Chapter 21
Ethan
The moment I catch a glimpse of Aurora, I know something is wrong. She tries to hide it, but her eyes are red-rimmed, her face is ashen, and there’s a defeated slump to her posture that triggers my protective instincts.
My first thought is: I fucked up. I should’ve taken her out on our date. The publicity should’ve focused on our trio, not only Jax and me. Coming out is a huge, life-changing decision for all of us, and excluding her was a mistake.
Then again, Jackson tagged her in several photos. Maybe she’s getting harassed online. After his viral relapse, the last thing she needs is more public scrutiny. Either way, I’m an idiot. I didn’t think this through.
I set the box of her favorite red velvet cupcakes on the counter. The place is silent and tense. My gaze shifts to Reece—his level stare, stiff shoulders, jaw clenched tight enough to crack teeth—and dread jolts through me. I cross the room and drop to one knee in front of Aurora.
“What’s going on?” I rest my hand on her stomach. “Are you feeling sick?” My biggest fear is something happening to her or the baby.
Her gaze meets mine, eyes glistening with unshed tears. Her lips part, but nothing comes out.
“Breathe for me, love.”
She inhales a shuddering breath. “I turned the water off,” she whispers, her voice trembling. “Can you call a plumber? He flushed my ring down the toilet.”
Her ring? Her engagement ring?
My head whips toward Reece, confusion twisting with rising anger. “You did what?”
Clearly, it wasn’t an accident, or Aurora wouldn’t be this devastated, but why? Everything between the four of us was going well.
Jax drops the other bakery box on the coffee table with a thud. “What the fuck did you do?”
Reece stands, his expression stone-cold. “I flushed your ring down the toilet.”
“You flushed her engagement ring?” Jackson’s chest heaves with building rage. “The one I had custom-made for her?”
At his words, Aurora’s face crumples. Racked with sobs, she buries her face in her hands.
“I was proving a point,” Reece snarls, his nostrils flaring. “It’s a tracker. Your whole marriage is a sham.”
“A sham?” Jackson rolls his neck and shrugs off his hoodie. “Are you fucking delusional? Need me to straighten out your thoughts for you?”
I jump to my feet, torn between comforting Aurora and stopping Jax from losing his shit.
Reece squares his shoulders and steps toward him. “You lied to me. You fucked with my head. You called her your wife every chance you got.”
Jackson doesn’t flinch. “Yeah, I did, and the only reason I didn’t legally marry her was because of the baby.”
If I don’t step in, they’ll come to blows, and Aurora will be inconsolable. Her reaction depends entirely on Jackson’s—and if she weren’t upset, he wouldn’t be either. Tracker or not, he can afford to have another ring made.
“Enough!” I bark in the same commanding tone that silences a locker room of testosterone-fueled hockey players. “Not now, Jax.”
His furious gaze meets mine. I pointedly glance at Aurora, and he follows.
With a warning glare at Reece, he scoops her into his arms. “Come here, babe.” He settles with her on his lap.
She curls into his chest and sobs, and I’m guessing she’s as shaken by Reece’s anger as she is by the loss of the ring.
“Shh. I’ve got you.” Jax kisses her temple. “The ring is still here, or the app would’ve alerted me. We’ll find it. Okay?” He begins unweaving her messy braid. “You’re wearing my clothes again. If you want, we can switch shirts, and you can smell like Ethan too.”
Reece slips his phone from his pocket. “She’s exhausted—her back hurts, and she’s not sleeping well. She needs one of those maternity pillows.”
I grab a blanket from the couch and drape it over her, then jerk my head toward the hallway for Reece to follow.
Once we’re in the bedroom with the door shut behind us, I ask, “Did she tell you to leave?”
Aurora has handed me my ass a few times over Jackson. She tried dumping me once, so I know she didn’t take this lightly.
He shifts his weight. “Not exactly.”
“What did she say?”
“She said if I couldn’t accept all of her, then I needed to leave.”
What’s not to accept? “And?”
He twirls the diamond in his ear. “I’ll fish the damn ring out of the toilet.”
“Fine.” I let it go—for now, hoping if we retrieve the ring, she’ll stop crying.
I trail Reece into the bathroom. He kneels beside the toilet and peers into the bowl. The room smells of Aurora’s lavender and mint body oils, and the tiles are damp around the tub.
“She take a bath?”
He cranks the valve to confirm Aurora turned off the water. “Yeah. We did.”
“You wanna tell me what happened?” I lean on the doorframe with my arms crossed.
My temper is simmering just below the surface, but I’m keeping it in check for Aurora’s sake.
“Because I know you didn’t decide to flush her engagement ring on a whim, not while she’s pregnant and not feeling well, right?
” I crack my knuckles not to be threatening, but to relieve some tension.
Raking a hand through his hair, he falls back and sits against the vanity. “We were talking about the baby. I told her I’m struggling with loving another man’s child—your child.”
“Jesus.” I pinch the bridge of my nose.
“She made some valid points,” he continues. “I was wrapping my head around it, opening up to her, then she drops the bomb they’re not legally married.”
“And that’s a problem because…?”
He glances up, conflict warring in his eyes. “She lied to me. I wanted her, and it was driving me crazy. I could’ve been with her instead of being so fucking confused. I feel like an idiot all over again.”
“It wasn’t intentional, and it’s over with. It’s in the past.”
The bedroom door swings open. Jackson’s hurried footsteps rush toward us, and I straighten, ready to intervene—but he bursts into the bathroom, his face alight with excitement.
“Dude!” he says to Reece, as if he’s just discovered the magic key to fixing everything. “You throw tantrums like your nephew.”
Reece stares at him with a blank expression. “My nephew is four.”
“You have rigid thinking, and your upbringing didn’t help.
You barely talk, but you must be intelligent.
You wear the same damn clothes every day, and you repeat the same phrases—which is how I can easily mock you,” Jax rambles, his words coming a mile a minute.
“You mirror others—I thought it was part of your training, but maybe it’s natural.
You love Aurora because she’s low-stimuli—I do, too—and you hate me because I’m high-strung. ”
“It’s called a fucking uniform,” Reece growls. “And I hate you because you never shut up.”
“Same difference.” Jax grins and flicks his wrist. “Anyway, you play with your piercings like a fidget spinner. You and I are alike—we’re special.”
“No, we’re not,” Reece grumbles. “I’m nothing like you.”
I can’t help but smile at this turn of events and at how ridiculously happy Jackson is. It could be worse—he could be throwing punches.
“Where’s Aurora?” I ask him.
“Asleep on the couch.” He sinks to the floor opposite Reece and leans back on the tub. “Do you want your own space, like at the beach house, or will the guest suite be okay?”
Reece shakes his head. “I’m not—I’m not sleeping without Aurora.”
“I know she’s your security blanket, but now that you’re sleeping at night instead of staying up to decompress, you’re losing it a little.”
Jax misses nothing. He’s hyperaware. It’s another reason he’s so good on the ice: he knows where every player is. He’s acutely aware of his opponents and is always one step ahead.
“Maybe you two need to—” I motion between them.
“Ew!” Jackson cuts in, his face scrunching in disgust. “We fucked Aurora yesterday, and that’s as close as we’re getting.
I’m not attracted to him. I’ve explained this to you.
I’m attracted to kindness, to safety. I’m demi.
I have to love and trust a person. You’re rough, but he’s mean. That’s not my kink. No.”
My brows knit into a scowl. “Fucking Christ, Jax, you need to burn off some energy. I meant bond—hang out, catch a game, hit the gym. What makes you think I want you to take another man’s dick?”
Reece knocks his head back into the cabinet. “Can we please stop talking about this?”
Jackson rolls his eyes. “Dude, if we’re going to have sex together, we should probably talk about it.”
“We’re not having sex together—ever,” Reece snaps.
“We already had sex together.”
“No, we did not.”
“Yes, we did,” Jax insists. “You fucked Aurora while I fucked Aurora, while Ethan fucked me. It was phenomenal, and you liked it. I heard you come.” He smirks, knowing exactly what he’s doing.
Reece’s eyes grow comically wide, his face flushed. “Never say that again.”
“I felt your piercings…on your dick. I felt your dick.”
He launches himself at Jackson. “Shut. Up.”
Laughing, Jax scrambles backward across the tile. “You can deny it all you want, but you liked it. You came harder than the last time we had sex.”
Reece rises to his full height, fists clenched. “Another word, and you’ll never speak again.”
One of these days, he might actually kill Jax. But for now, I think I have a solution to this madness.
“Why don’t you two go shopping for Aurora and the baby? I’ll call a plumber. Grab the body pillow—and Reece, get over your shit and find a way to make this up to her.”