“We’re best friends,” he said quickly.“We care about each other.Watch each other’s backs.We’ve been through a lot.Too much…”
Thankfully, she didn’t ask any more questions.She got quiet and he let her eat in peace, keeping his gaze to the screen door, willing Axel to get his ass back here like right now.
Wow, how could he almost have made such a deadly slip like that?Why would he want to rain on Axel’s reunion with the love of his life?He practically knew everything there was to know about her.They fantasized about her when they had sex with each other.But he didn’t know if Jenna would understand their relationship.
Nick swallowed as his shaft grew ultra hard, thinking about the fantasies Axel and he had talked about in sharing her with each other.Would she be open to that kind of arrangement?Or would she send them right back to prison?Had Axel been serious about sharing her?Or had he changed his mind now that they were free?Those thoughts startled him.Freedom complicated everything in ways he hadn’t prepared for.
“I think it would be best if you lie down in the guest room and just rest.I’m going to go out and see if I can hunt Axel down.Hopefully, he didn’t take a wrong turn somewhere.”
Nick wanted to protest at Jenna’s suggestion, but he swallowed the argument rising in his throat.She’d been through too much already today.He remained quiet and nodded.A faint smile tugged at his mouth.
Besides, who was he to argue with the boss?
* * * * *
Axel had completely lost his composure after witnessing Nick stumbling out of the truck with blood on his face.The sight had an immediate and overwhelming impact on him, triggering a surge of rage that was as automatic as a bull reacting to the sight of a red flag.This visceral response was not unfamiliar; it was rooted deep in his memories of his past, and of prison, where violence and conflict were ever-present realities.Prison had been a place where he’d had to put his anger management training into practice on a daily basis and today he’d blown everything he’d learned into smithereens.
Those prison memories flooded back, completely killing Axel’s earlier peace, reminding him of just how perilous their time behind bars had been.Throughout the years, both he and Nick had faced countless confrontations with other inmates, each battle had been a test of their resilience and their ability to survive.The harsh environment meant that tempers often flared and physical altercations were a fact of life.
However, Axel had come to know the vital importance of controlling his anger.He’d realized that his unchecked rage would have dire consequences, especially in a place like prison.Learning to restrain himself became essential, not only for his own survival but also for Nick’s safety as well.
Retaliation would mean solitary confinement or even losing Nick as his cellmate.Nick truly anchored him and the man served as both a crutch and a reason to keep his composure.
Their friendship had evolved from being two reckless hotheads into a stabilizing partnership.Being cellmates had a calming effect on both of them, which in turn made life easier for the guards.It was probably one of the reasons the two of them had been allowed to remain together as cellmates for so long.
As Axel gripped the steering wheel of the truck, he slowly inhaled the humid air that blew in through the open truck windows until the anger that had been coursing through him gradually ebbed.He knew all too well that this very rage had been the reason he’d ended up behind bars in the first place.The reason he’d lost Jenna.
The fear of returning to prison and losing Jenna again weighed heavily on his mind, and he forced himself to turn the truck around.
He’d stop the truck at the top of the ridge where Nick said he’d been attacked.He’d take a look around and walk off the rest of his anger.He needed to calm himself before he went back to Jenna’s place.He didn’t want her to see him mad again.
Embarrassment flooded him.He hoped she could forgive him for losing it so quickly and so badly and he hoped he hadn’t just jeopardized his future with Jenna.
That is, if there even was a future with her.
* * * * *
It appeared she wouldn't have to go looking for Axel after all.He was back a few minutes after she’d shown Nick where the bathroom was and where he could rest in one of the bedrooms.Not hers and not the one she’d used last night, but the other bedroom.The guest room.
The moment she’d plopped her brown cowboy hat upon her head and stepped outside the ranch house, truck keys in hand, she heard the smooth purr of the truck’s engine and the gravel crunching beneath the tires as Axel pulled the red truck into the parking lot and parked between her truck and the horse trailer.
Relief mingled with anger as she rushed down the steps and hurried toward him.
The driver’s side swung open and he climbed out of the truck and slammed the door shut.Her knees went weak with relief and then immediately stiffened with fury.
He turned and walked to the back end of the truck and stopped when his brown eyes locked onto her.Something raw flickered across his face.Relief, guilt, hunger, it was all tangled together.
Silence sliced through the air.He didn’t appear angry anymore.But now it was her turn to be pissed.
“You stupid asshole!”Her voice cracked on the last word, the leftover terror bleeding through the anger.
“Why did you take off like that Axel,?Don't you know whoever hit Nick could have done the same or worse to you?You could have been killed!”
To her utmost irritation he responded with a chuckle.
“Didn’t think you still cared,” he said.His casual tease hit her like a spark to dry tinder, infuriating and disarming all at once.
Oh!The audacity of this man!The nerve!
