“My mom’s changed a lot since I was a kid.” I pause, staring at the tops of the trees ahead of me, the breeze moving through the branches in leisurely swirls. “Is your father in prison for a long time?”
There’s silence for a little while, and all I can hear is Jax’s breathing, until she sighs.
“Hopefully. It’s years until his appeal hearing. I think secretly some of my brothers want him to get out, though. Seb always had a closer relationship with Dad, but we’re better off without him.”
“I guess that’s a good thing, then.”
“I guess it is.” Her voice gets low, a rustling noise comes through the phone as if she’s moving around. “Are you thinking about apologizing to your mom?”
I lean back in my chair, closing my eyes. “Kind of. Yeah.”
“Don’t. Sometimes you just need to be brutal with people to get the message across. Plus, she doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would listen if you explained where you’re coming from.”
“You sure read her well, having met her for all of three hours.”
“I’ve met people like her before. I know she loves you, that’s obvious. But that doesn’t mean she knows what’s best for you.”
I don’t reply. I hear her footsteps, a sliding door, then the sound of a long zipper being fastened.
“Are you headed out somewhere?” I ask, biting my tongue to stop myself from asking where.
“Yeah. You busy, or do you need to blow off some steam?”
My cock twitches. “I’m not busy. No.” My voice is thick and filled with heat, and she snorts loudly, provoking yet another smile.
“I didn’t mean that. Can you meet me at the corner of Marello and Broad in about an hour?”
I check my watch. “I think so. Are you planning to murder me and steal my money?”
“Wow. You guessed! I’m so happy you figured it out because it’s hard lying about it.”
I roll my eyes as there’s more banging on the other end of the line. “Bring workout gear if you have it.”
“Workout gear?I thought we were going to do something else.”
“I know you did. But that’s not what today is about. You need to punch something.”
“I do?”
“Trust me.” Then she hangs up.
I keep gym gear in the car at all times because I’m a member of several gyms and try to work out whenever I can fit it in my busy schedule.
I change in the back of the car before I head to meet her, feeling intrigued as to what she’s planning. I’m standing in the street scrolling on my phone as Jax jogs up, looking gorgeous in a lilac-and-dark-grey workout set, her toned stomach on display despite the cold.
“Sorry, the bus was late,” she says, and walks behind me toward the sketchiest building I’ve ever seen. I pocket my phone and pick up my bag.
“Uh, Jax, if you’re planning to kill me, this is kind of an obvious location.”
“I know, but I didn’t have all that much time to plan,” she says blithely, looking around at me with a little side eye that has my cock twitching again as she flicks that gorgeous hair over her shoulder. “Come on. I’m gonna show you how to get all your stress out.”
I follow her down into the bowels of one of the weirdest gyms I’ve ever seen. It’s completely black inside with flickering lighting down the stairs, fluorescent paint graffitied across the ceiling, and the biggest guy I’ve ever seen at the front desk.
He eyes me warily, glancing at Jax.
“You don’t have a guest pass, Jax; you’ll need to pay for him to enter.”
“I’ll cover it,” I say automatically, and for once she doesn’t argue.
