31. Jax
jax
My phone rings, interrupting the meeting we are currently in the middle of, and I apologize to Jet, silencing the phone before setting it face down.
Bonnie and I finally have our meeting with the mayor after getting our last meeting canceled due to a family emergency.
“Sorry about last month. It turned out to be quite hectic,” Jet says, thumbing through the rodeo school proposal that Bonnie and I worked on over the last two months. I was getting more and more excited about the prospect of having something tangible of my own to work with.
There was even an offer from Three Rivers to use their facility for the school, eliminating the need for use of city property, which had been one of the hiccups Jet had mentioned in his long email, along with liability insurance, transportation, and use of rodeo animals in an unsanctioned area.
All of which should be covered if we use the ranch for the school.
“No problem. It’s a busy time of year,” I say, leaning forward on my elbows on the conference table. “We just want to get a jump on establishing this before spring hits, get some kids signed up, classes scheduled and the like.”
“This offer from the ranch is a good one,” he mentions, slipping the papers back into the folder. “So why do you need me?”
I shift in my seat, meeting Bonnie’s eye, and watch her shoulders straighten. My brother’s girl is a little shy at times, but I’ve noticed that when she is faced with business things, she handles it with a no-nonsense attitude.
“Financing, actually,” she says, looking him straight in the eye.
I can tell Jet respects that by the way his lips twitch.
“We no longer need your permission to start the school, though it would be nice to have the support of our mayor,” she says, unfolding another folder and slipping out a piece of paper.
“But as you probably realize, Jax and I don’t personally come from money, and we would need someone to help invest to get the school going.
Here”—she slips the sheet across the table—“are the projected ROIs for the school. We realize it will take some time,” she continues, taking charge of the meeting, which I’m perfectly content with.
“But we want to make this affordable for all.”
“Maybe you remember.” I start, getting Jet’s attention.
“That you and I survived because of rodeo school. I certainly did.” I shake my head, thinking about what a dumbass teen I would have been without it.
“It gave me stability when shit got hard. I want to offer that to the kids in our community, give them something to work toward, somewhere to get their adrenaline high where they can be safe.”
Jet lowers his brows. “It’s not always safe, Jax.”
I pause, remembering the story I heard about his brother’s accident a few months ago. His brother was a rodeo star, a bull rider who went all the way to the top, only for it to end in tragedy. “I know, Jet.”
“I’m just not sure it’s something I want to contribute to.” He starts, the doubt creeping into his expression.
“Think on it,” Bonnie says, interrupting the plea I was about to give. “Take the rest of this year and get back to us in January. That will still give us time to get everything together for an early April start.”
I glance from her to Jet again, wondering if he’ll go for it. I can’t blame the man for not wanting to be a part of this, but I was hoping that he was going to be able to look at the bigger picture.
A sigh leaves him, and he adds the financial report to his folder before standing and buttoning his suit jacket. “Okay. I’ll give you a call in January.”
I smile and stand, following him out of his conference room and into the hall where his receptionist is.
I see the boy that was here last time and gather that he must be Jet’s nephew.
A girl I’ve never seen before is sitting with the boy, seemingly going over homework with him, and Jet clears his throat before holding out a hand to me.
“Good to see you again, Jax.”
“Yeah, man. We’ll have to catch up soon.” I throw a thumb over my shoulder. “We’re heading to Bottle Grounds for a drink tonight. You should join.”
“Ah, I appreciate the offer, but?—”
“He accepts!” the girl, or woman, says as she stands, smoothing a hand over her long skirt and smiling at me. Her hair is long and brown, and she looks like the quintessential kindergarten teacher type.
“Celeste, I need to be home tonight,” Jethro replies with a gruff voice.
She waves a hand, avoiding eye contact with Jethro, who seems to be trying to get her attention. “Nah, I have a handle on Zade tonight. Mr. Porter would love to join you.”
“Ah.” I chuckle awkwardly, looking between the two of them. Bonnie gives me an eyebrow raise, and I see I’m not the only one who notices something going on. “Well, great. See you at eight, man.”
“I could take you home, make good use of the bathtub again. Or that new pregnancy massager you just got. That one looks like a good one,” I whisper in Felicity’s ear as we sit along the benched wall in the dart area of the bar.
We didn’t come here with the intention of playing darts, but all the girlfriends and wives challenged us guys to a game of darts, so here we were.
“You’re just trying to distract me,” Felicity says, turning to face me. Her bright green eyes are lit up, and I revel in seeing that look on her face. “You scared of losing, baby?”
I scoff, looking at the scoreboard on the wall. It was sadly lacking on the guys’ side, and I blamed that on my team for allowing their women to distract them.
“I’m only scared of losing you,” I reply, laughing at Jet, who’s throwing his darts angrily at the board.
When he first got here, it was a happy time, where we caught up on all things life since high school. Then he was on his phone texting someone, and his mood changed. Ever since, he’s been throwing darts like he wants the darts to go through the board.
I had no idea what was going on, but with Felicity’s hand on my thigh the way it was, I was less concerned with my old friend.
I came home from our meeting with Jet to find Felicity surrounded by the letters I’d sent her. I was shocked to see them, but even more shocked to see her sitting there with tears running down her face. I didn’t think anything I sent was bad.
Though there may have been some about my injury.
I asked her what was wrong, but she just stood and wrapped her arms around me the best she could and then vowed to love me forever.
I didn’t ask many questions after that, though I did sweep the letters off to the floor and made good use of her desk.
I had no idea Gerald and Hannah would have kept those letters, but I was kind of glad that Felicity got to see what was going on with me during that time. It brought us even closer together.
Felicity uses a finger to turn my head to face her, and I let my eyes just drink her in. I was a fucking sap because I could waste years staring at her face, memorizing the way she showed her love for me whenever our eyes met.
Yeah, I was done for.
“You’re never losing me, Jax. Never have, really,” she replies a little more seriously, giving me a firm kiss on the lips before standing and making her way to the shooting line. She winks and starts her turn, making way too many good shots.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I look at the screen, cringing when I see the unknown caller on the screen. Again.
Fuck. I wish he would leave me the hell alone.
I thought about moving away, figuring out a place to go where he couldn’t find me. But with a celebrity girlfriend, that was going to be a hard thing to do. There weren’t many places to hide out.
I look up, and to the side on the outskirts of our little group is Mitch, who’s looking right at me like he knows who’s calling me. I look away, not interested in having this conversation with him.
We’ve barely spoken since that night when my old man’s thugs showed up and beat the shit out of me.
“I have to pee,” Felicity says when she comes back over, and I stand, tucking her hand into mine and weaving us around the people in the bar. It wasn’t overly crowded, and somehow the locals hadn’t shared the fact that we had a celebrity living in our town, keeping her location a secret.
I check the bathroom, making sure she has privacy before I wait right outside. Ezra took the night off at Felicity’s request, and I was happy to play bodyguard. I’ll do anything to keep her safe.
A shadow falls over the hallway, and I glance over, sighing when I see Mitch standing there. “What?”
A shrug lifts his shoulders, and he enters the hallway, turning his back to the opposite wall and leaning against it. “Just wondering when you were going to face the problem.”
“Face the problem,” I mumble, crossing my arms and shaking my head. “And what problem is that?”
He nods his head to the door behind me and says, “You’ve got a girl in there and a baby on the way, and you’re not worried about how dear old dad is going to react when he realizes who that girl is and how much money she has?”
I stiffen, bracing myself for a fight with my brother. His words piss me off, making my heart rate spike. “Dad isn’t going near her.”
“No. Probably not.” He shrugs, and his nonchalant attitude has me taking a deep breath because he’s done this before.
The whole acting like nothing is wrong, but really, he’s pointing out everything that is.
“Until he comes here himself with his little group of buddies and threatens your family in there.”
I still, my mind slowly processing his words and realize what he’s saying.
For weeks, I’ve been able to just go along with everything. The pure joy of being with Felicity again, of thinking about being a dad, kept me busy enough, occupied enough, that I never really thought about anything other than what was happening right then in the moment.
But the way he phrases it… Your family in there.
He was fucking right. And it pisses me off.
However, I need to put my pride aside. I need to get a handle on the situation before Felicity has to be involved.
Fuck. I want her nowhere near my old man. He is poison, and she is fresh mountain air.
“Fine.” I hear the door starting to open behind me, and turn, smiling at Felicity when she beams up at me.
She sees Mitch and rushes over to hug him, and I watch in astonishment as he happily returns her hug, almost…smiling at her. Haven’t seen that in a while.
I keep myself beside her, watching even more intently for threats surrounding us, and frown at my brother. When he’s done talking to Felicity, I nod at him.
We walk away, Felicity oblivious to the turmoil that is boiling inside of me, and that’s the way I want to keep it.