After more long minutes of protracted staring, Jax slides down to join me. He dangles a bottle from his long fingers. “This one?”
I hand him my glass. “Load me up.”
Jax pours red wine into my glass and his, then holds it up to the light. “Tell me about it.”
“It’s red.”
“That’s all you know?”
“Yup.”
Jax laughs, like he has a few times tonight, and with each warm chuckle, I feel lighter than I can ever remember, and I know it’s not the wine. I’ve drunk alone enough to know it doesn’t have that effect on me without him close by. And he’s definitely close now. If I shift an inch, our shoulders will touch, and I’m trying real hard not to make that happen.
I take a sip of the wine. It’s…nice. If I wasn’t already lit, I might’ve been able to tell Jax why, but I can’t draw my thoughts together enough to figure it out.
And he’s still laughing, so there’s that.
I set my glass down and swivel to look at him. “What’s so funny?”
“You are. You run a wine bar and you don’t know shit about wine.” His laughter bubbles up until he’s doubled over and slapping his hand on the floor, and I don’t know what’s better, that he’s sized me up so easily, or that he’s laughing without a care in the world.
I choose the second, because he’s not the only person to figure out the first. I’m pretty sure everyone connected to V and V knows I’m out of my depth when it comes to the wine, and I’m lucky that no one minds too much. If that means I’m a consistent source of amusement, I’ll take it.
I’ll take Jax laughing at me all night long.
“I’m not as bad as I was,” I say when he’s finally chill again. “Harrison’s mom taught me a lot when I first started. She basically set up a wine bootcamp at her house and held me hostage for a week.”
“Who’s Harrison?”
“My boss. But he’s my friend too. I went to school with his boyfriend Finn, once upon a time.”
“Like me and Eve? Or do you mean actual school, like high school?”
“High school.”
“In Burlington?”
“Yeah, though I ended up graduating from Colebury.”
“But you’ve always lived in Vermont?”
“Mostly. I left for a while, then I came back, and here I am.”
Jax tips more wine into his mouth and licks his lips. “I can’t imagine ever going home.”
“To England?” For once he doesn’t correct me and assert his Cornish identity. He shrugs and his gaze goes distant. I nudge him, because I don’t want him to go, even if it’s just for a moment. “When did you last visit?”
“Four years ago.”
I whistle. “That’s a long time, man. Gabriel would hunt me down if I stayed away that long.”
“Yeah, well. I don’t have a brother like that. I have parents who believe in the healing powers of dandelions and free spirits, so they’ll never chase me anywhere.”
I can’t decipher the emotion in his eyes. “Do you wish they were different?”
Another shrug. “I don’t think so, I just…” Jax shakes his head. “Never mind.”
“I don’t mind. Just say it. It doesn’t have to make sense.”
