Chapter 19 #2
“He helps me out a lot and couldn’t have been more attentive to me if I was actually a standard mother of his child.
Anna has never acted possessive or attempted to intervene when it come to that either.
If anything, she seems to be even more sympathetic and willing to help me out if single motherhood begins to feel overwhelming.
“Truthfully, without their presence I’m not sure I would feel terribly comfortably attending college in the fall.
It felt a little overwhelming being the sole caregiver to my sister and Erin.
That’s another thing, they’re making the effort to include Mei Lynn in everything and treat her like a younger sister as well.
The situation is weird to say the least, but it works for all of us. ”
I opened my school portal before saying. “I’m glad it’s working out for you guys. Herman and Anna are amazing people, and I know those girls are well-loved. If you want to extend the invitation to Mei Lynn for Saturday, you can.”
Mei Lynn was still super hostile toward me, but I wouldn’t make her feel excluded because of that. I’m sure once she grew out of her teenage angst she would realize I wasn’t the enemy. Until then I would continue to kill her with kindness.
Mike stuttered to a stop in front of my table and grasped his heart dramatically. “My goodness! You’re gracing us with your presence today? No injuries from a mission or some baby shit ailing you today?”
I looked up from my computer and gave him a deadpan look.
Mike was still salty that Ben and the others hadn’t come groveling to him to rejoin the band.
Somehow it was my fault that I had “turned” them against him, ignoring his own culpability in the whole thing.
Ben still allowed him to practice with us, but he rarely showed up and when he did he was drunk and belligerent.
“Eff off, Mike,” Jaxson scowled at the same time Tamara snapped. “Everyone knows you have a small dick Mike, no use swinging it around because no body wants to see it.”
I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped my lips. Seriously, I never believed Tamara and I could ever become friends, but here we were.
Mike began to spew more of his hateful rhetoric, but Jaxson was out of his chair in seconds. His chair toppled over with a loud resounding smack. The entire room went eerily silent, and all the other high schoolers’ attention was now on us.
Mike wasn’t a very tall guy and even though he trained on a daily basis he looked comically small next to Jaxson.
Jaxson had to have at least five inches on him and roughly fifty pounds on him.
I saw the fear enter Mike’s eyes for a moment but then his brash bravado transformed his features once more.
He puffed up his chest, and it bumped against Jaxson’s.
Jaxson gave him a sardonic smirk before hissing.
“I’ll forgive you’re first thoughtless comment.
But I won’t allow you to speak another disgusting word about my connection and the mother of my children.
I’ll make you eat every other vile word you spew toward her.
In fact, I’m done with your off handed comments in general. ”
Mike visibly swallowed but then his eyes shifted toward his audience. He wouldn’t want to be publicly humiliated, and he would be if he stepped down. Like the foolish manchild he was he sneered back. “What are you going to do about it? Hit me? Tell Daddy?”
Jaxson shook his head to the side, dispelling the lock of hair that had fallen over his eyes before giving Mike a cruel smile.
“I won’t need to do any of those things.
I can just forward some pertinent emails to your Ivy league school.
I would hate for their administration to discover you have a record and lied about your community service hours and your admittance paperwork.
I’ll even forward them the receipts to prove it. ”
For a moment Mike looked truly horrified and scared. “You can’t do that.”
Jaxson gave him a cold look before crossing his arms over his chest. “I can and I will and it would all be your fault for loudly bragging in the locker room. I’ll tell them about your mother bribing a judge to make your record disappear.
I’ll show them the community service hours you spent at shelters and such are so bogus.
I’ll show them the email of the paperwork you bribed, coerced, and blackmailed Benson into doing.
I’ll dig for more damning evidence of you if I must. All you have to do is leave Blake alone and keep her name out of your mouth.
I’ve let our past friendship blind me to your faults for entirely too long, but now I’m done. ”
“Bell. Huxley.” Mr. Bate’s voice interrupted the volatile standoff. “Is there a problem here?”
Mr. Bate’s generally gave us a lot of freedom.
He treated us like adults unless we showed him, we couldn’t be trusted.
I had nearly forgotten that he had left to the lower learning center to help the newer Middle School moderator.
Even if he had been here, he generally spent most of his time in the testing center unless we needed his help.
Jaxson turned and gave Mr. Bates a charming smile before picking up his chair and righting it. “Not at all Mr. Bates.” Then he coldly smiled at Mike. “At least not anymore.”
Mike glared at me before mumbling as he passed Jaxson. “Fuck you.”
“No, thank you. You’re not my type and even if you were I wouldn’t want to catch any STD you’re carrying.” Jaxson mockingly chuckled.
Mike mumbled something else, but Jaxson and I weren’t paying him any heed. Instead, I pulled Jaxson’s mouth down to mine. I kissed him soundly before murmuring in his ear. “I think you’re getting lucky after class today.”
I don’t know if it was my hormones or if it was just how sexy it was seeing him go Alpha, but either way it turned me on.
Jaxson gave me a dimpled smile. “Yeah?”
I laughed and nodded. “Yeah.”
Now I couldn’t wait until class was over today for more reasons than one.
η
Oscar Hines, our builder, was clearly a man that spent a lot of times outdoors.
His skin was darkened by the sun. He was a tall and well-built man that had a slight beer belly but was still reasonably attractive for a man in his late thirties.
His full head of dark hair was liberally laced with grey, giving him a silver fox look but his most arresting features were his silver-grey eyes.
Honestly his eyes could rival a newly minted nickel or dime, they were so bright.
Jace and Pops hadn’t just chosen him not only because of his stellar reputation but also his ties to our community.
He was gifted and most of his employees were as well.
According to their research he was exceptionally fast at what he did because of that detail.
Yes, his crew used normal practices while working but were able to use their gifts to make the process quicker.
It was a huge draw for us, especially with our desire to be in our homes as soon as all the outside threats were eliminated.
His eyes landed on me for a heartbeat too long before widening on Lincoln who sat on the opposite side of me.
He had already been apprised of who we were, but I knew it wasn’t normal to see a movie star and a woman with seven connections every day.
From our research we knew his nucleus was his office manager and her other connection was his project manager.
Honestly, I wished she hadn’t been busy because I would have loved to have met her. I knew female nuclei were rare, despite meeting two already—if you included Victoria. I was fascinated by observing the dynamics of their relationships since I was fairly new at it myself.
As if he read my thoughts. Oscar smiled before proffering his hand.
“Sorry for staring. I heard the rumors but didn’t know if I could believe them.
Wilson and Kathy wanted me to express their regrets on not being here tonight.
Unfortunately, our son started swimming lessons and our daughter caught a nasty stomach bug from pre-school.
“They said they would love to meet you all the next time we meet face to face.”
Jace took his extended hand before wryly saying. “Most of the rumors may be true and we would like that. This is our nucleus Blake and that’s Lincoln, Remy, Drake, Noah, Troy, and Jaxson. Thanks again for rescheduling and meeting us today, Mr. Hines.”
We all shook his hand and returned his greetings. Our waiter came into the room and took our drink orders. Initially, the young waiter had been starstruck to see Lincoln’s presence. He had already signed and NDA and seemed super professional after his original awestruck behavior.
My Hines took a seat at the table and settled in. We were thankful that Mr. Hines was willing to meet us on base because of our situation despite the distance he had to travel. It was safer for me and Lincoln enjoyed the freedom of not having to wear a disguise.
After the waiter left to get our drinks, Mr. Hines gave a slight smirk. “Oscar please, and it was no big deal. Afterall, you’re paying me well and keeping me busy for the next few months.”
Jace sat back down and placed an arm over my chair before returning the smile and saying. “I was just glad you’re schedule was fairly open, and you were able to prioritize our builds.”
Oscar pulled out a few binders before setting them on the table.
“You guys contacted us at a perfect time. We were wrapping up two other jobs and some of our other clients were dragging their feet or unwilling to sign the necessary contracts to start the builds. Did you all have a general idea what you’re looking for? ”
“We’re thinking a rancher with vaulted ceilings and a full-size basement, along with a pole barn and attached eight car garage,” Remy said without preamble.