I grunted and gave him the middle finger. “Whatever, Dad.”
Samuel placed his hand over his heart and mimed swooning. “Oh, I love you, too, son.”
Laughter bubbled up in my throat, surprising even myself. But it felt good to laugh about something when my day had been so shitty, even if it’d come at the expense of Samuel barging his way into my business and giving his unsolicited advice.
Chapter 11
Blaze
“Why is your man calling me?” I asked as I snatched my phone out of my locker. Practice had run longer than I’d liked, especially since I knew Jaxon was having a shit-tastic day. Classes had kept me away, and then Coach called for an early practice and then extended it. He was aiming for the playoffs, and for that to happen, we had to be on our A-game at all times, practice included.
“How the fuck should I know?” Hunter asked, rolling his eyes. “Just answer the damn phone and see what he wants.”
Huffing, I swiped my thumb across the screen to answer, then dropped onto the bench seat so I could relax my fucking legs. “What?” I griped.
“Is that any way to talk to someone who just got you all the answers you might be looking for?” Samuel drawled.
I scowled. “Bro, I’m tired, my legs are shaking, and I just want to shower, then go home. Could this have been handled through a text message?”
“Nope,” Samuel said, popping the P. I rolled my eyes. Didn’t matter how old he got, he was still an antagonistic asshole at his core. “I took Jaxon some pho, since I know it’s his comfort food, and I talked to him.”
“Oh,” I said, some of my irritation bleeding away. “That was kind of you…surprisingly.” Samuel didn’t give much of a fuck about anyone or anything—apart from Hunter, that was.
He snorted a laugh. “I did it for purely selfish reasons, honestly. I’m tired of watching you two pine after each other without ever making a move. It’s annoying, and quite frankly, I’m ready for the pining to be over.”
My brows furrowed. “What?”
Hunter dropped down beside me, then leaned in to listen to whatever shit Samuel was spewing. He was quickly losing me, honestly. “I told Jaxon that I brought him pho because you asked me to. I knew it would be the only way he’d put up with my shit.” I sighed. Before being injured, Jaxon’s patience had already run super fucking thin, but his head injury made his patience practically nonexistent. It never took long anymore for him to grow tired of someone’s presence, and he wasn’t afraid of making that known. “And I pried into his feelings for you,” Samuel continued.
I blinked. “Feelings for me?” I questioned, growing angry now. Knowing Samuel, his big mouth and persistent nosiness had ruined anything before it could even begin. “Why did you put your big ass nose somewhere it doesn’t belong, Samuel? What happens between me and Jaxon is none of your fucking?—”
“He said he’s in love with you,” Samuel interrupted. I swallowed thickly, my fingers tightening on my phone. I fell silent, rendered speechless. “I recorded the whole conversation if you don’t believe me. I can send it to you. But you two need to figure this shit out. You both might definitely enjoy women, but there’s no denying you’re both into each other. Figure it out so Hunter and I can stop having to deal with your secret pining. It’s annoying.”
With that, he hung up, not even bothering to say bye after dropping that bomb on me. A moment later, my phone pinged with a video. It was all black, so no actual video footage, but I knew there’d be audio. And I didn’t want to listen to it without my earpiece, which I didn’t have at the moment. It was in my car.
“Your boyfriend is annoying,” I rasped, still staring at the video Samuel had sent me.
Hunter shrugged. “He grows on you.” Standing, he clapped his hand to my shoulder. “But I think you’ll thank him.”
With that, he walked away, heading for the showers. Standing, I shoved my phone back into my locker, then stripped out of my clothes, wrapped a towel around my waist, and followed. Shower first. Then, I could get in my car and listen to that video and figure out where the fuck to go from here.
“Yet you haven’t denied that you’re in love with him.”
“Because I am.”
That part of the entire video wouldn’t stop playing on repeat in my head. Samuel wasn’t wrong. Jaxon had confessed to being in love with me. He’d blatantly fucking said it at that. And now that I knew for sure, I wasn’t wasting any more time. Because just like Samuel was tired of seeing me pining after Jaxon, I was just as sick of doing it. I wanted him. Needed him to be mine.
I didn’t care that I’d never been with a guy before. Didn’t care that I had no idea what I was doing when it came to dating men. But what I did know was how to love Jaxon. I’d been doing it effortlessly for fucking years. And that was all I needed at the moment. Everything else, I could figure out later on down the road.
Shifting my car into drive, I headed for our apartment, only one thing on my mind…
I needed to confess my feelings to Jaxon.
Chapter 12
Jaxon
The sound of the key sliding into the lock of the front door had me peeling one eye open to a squint. I grabbed my phone off my stomach and lifted it just enough to see the time, and if I read it correctly—this double vision was some bullshit—it was almost eight in the evening. Jesus, how long had I been dozing? Samuel had left about six, and I’d stretched out on the couch not long after, my stomach full and my brain sleepy.
