope, I’m good back here with my sexy fiancée,” Trevor insisted, patting the back seat with his hands.
Glaring at her supposed best friend laughing quietly, finding the entire scene funny as all hell, she moved past Chelsea towards the front of the car.
“Who’s the brat now?”
10
Taking the third exit off the expressway, Jax merged into traffic on a narrow road, uniform lines of palm trees bordering the tapered street as the wind coming off the beach filled the inside of the car. Across the console, he watched the ends of Liv’s hair circle around her face as she rested her head against the seat taking in the salty air. The six hour car ride to Clearwater had been interesting among other things. He hadn’t thought it was humanly possible for Liv to glue herself any closer to the passenger side door than she had for the duration of the trip, making certain to put as much distance between them as she could. She even opted out of her usual obsessive habit of changing the radio station every few seconds, which he knew had been killing her. Every time she had turned around to listen to Chelsea or Trevor in the back seat, he had been awarded to the lingering scent of her perfume, dangerous enough to have him white knuckling the damn steering wheel nearly half the trip. After stopping at a rest stop to use the bathroom and stretch their legs, the girls ran inside for a caffeine boost. Once back inside the car, Liv had handed him his drink and he couldn’t help but smirk.
False Start (Mavericks #1) Page 13