“How is your mother doing?” Mother asks and all the guys look at her. “Ms. Mary Mae. I saw her at church last week and she had a wrap around her wrist.”
Jax back straightens. “What?”
“Oh. I’m sorry. I thought you knew.” When no one speaks, she continues. “Yea. She was cooking a casserole for the church and apparently burned her arm pretty badly. She, of course, didn’t get it looked at and had to end up going to the doctor for some antibiotics because it got infected.”
“No. We didn’t know.”
“Oh. Well, it’s not too serious. She probably didn’t want to bother you all.”
“I’ll go call her now,” Jax says, walking inside.
“J. Let me know,” Knox says, all humor dropped from their banter.
Jax nods and dips inside the house.
“I’m sorry. I’m sure she’s fine. I was just trying to make small talk. I find it so interesting how small the world is. Of all the people that could have opened a club down the road from Lizzy. You all grew up just a town over. How serendipitous.”
“It is kind of crazy to think that,” Lizzy agrees.
“Yes, it is.” I say, jumping up and down. “Now, who’s ready to play?”
Knox’s eyes grow wide as he gets distracted by my bouncing bosom.
“Careful,” Lizzy warns. “I’d hate for your bathing suit to fall off.”
There it is. Her little jab.
Cutting my eyes at her, I splash her with water.
“I don’t see how you aren’t always worried about that. I’d be terrified that something could accidentally snag it and then boom!” Mother says, laughing.
“Boom!” Lizzy repeats, clearly having fun with this. “Has that ever happened to you, Ev?”
“Something accidentally snagging my bathing suit and it falling off? No.” Because it wasn’t an accident. It was very much on purpose and some of the best sex I’ve had, which is saying a lot.
She scrunches her nose at me, dropping her tease for now. “Let’s go, bro! How do we play?”
JAX - BOY TALK
Thelargecream-coloredorbin the sky dances on top of the waves as they crash onto the sand, and the constant whoosh whish soothes my restless soul. When I left the house after dinner, the group was starting a game of poker. Lizzy had found a large case of chips and a few decks of cards. Then the ladies started throwing out games like baseball, follow the queen, high Chicago and seven card no peek. I was almost in when I thought it was going to be Texas Hold’em, but after all those other games and it being dealers' choice… I don’t think I could sit there and listen to Lizzy explain the rules to me and honestly, I didn’t want to have to learn those games to play. It put me at a disadvantage, which I don’t like.
I’ve worked hard in my life to master everything I choose to do or be part of and having Lizzy teach me… No.
Just no.
“You didn’t want to play the games?” The voice is familiar. Hesitant.
Emmett.
He pauses behind me, waiting for the invite to sit down. Things have been a little off between us since our night with Ev. Not in a bad way, just… different.
“Come on,” I say, patting the sand beside me.
He sits down, bending his knees and wrapping his arms around his legs. “It’s beautiful out here.” He stares at the moon, the light making the few gray strands in his beard sparkle like diamonds.
“Yes, it is.”
He slowly turns his head to look at me, but doesn’t speak. After a few pushes and pulls of the moon on the ocean, he asks, “How was mother?”
