Chapter 17
17
first rule of blade club
I arrived at Wilde Brew for my opening shift even earlier than usual, mostly because I hadn’t slept much. My mind kept replaying the events of the night before like a highlight reel I couldn’t—and didn’t want to—turn off.
Not the bad parts, but the good. If I had to be the type of gal who lost sleep due to endless rumination, at least I was able to focus on happy thoughts. And there’d been plenty to go around.
That kiss.
The way Jax had looked at me after.
The feeling of his hands on my face, on my waist...
And now, as I moved through my opening routine on autopilot, I couldn’t stop touching my lips. They still tingled. It was as if they were trying to remind me that, yes, that really happened, and I couldn’t thank them enough.
I wasn’t sure I’d believe it otherwise.
I’d kissed Jax Thorne.
Or rather, he’d kissed me .
I’d love to say it was mutual—and in some ways, it was. But that man’s complete control over the situation had been crystal clear. Sure, I’d been the one to take it to the fridge— score one for my lack of impulse control .
But that move had only let him know we were on the same page, which sparked him into gifting me the kind of kiss that I felt in my soul. And the way he’d punctuated it by soothing my fears about what came next?
Jax had owned that whole scene.
Was I endlessly distracted because of it? Sure was. At one point, I nearly poured coffee grounds into the machine without a filter, which would have been a disaster.
It was just… Now that it was the light of day and I could see my previous crush for what it was, I was pretty sure he’d claimed my heart, too.
“Why do you look like that?”
I jumped, nearly dropping the mug I’d been absently drying for the last five minutes. Wednesday stood at the other end of the counter, her perfectly styled ponytail swinging as she tilted her head.
“Like what?”
“Like you’ve been replaced by an alien who’s trying really hard to act human but can’t quite nail the smile.” She dropped her bag behind the counter and tied on her apron. “Spill.”
I bit my lip, trying to contain said creepy alien smile. “Nothing to spill.”
“Luna. Why would you even bother trying to hide the wattage of that smile? It’s blinding me. Plus, you’re here early, which never happens unless something major is going on.”
“Hey! I come in early sometimes.”
“Name one time that wasn’t because you forgot to order supplies and needed to emergency shop before we opened.”
“Um, you can’t just attack me with facts this early in the morning, ma’am.”
Wednesday grinned, leaning against the counter. “Does this have anything to do with a certain broody regular who’s been acting very un-broody lately?”
The memory of Jax’s lips on mine flashed through my mind again, and I felt my cheeks heat. “ Maybe .”
Her eyes went mega-wide. “Yes! I knew you guys were starting something—it’s been adorably sickening to watch. But something new happened, didn’t it? Tell me everything.”
“Well…” I paused for dramatic effect. I knew the girl-talk script. This was just the first time I’d been the one with the main character energy. “We might have kissed.”
Her squeal was probably heard three blocks away. Or on the moon, maybe. “Finally! When? Where? How was it? And most importantly, are you officially together now, so you’ll get to do it again?”
“You don’t even know how it was yet,” I teased, shaking my head.
“I would die if it was anything other than earth-shattering, so please don’t tell me it was bad. Actually, I don’t care what you tell me, as long as it’s all the gory details.”
Something inside me flinched at the mention of gory details.
Brushing that darkness away again, I cracked up, setting down the mug so I could flick her with my dish towel. “I’ll confirm that the Earth was shattered, but that’s all you get. And it happened after we…” I trailed off, staring into space as I realized I’d need to tread lightly here.
First rule of Blade Club?
We don’t talk about Blade Club.
“Luna? Where did you just go?” Wednesday asked, lifting a perfectly shaped eyebrow.
“Ah, right, sorry. I’m here. We went on a fancy date last night, so yes, we’re together, and the kiss happened after the date.”
“And? Don’t leave me hanging here. Was the date good, too? No awkward moments or icks?”
I sighed dreamily, probably looking exactly like the lovesick fool I was. “No icks. The date was perfect, too.” I winced. “Well, mostly perfect. There was a small... incident.”
What am I doing?
“Incident?”
“He got hurt.” At her alarmed look, I quickly added, “Not badly! Just a small... cut. So I helped patch him up at his place, and then...”
“And then you kissed!” She bounced on her toes, already forgetting about the small cut that she didn’t need to know was actually a deep gash that he’d sewn up himself .
“Was it everything you dreamed it would be?” she asked. “Better? Worse? I need details!”
Her excitement was everything, and I laughed. “It was… Well, let’s just say the way he looked in a suit? The way he looked at me in my dress? The kiss itself? I’m still not convinced I didn’t imagine the whole night.”
Though, I definitely wished a lot of it hadn’t been real. Focusing on our kiss was the only way I could banish certain other images from my mind, which meant that Jax’s kiss was actually as sanity-saving as it was the opposite.
Wednesday fanned herself. “Girl. I knew all that angst had to be hiding something good.”
“Oh, he’s hiding plenty,” I muttered.
And then the click of the back door broke through, and we both jumped as Jax strode inside.
Speak of the devil...
He looked good—in general, but also for someone who’d needed stitches the night before. His usual black hoodie was unzipped, revealing a dark gray t-shirt that did nothing to hide his status as a Greek statue come to life.
Did it delight me that I now knew that from both sight and touch?
Yes. Yes, it did.
Our eyes met, and the intensity of his gaze made my knees weak. All rational thought left the building, and my heart? Fully betrayed me. It did that stupid fluttery thing, and I had no idea if that was a permanent condition now.
“Morning,” he said, his rough voice instantly sending me back to last night.
“Hi.”
Wednesday looked between us, her smile growing wider by the second. “Well, would you look at the time? I should probably... go count things. Coffee beans, maybe? In the back. For a long time, and far away from all of this. Bye .”
She let her final word trail after her as she disappeared into the storage room, turning back only to shoot me an exaggerated wink.
Subtle, she is not.
Jax approached the counter, leaning on it with one arm braced on the edge.
“How are you feeling?” I asked, looking pointedly at his side.
“Fine. Your nursing skills aren’t half bad.”
“Probably a good skill for me to have around you.” I’d tried for casual, but we both sort of froze, and something told me that wasn’t the best thing to say. “Uh, coffee?”
He shook his head. “Actually, I was hoping we could talk.”
My stomach dropped.
Those were never good words, right?
Cool, cool, cool. I knew his assurances after that kiss were too good to be true.
And then he tacked on a quick, “Privately?”
I nodded. “Sure. We could?—”
Before I could finish suggesting we kick Wednesday out of the storage room, he was around the counter. And then, in one smooth motion, he swept me into his arms.
I yelped, throwing my arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”
“Taking you somewhere better than a storage room.”
“Wait, but your side?—”
But we were already moving—and fast. The world blurred around us as he carried me through the back door and up the fire escape.
Or, at least, I think that was what happened. All I knew was that one minute, we were next to a freshly brewed pot of coffee, and the next…
We were on the roof.