“Was your mum still alive then?”
“Yeah. But she worked six days a week to make rent on our shitty apartment, so me and Gabs were basically feral.”
“I can relate to the feral part of that. Can’t imagine anyone calling your brother ‘Gabs’ though.”
“He’s really not that bad.”
“He’s a dick to Eve.”
“Not because he wants to be.”
Jax gives me a look that tells me we’re not going to agree on this unless I’m prepared to dissect my brother’s entire life for him so he can pass judgement on actual facts. That ain’t happening, and Jax is astute enough to know it. He lets it go and wanders off again.
He comes back with coffee. “You don’t have to leave just because I am. Why don’t you rest for a while?”
“Because I have zero interest in being here without you.”
“I won’t be in your apartment either, or the bar, or your office.”
Touché.
Sensing victory, he ditches the coffee, crawls back onto the bed, and kisses me with lips that taste of toothpaste and Jax. I pull him on top of me and instantly resent every stitch of fabric between us—the underwear I’ve slept in, and the layers and layers he needs to keep him safe from the encroaching winter. He flexes his hips. I cant mine, and we need to stop before Jerry shows up and we have to tell him Jax isn’t going anywhere with him today.
Jax draws back enough to fix me with eyes that are still half asleep, despite the fact he’s been up and showered already. “I don’t want to leave you, but I’ll feel a lot better about it if I know you’re getting some more kip before your shift. Why don’t you hang out here a while? My laptop’s right there. Watch Netflix if you can’t sleep.”
“What makes you think I can’t sleep?”
“I don’t think anything, mate. Just want you to rest.”
His gaze turns beseeching enough for me to consider spending a few hours in a bed where we’ve kissed each other senseless, and made each other come. I’ve had worse offers. And I don’t want him worrying about ridiculous things when he’s out on the trails. “I’ll stay for a while…at least until my Riesling delivery. How’s that?”
Jax smirks. “It’ll do. But I want you to tell me about that Riesling later.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s hilarious.”
No one’s ever accused me of being hilarious before, but if it makes Jax’s eyes shine like they are right now, I’ll take it.
He kisses me again and then he leaves. I lie back on his bed with every intention of staring at the ceiling for the next two hours, but Jax’s spell on me is absolute, and I fall asleep.
I don’t dream.
I seem to barely blink and my phone vibrates on the nightstand sometime later.
Dazed, I fumble for it, and take the call without looking at the screen. “‘Lo?”
“Where the hell are you?”
Eve’s voice is sharp, like it was when I showed up late to help her move, and I already know she’s standing in my empty apartment freaking out that I’m not there. “Relax. I’m at Jax’s new place. Why are you in mine?”
“I brought you breakfast. Why are you and Jax hanging out so early?”
“We’re not hanging out. He’s at work.”
“And you’re just chilling in his apartment?”
“Something like that.”Shit.This is why I don’t sleep. So I don’t get caught out with truth bombs before I’m awake enough for diplomacy. “What do you care why I’m in his apartment?”
