She pumps her eyebrows at me and turns to walk over to Tony, who is talking to Sammie and David. No, that doesn’t feel right. I know her name is Sammie, and his starts with a D.
“What are you looking at?” Knox asks, walking up beside me.
“Just watching Lizzy.”
“How are your lips?”
“Which ones?” I cringe almost immediately. I don’t know why I said that.
He chuckles, “Touché.”
“Sorry. That was weird.”
“Don’t be sorry, love. I love weird.”
“Speaking of…” I grab his arm and pull him to the side near the banister by the stairs. “You all used to own Allure?”
He looks around. “We probably shouldn’t talk about it here, but we’ll talk when we get home. I don’t know what we're going to do yet, but we wanted to talk to you first.”
I try to hide the confusion on my face and simply nod. What in the hell is he talking about? Talk to me about what? Surely Lizzy hadn’t said anything to them about our conversation. My gaze drifts to her across the room and she’s still talking to Sammie. No, there’s no way.
Now I want to leave so we can get home and talk about whatever it is Knox is talking about, because clearly something else is going on. I was going to ask if they had an interest in going… is that what they’re going to ask me?
KNOX – WHEN YOU HAVE A SPITFIRE, WIND HER UP
JaxiswatchingEverleefrom across the room and I can tell by his white knuckles, he’s clenching his fists pretty hard into the palm of his hands. He’s always so protective of her. I mean, I am too, but let a woman breathe a little. Damn. People don’t like being smothered. Shown you care, yes. Smothered. No.
She’s dancing with Lizzy and has a huge smile spread across her face that makes me feel warm inside. She has that effect on me. It’s what makes me so scared of losing her. The last time I felt that feeling was with Sophie, and then she left.
My heartbeat flutters for a second.
Jax nods at me, then walks over to stand at my side. “You good over here?”
“Yea. Just watching our girl.”
“Me too.”
“I know. Let me see your hands,” I command softly.
“No.”
“Jax. You need to relax. She’s not going anywhere.” I hope I’m not lying.
“I know. It’s that freaking dress.”
“You would still feel this way if she were wearing a potato sack and let’s be honest, she’d pull that off too.”
He cuts his eyes at me and growls, causing me to chuckle.
“She looks good. But not just like hot, but good. Happy.”
“Yea.” I stare at her, and let her joy and light fill that piece inside of me that battles for control, pushing the darkness away.
“You seem like you’re doing good.” He nudges my arm.
My lips flatten into thin lines. “I am.” He knows about the darkness and for a long time we would talk about it, not with the others, just the two of us. They wouldn’t understand. They would say they do or may even want to, but they wouldn’t. They can’t. Not unless you’ve been through it. Jax has his vices, his memories of things he holds on to, and I have mine. Although lately, I feel like I’m doing better. And not just because I want to, but because I actually feel it.
I know it’s Everlee. She tells us we saved her, but the truth is she’s savingme. When she left us, I took it hard. I hid it from the guys because I didn’t want them to worry, but I was drinking more. Going to bars and letting the booze make me numb to memories and feelings, and the thing about it was I hated myself for it. With every drink I finished, I felt like my father. One step away from some asshole, laying his hands on a woman or raising his voice, and I’d unleash. Unleash all this rage that was building up.
