Jerry pulls away. I take a deep breath and turn to go who-the-fuck knows where.
Tanner Reid is right in front of me.
“Come on,” he says. “I got you something.”
Chapter Three
Tanner
I wasn’t expecting Jax to land on my doorstep again. The bag of clothes I’ve pulled together for him is behind the bar, waiting for Eve to pick up. Then I took the trash out to see him getting out of Jerry Coleman’s truck in the parking lot, and I’d walked up on him before I knew what I was doing.
He seems relieved to see me, but it’s a different vibe to the one Gabriel sends my way when he satisfies himself that I’m no longer on the brink of putting his gun in my mouth. And I dig it, so I gesture for him to follow me inside.
Jax seems bemused, but I don’t look at him too closely, because I don’t like it when people look too closely at me. I lead him to the far end of the bar and hand him the duffle bag. “We’re about the same size.”
He opens the bag and his fair brows shoot up. “You’re lending me clothes? Man, you’re my hero right now.”
“Don’t make that judgment until you get to the flannel shirts. Eve tells me you have feelings about them.”
Jax’s laugh is the glow of a warm summer evening. “Maybe I spent too much time in California.”
“Oh yeah?”
His smile fades and he makes a noncommittal noise. “Actually, scratch that. I definitely spent too much time there. And thanks for the clothes. I’ll bring them back when I get paid enough to buy new ones.”
“I don’t want them back.”
Something in my tone strikes him. I don’t know why. He tilts his head sideways and turns the volume up in his hypnotic eyes. Yeah, that’s right. They’re the bottomless blue I expected them to be. “What else did Eve say about me?”
A whole lot of nothing. But enough that I don’t want him worrying about returning a duffle of old clothes I don’t leave my apartment enough to justify keeping. “Not much. Why? Are you a wanted felon?”
“I’m not that interesting.”
“Neither am I.”
He snorts, and I remember he’s spent the day with Jerry. Perhaps he knows more about me than I want him to. Or perhaps he doesn’t, and my newfound curiosity about him is not only one-sided but massively unfair. “Do you want a drink?”
Jax jerks his head up from pawing through the stack of shirts and jeans I’ve stashed in Gabriel’s old bag. “Hmm?”
“Booze,” I clarify. “You’ve had a long day, huh?”
“Yours is just getting started. Did you go back to bed after I left?”
I want to lie to him and tell him I did. That I crawled back between the sheets and peacefully snoozed my day away instead of letting my short conversation with Eve agitate me enough to clean my closet out for him. But he has an honest face that doesn’t deserve my bullshit, so I give him a rueful head shake. “No, but it’s okay. I don’t need much sleep.”
“People who don’t get enough always say that.”
“Yeah, well. What are you going to say if I ask if you need to crash on my couch again?”
He treats me to another brief but wonderful laugh. “Get out of my head.”
I take the win and fetch him a beer. He doesn’t look like a wine dude, and I’ve seen enough of them over the past few months to make the call.
He’s slouched on a barstool when I come back, poking at his phone. His face has settled into the worry mug I saw the last time I laid eyes on him. I don’t like it as much as his magic smile, but I’m not good-humored enough to make it go away. I set the beer in front of him, then reach into my pocket for my apartment key and make another decision without thinking it through. “I wasn’t kidding about the couch. I’m working every night through next week, so you’ll have the place to yourself.”
Jax blinks, both at the sudden appearance of a pint of craft beer in front of him, and an offer he was clearly expecting as much as a bag of my old clothes. “For real?”
Offering up my space is the last thing on earth yesterday’s me would’ve contemplated. I wonder if I’ve had a personality transplant, but here we are. The key is in my outstretched hand, and I want him to take it. “I don’t say things I don’t mean. Drink your beer, get a shower, and chill for the night, unless you have grand plans your face is being real good at hiding right now.”
