He dismounts and discards his helmet on the bars, back to us for a second while he seems to take a moment to gather himself.
Where has he been? If Chaos is still tied up with club business, why isn’t Jinx there with him?
He turns toward us as he pulls a deep breath, and stops.
The world shrinks to the fifteen feet between us.
“I’ll go make him a drink,” Vanessa says, sliding free of my arm to make a hasty exit indoors.
Damn it.The tension doubles.
Jinx lifts a hand to his neck, rubbing at the muscle while he glances to the ground.
“Does he know I was there?”
His head lifts, regret in the pinch of his features. “Yeah. He does.”
“Davis told him,” I say.
“He tried to get around it, but the guy’s no good at lying.” He moves toward me, slow, careful. “How are you?”
“Oddly fine.” I glance down at my coffee to avoid the intensity in his eyes as he approaches. “Unsure where this takes us all.”
“Afraid I can’t answer that one for you, darlin’.”
Vanessa’s advice echoes in my mind. “How are you?” I look up and find him on the top step of the porch, still studying me.
“Tired.” He nods toward the door. “You think we could go inside?”
“Sure.” I lead the way, super aware of his proximity as we walk down the narrow hallway toward the heart of the home.
“Hey,” Vanessa calls when we step into view. “I made you a coffee, Jinx. Have you eaten?”
“Love a bite,” he responds, moving toward the sofa. He flops down with a groan, head rolling over the back. “Fuckin’ long day.”
“I bet.” She catches my eye and urges me to move from where I’m frozen in the doorway, clutching my coffee as though it’s the most important thing in the moment.
“Chaos wasn’t far away from headin’ home,” he tells her, eyes still closed. “He’ll love you forever if you’ve got something for him to fill up on, too.”
“You really need to get Goblin some cooking lessons,” she jokes. “Maybe then you lot would want to eat what he makes.”
“At least when the pigs show up, they’ll be well fed.”
I ease onto the cushion beside him. “You’re getting pigs?”
His eyes snap open, head rolling to face me. “We are. But that’s not what I want to talk about right now.” He lifts his arm, inviting me to snuggle in.
It feels natural to.
I set my drink on the coffee table and then adjust my seat so I can nestle into his firm side.
“I know this will ruffle your feathers,” he says, the dulcet tones of his voice vibrating against me. “But I don’t want you to stay at that new house of yours all by yourself anymore.”
“Please do not follow that up with a request for me to stay longer with my parents.” It might be the thing that puts the final nail in any hope of us seeing where this leads.
He chuckles softly. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“What do you suggest, then?”
