“Doctor’s office.” The voice that greeted him couldn’t be more bored. Wow, off to a great start.
“Hello, I would like to make an appointment to see Doctor Harris.” He tried smiling to make his voice more polite, glad she couldn’t see him in person because he probably looked like a psychopath.
“Name.”
“Jaxon Fiorelli.”
“Have you seen the doctor before?” The wall of disinterest was taking the wind out of Jax’s sails. It cost him a ton of mental energy to make this call while in pain, and even though he was only halfway through the day, he felt beaten down and exhausted. He didn’t need this unfriendlyreceptionist to make things more difficult.
“No, I haven’t, but-”
“He’s not taking new patients,” she barked before hanging up on him.
He stared at his phone for a few seconds, rage bubbling up inside of him. He wanted to get in his car, drive down there, and give her a piece of his mind.
Instead, he let out a growl, turned, and punched the wall. Sure, he’d done that before, indoors on drywall, but the exterior of The Pointe bit back.
“Fuck,” he cried out, shaking his hand, glad that nobody else had seen that.
“Jax?” Tristan’s voice came out of nowhere and Jax jumped, cringing as his back replied in kind. Before he could form words, his fist was enveloped by two warm hands, and Tristan’s face appeared, lined with concern. “Let me get some ice!” A second later, he was gone.
Jax blinked. If he hadn’t felt the heat of Tristan’s touch, he would have thought he’d imagined it, and when Tristan came back a minute later, holding a cloth napkin full of ice, Jax’s eyebrows rose in surprise.
After seeing his anger, people usually ran from him for good, but his sweet, gorgeous man just wanted to help.
“Here.” Tristan cradled Jax’s bruised knuckles, gently placing the cold bundle over them, and Jax let out a hiss. “Can you wiggle your fingers?”
Jax gave it a go. It hurt, but not in a broken-bone kind of way, and his post-anger recrimination arrived right on schedule. What the hell was he thinking, smashing his dominant hand into a wall? It could cost him his career.
That was the problem; hewasn’tthinking. He was losing control, and he’d be lucky if he only got bruises and scrapes out of this.
“They’re good. Thanks for the ice.” Having Tristan so close was doing a number on Jax’s heart rate. It seemed like the avoidance was over for now. All Jax had to do was almost break his hand. “What are you doing out here?”
“I was going to make a phone call when I saw you. Why were you beating up the wall?” The way he asked it, with a soft smile and no judgment, had Jax replying without a second thought.
“It’s better than beating up someone else.”
“You want to hurt people?” Doubt in his gaze, Tristan tilted his head, as if he couldn’t believe that Jax wanted to hurt anyone.
“No, I’m just…I’m just angry. But I only take it out on things.” And he had a box of broken items on a shelf in his closet to prove it. “And sometimes myself.”
Tristan leaned in a bit closer. Yeah, he definitely wasn’t avoiding Jax anymore. “What made you so angry?”
“Do you have a couple of hours?” Jax chuckled but it dissolved, leaving behind a somber expression. “I’m hurting a lot today. So, I tried to call the pain specialist you recommended, but he’s not taking any more new patients, and the receptionist was a jerk about it.”
“It always amazes me how many people lack empathy in positions that require it,” Tristan murmured, removing the ice pack, studying Jax’s fingers, and carefully putting it back. To be honest, Jax thought it was helping; his knuckles weren’t throbbing anymore, which was probably good.
“Trust me, I’ve thought the same thing.” Jax sighed, relieved that his fingers ached less with every passing minute. “It’s not easy being in pain all the time, and sometimes the anger builds and builds until I have to get it out.”
“By giving yourself more pain?” If anyone else had asked that, Jax would be snapping back or walking away in a rage, but Tristan radiated a serenity that was contagious; plus, he was far too lovely to argue with.
“I know, it’s stupid. But-”
“How you feel isn’t stupid,” Tristan interrupted, his sandy gaze making Jax’s heart race at top speed. “It’s understandable.”
They’d never been this close before, and the energy between them became too intense to ignore. Tristan would have to be headless not to feel it too, but Jax tested him anyway, wetting his lips with his tongue. Tristan’s eyes flicked down, the pupils dilating, and Jax tried not to grin.
Looking up through his lashes, Jax stood on his toes, taking the risk and pressing his lips to Tristan’s. As expected, Tristan went stock-still, but Jax didn’t pull away, knowing that they both wanted this.
