61. Chapter 60
Chapter 60
Blake
W e padded and packed all the sentimental art, and anything of value from my room. Dean offered to let us pack his truck too, so I took everything except the furniture.
She’s welcome to it .
After unloading everything into AJ’s office. We offered to feed Dean. When he declined, so he could have dinner with his family, we decided to go out for pizza. Before we got to AJ’s favorite pizza place, he got a call from Jack.
“You’re on speaker,” he said instead of answering like a normal person.
“Hey Blake,” Jack said. “How’re you holding up?”
Seriously? Is ‘your on speaker’ code for Blake is in the car?
“Hi Jack, I’m okay, thanks.”
“How would you two feel about coming over and hanging out at Jamie’s?”
When AJ looked at me, I interpreted his look to mean he was okay with it if I was. A night out sounded like a good way to take my mind off the stress of the day, so I agreed. “Can we bring anything?”
“We’re ordering pizza, and have plenty of beer and wine, so I think we’re good.” I could hear some noise in the background. “The girls said you can bring a veggie tray so they can lie to themselves about eating healthy,” he said around a laugh.
I laughed with him. “I think we can do that.”
“What’s your ETA?”
AJ looked at the clock. “Give us an hour; we want to change first.” Then he added, “Make it one and half, since we have to stop at the store.”
“Emily wants me to warn you, Flirty will be here.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem,” AJ answered.
“Good to know.”
“Later.” AJ disconnected the call.
I didn’t want to be that girl, but I couldn’t help it. “Who’s Flirty?” And why was Jack hiding her identity?
“Flirty is Ashley’s call sign.” He didn’t sound guilty or ashamed. Maybe he didn’t have a reason to.
“Why did Jack think he needed to warn you Ashley would be there?”
“I’m not sure. You already know Ashley and I were friends with benefits, so there’s nothing to hide.” He reached over and grabbed my hand. “You met her at SSI, remember?”
“Vaguely.” That night had been a tornado of emotions and exhaustion. I remember her being polite, but I was so out of it, I wouldn’t have noticed if she was scowling at me the whole time.
“Hey,” he squeezed my hand, “there’s nothing to worry about.” AJ addressed my unspoken fear. It was unnerving how easily he read my facial expressions. Better than anyone else I’d ever known.
Two hours later, we parked outside Jamie’s house. We were late because AJ had carried me to the bedroom and showed me just how much he loved me.
Heat crept up my neck at the memory. They’ll know .
AJ carried the veggie tray with one hand and held my hand with his other. He let go just long enough to knock, but before he connected, the door opened.
Jaden opened the door wide and said, “It’s about time. I’m starving, but Meg and Emily said we had to wait for you to eat.”
I looked down, worried I’d upset them because we were late.
“Don’t be a dick,” AJ said as he put his hand on the small of my back and urged me into the house.
“Sorry, Dude, but I’m starving.” Jaden closed the door behind us. He sounded more cheerful when he said, “Hi, Blake.”
“Hi, Jaden,” I replied.
“You can call me Jay; everyone else does.” He smiled. “You guys want a beer or something?”
“That’s more like it. I’ll have a beer. Blake?” AJ asked.
“Wine sounds good, thanks.” If I wasn’t worried about embarrassing myself, I’d ask for the bottle. It’d been that kind of week.
We crossed the open space to the kitchen, where AJ handed off the tray to Jack before hugging Meg and Emily.
I wasn’t expecting the surge of jealousy as I watched Ashley hug him. Does she still want him ? What if he realized Ashley was more his type? She was thin, beautiful, and full of life.
And her father probably isn’t in jail.
“Ashley, you remember my girlfriend, Blake?” he asked.
Girlfriend. It was silly, but hearing him introduce me that way for the first time made me giddy. I blushed as a huge smile spread across my face.
“Of course. Hi Blake, it’s good to see you.” Ashley stepped forward and opened her arms, then hesitated. “Sorry, I should ask. Are you a hugger?” Her friendly smile was infectious.
“I am.” Ashley was the first person to hug me, but not the last.
The guys hugged me, too. I finally had all the J names down. Getting to know them had helped. Jamie was the oldest, and the shortest, and had compassionate hazel eyes. Jack looked just like his dad. Jaden, Jay, was the youngest, the biggest, and by far the most colorful. Tattoos covered every inch of his arms, at least what I could see.
I thanked Jay when he handed me a glass of sparkling rosé.
“Hope you like it; it’s Emily’s favorite,” Meg said. It didn't surprise me to see a glass of water in her hands.
“I love a good rosé.” The bubbles tickled my nose as I took a sip. “Thanks.”
“Me too. Thanks for bringing the veggie tray,” Emily said as she took the lid off. “Now we can pretend we’re eating healthy.” She grabbed a carrot and took a bite before picking up her wineglass. “Cheers.”
Standing around the island, we all lifted our glasses and clinked.
“Let’s eat,” Jay said.
My stress slowly drained away as we ate. It felt good to let go, even if it was only for a few minutes, and relax with my new friends.
After cleaning up, we settled back down in the living room. At one point, Jay looked at Ashley and ask-yelled, “What? Do I have something on my face?”
He rubbed his hands over his messy stubble.
Ashley said, “No, I was just thinking you fit the, Jack, what did you call it last summer? Top-notch security eye candy? Anyway, you fit the mold.” Everyone laughed.
Everyone except me. I didn’t get the joke.
“Ashley likes being surrounded by hot alpha men,” Emily explained.
Ashley laughed and said, “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
I looked around; Ashley wasn’t wrong. All the guys of SSI qualified as hot.
“You’ll get used to it,” Ashley said. “But don’t stare too long. The hot alpha you snagged for yourself might get jealous.”
I looked at AJ just in time to see him roll his eyes.
“He is prone to growling at anyone who notices how gorgeous you are,” Jay added.
AJ turned to Jay and growled. “Shut up.”
“See?” Jay held his hands up in surrender.
This time, I joined in with everyone when they laughed. Though I didn’t join in when they started giving each other shit about being jealous and over-protective. I wasn’t comfortable enough. Maybe someday .
Meg and Emily more than made up for my silence.
Before long, Meg sat by me. “You’ll get used to them,” she whispered, so only I heard her. I couldn’t help but notice how she and Jack communicated with nothing more than their eyes and subtle facial expressions.
I want a connection like that someday .
Eventually, the group split up. The guys stayed in the living room to play video games while the girls moved to the dining room table.
We talked about everything, except Meg’s pregnancy.
At one point, Meg mentioned the women’s self defense class SSI was hosting, and invited me.
“We’re all taking it,” Emily said.
“I don’t know.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to learn how to hit people.
“The class isn’t about hitting people. They teach you situational awareness and the value of trusting your instincts.”
I flashed back to AJ telling me to always trust my gut when things felt off.
“And how to throat punch a fucker if he tries to hurt you,” Ashley added, punching the air in front of her.
“Ashley!” Meg and Emily said together.
“What?”
“You’ll learn a few simple moves you can use if you have to defend yourself,” Meg clarified.
That sounded a lot better than punching someone.
I asked Meg to text me the date so I could check my schedule.
“Who knows, maybe we’ll even convince you to go to the range with us.”
I looked outside at the guys on the deck. There was no way I’d go to the range with them.
“Not with them.” Emily must have seen my anxiety. “I mean, we do go with them sometimes, but we’re still learning, so we’ve joined a women’s shooting group, the Women’s Shooting Club.”
I shook my head back and forth. I wasn’t ready to shoot a gun. Hell, I’d barely gotten over my fear of them.
“Let us know if you change your mind. Mary and Beth go with us sometimes. We all go out for a drink after.”
“Okay.” I didn’t think I would.
“You should consider taking a gun safety class, now that you live in a house with guns.”
It wasn’t the class part that caught me off guard; it was the living with AJ part. I was staying with him until things settled, but we hadn’t discussed anything long term.
“I, um, I don’t know.”
“It doesn’t have to be at the range. Jack used a laser training gun when I first started,” Meg said, misunderstanding which part of her statement had shocked me.
“I’ll think about it.” It was the best I could offer.
By the end of the night, I’d made three new friends. Including Ashley. It hadn’t taken me long to see I had nothing to fear from her.
Before saying goodbye, we exchanged numbers. I promised I’d go to the next craft night, as long as I finished my schoolwork.