45. Jax
Jax
“Ican’t come back to your apartment,” I say as Gray leans back, watching me curiously.
“Why not?”
“Because my brothers are all fucked up right now. Scott’s been beaten up twice in the space of two weeks, and Flynn owes you half a million dollars. You should go home. We can talk tomorrow.”
“What did I just say?”
“That you’re not going anywhere.”
“Damn straight.”
“Are you just here because you need to get laid? Because there are cheaper—”
“Shut up, Jax. Were you even listening to me?”
I swallow, unsure how to feel about what he just confessed to me. It’s all such a shock, I don’t even know what to say. His hands move up my back, and I wonder if he’s going to peel the towel from around me.
Instead, I watch him rise to his feet, frowning as he reaches out a hand to me.
Over the next few minutes, he helps me to find some clothes, drying my back and joking that he has to turn away so he doesn’t see me naked.
It’s nice. Peaceful, and completely fucking terrifying.
I don’t know what to make of what he told me. Part of me is elated, euphoria spreading through every cell in my body. The other part doesn’t trust it at all.
I don’t understand how he can truly care about me after the start we had, after everything he has had to sacrifice, and after the artificial way we came together in the first place.
The future feels murky and filled with obstacles, not least his relationship with Flynn. I can’t imagine my brother rolling over for him. Flynn Jenson doesn’t live under anybody else’s rules.
“You’re thinking too much,” Gray says tenderly, as he towels my hair dry.
“Are you going to take over the club?” I ask, and the silence that follows makes my gut twist.
“I’ll be a silent partner,” he says, squeezing the last drops from it. “But I’m an investor now. I have to be.”
“And if Flynn wants to buy you out?”
“Then he can. But I’m guessing it’ll take him a while.”
I roll my eyes. “You’re an arrogant son of a bitch.”
“Hmm. True. But I also know this city,” his fingers press lightly on my shoulders, turning me around as his steely gaze meets mine. “The club will be a success. I’ll make sure of it. That district is hard to manage, the rents are skyrocketing, and without significant support, it would have failed.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Maybe not. Maybe you would have had a miracle, and JJ’s would have become the best club in New York City. But I doubt it.” He smirks. “With my backing, it’ll do well. That’s all any of you should care about.”
“JJ’s?”
“Has a certain ring to it, doesn’t it. Jones and Jensons.”
“Jensons would be first.”
He licks his lips, smiling down at me. “Sure.” His hand runs through my hair, pulling it over my shoulder. “Plus, there’s another reason the investment is a good thing for me.”
“Don’t tell me, you plan to open three more businesses in that district?”
“Not quite, it’s closer to home.”
“What?”
“Well, I have to keep Flynn happy now that I’m dating his baby sister.”
“Dating?” I ask, my heart thumping as his arms come around me again.
“Hmm, I would say so.”
“That’s kind of presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“Maybe a little bit,” he smirks. “And thinking about it, I should probably make sure all your brothers like me, right? Maybe I should order a bunch of pizzas tonight.”
“I think you’ve spent enough money on my family for one day.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he says quietly. “Nothing matters except convincing you to let me stay.”
Two hours later, I’m sitting on the floor of my living room, propped up against Gray with my brothers all around us. Seb and Ben have inexpertly patched each other up and are sitting, eating the final slice of pizza from the box.
Gray couldn’t believe that he needed to order eight pizzas for six of us, and then watched in amazement as Ben devoured a whole one for himself in under ten minutes.
He hasn’t left my side since we came downstairs. Flynn is still frosty at the edge of the room, but Ben and Seb, in that easy way of theirs, seem to have accepted Gray as one of their own. Even Scott, still wary of him, thanked him for the pizza.
“I’m gonna go to bed,” Ben says after a jaw-cracking yawn as he shifts next to Seb. “You look like shit, bro, you should sleep, too,” he says, patting Seb’s knee, who shoves him off, forgetting his injuries and swearing, clutching at his arm.
“You’re sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” Flynn asks.
“I’m fine, Mom,” Seb mutters, rising as Ben pushes him out of his chair and they troop upstairs.
Scott remains where he is, slumped in his seat, his eyes roaming around the room before coming to rest on me.
“I was looking online earlier,” he begins slowly. “There’s a GA meeting tomorrow. I’m gonna go.”
I glance at Flynn, but he continues to chew his pizza, looking spaced out and exhausted. There isn’t much any of us can say to Scott; the journey ahead is a long one; we’ve all walked it with him before.
“I’m gonna pay you back, somehow,” Scott says earnestly. “I’m so sorry about what you had to do, Jax.”
He looks at Gray, his eyes hard and cold as he takes him in. Gray’s body is stiff against mine as Scott rises from his seat.
“You'd better take care of her. I don’t care who you are or how much money you have. You ever hurt my sister, and I’ll fucking kill you.”
“Noted,” Gray replies. “Without you fucking up, I never would have met her, so I guess I have you to thank for that.”
Scott bends down beside me, giving me a one-armed hug before limping up to bed, as Flynn clears away the pizza boxes and looks down at us on the floor.
“I have a meeting with some of the other investors tomorrow,” he says stiffly to Gray. “You coming to that?”
“Absolutely,” Gray replies, and Flynn clenches his jaw. “Where is it?”
“At Jensons,” Flynn mutters as he walks stiffly into the kitchen, and Gray pulls me gently back against him, his mouth beside my ear.
“You know, if we were at my apartment, it’d be a lot less far to travel in the morning,” he murmurs. “Your brothers are all going to bed. You don’t need to be here to watch them sleep. Come back with me. I want to wake up with you for once.”
I stare at the far wall, my fingers coming up to touch the windchime around my neck. There’s another one hanging from the ceiling in front of the window to my left, and I watch as it catches the light, sending spangling patterns over the ceiling.
I don’t have the energy to argue anymore.
“Alright,” I whisper, and Gray is rising before I’ve even got the word fully out of my mouth.
I head upstairs and pack a bag with clothes for tomorrow and some toiletries.
I sneak back downstairs and silently watch Gray for a moment. He’s tidying up after my brothers. He goes to shake hands with Flynn who gives him a reluctant look before offering his hand.
I feel a warmth in my chest before I clear my throat a little to announce my presence.
Flynn gives me a protective look and a little nod as he walks past me to the stairs.
Gray takes me out to his Audi.
“I still don’t get why you don’t have a driver,” I say as I get in beside him, smiling as his hand moves immediately to my knee.
“Because I like to do it myself.”
I shake my head and give a little laugh.
What a fucking day. Never in a million years did I think I’d be sitting here with him right now after everything that happened today.
“Do you really have bags of money in the trunk?” I ask incredulously.
“Yeah.”
“You’re lucky someone didn’t hotwire it.”
“It’s pretty hard to break into,” he says, inputting a code into a little keypad beside the steering wheel and then making a little humming noise. “But you have a good point. I’ll bring it all inside when we get back.”
“How much is there?” I ask curiously. Gray doesn’t speak, just glancing at me with that familiar heat in his eyes that makes my whole body ache for him.
“A lot. I wasn’t taking any chances.”
He starts the car and we cruise away from my house, the turmoil of the last few hours settling heavily on my shoulders in the dark and warmth of the car.
My eyes flutter open in what feels like minutes, but I check the clock, and it’s been half an hour since we left my place. Gray is watching me, a soft smile on his face.
“Let’s get you inside.”
By the time we step out of the elevator, I’m dead on my feet. Gray carries a large duffel in one hand, which he pulled from the trunk, and takes it into a walk-in closet where I hear the beep of a safe.
I wait a few minutes for him before wandering into the living room to look at the fish. I take a deep breath and feel my whole body relax while I watch them slowly swim around.
Gray enters behind me, taking my hand gently in his and leading me into the kitchen, where he deposits me on a barstool and goes about making us both a hot chocolate.
He’s quiet and contemplative as he moves in front of me, and my stomach is in knots as I wonder if he’s expecting me to tell him that I love him, too. In all honesty, I don’t know how I feel about him, not yet.
I’ve never been in love before. I don’t know what it’s supposed to feel like. All I know is every time he looks at me, my knees turn to jelly.
I laugh as he reaches into the refrigerator and pulls out whipped cream, squirting a generous amount onto the top of each mug.
“You want marshmallows?”
“No,” I say, smiling up at him. “I think that’s enough sugar for one night.”
We carry them into the living room, and he sits beside me on the couch as we watch the fish.
“You okay?” he asks quietly. I turn to him as a crease forms between his brows.
“I don’t know what you expect from me,” I say slowly. “What is this that we’re doing?”
“Dating.”
“But you said you loved me.”
“I do.”
“And I didn’t say it back.”
“That’s okay.”
“How?” I ask incredulously. “How is that okay?”
“Because I wasn’t expecting to feel the way I feel, and we started this all wrong. We both need some time to adjust, and that’s okay.”
His eyes look insanely blue in the light of the fish tank. I finish my hot chocolate, not sure how to act until he puts an arm around my shoulders and sighs in a deeply contented way that makes my stomach flip.
“You know what I think we should do?” I say decisively, putting down my empty mug.
“What?” he says, sounding worried.
“Take a shower.”
I stand up, dropping my clothes behind me as I strip and head to the bathroom.
I’m alone while I turn it on and check the temperature, and I’ve gotten inside by the time he joins me. He has taken his shirt off and leans in the doorway, watching me with a fond little smile.
“I fucking love your hair, have I ever told you that?”
“I kind of figured it out for myself,” I say, laughing, and shaking it out behind me as I stand under the spray. “I honestly think I might date you just for this shower.”
“If that’s what it takes.”
He strips off his pants and briefs, never taking his eyes off me as he steps into the shower and beneath the spray. His hands come around my body as he stands with his chest against my back.
Instinctively, my hand moves down behind me to his cock, but his hips move away as he blows out a breath.
“What?” I ask anxiously.
“You’ve had a pretty shitty day. One of the shittiest, you don’t need to—”
I turn around, my anger flaring as I shove him against the wall of the shower. He hisses at the cold tiles as I put my hand around his cock and squeeze.
“Jesus, Jax.”
“Are we no longer fucking now that we’re dating?”
“What? I just wanted to give you some time to—”
“I’m talking,” I say, squeezing even harder.
“Fuuuuck, would you, uh, would you stop that?” he pleads as I stroke his cock all the way to the tip.
“The Gray Jones I know wants sex all the time. I would like him back, please, even if he isn’t paying me anymore, he can still fuck me like he is.”
He moans, his head falling back against the tiles as he rocks his hips against my hands. I’m just getting into the rhythm of it when an involuntary yelp leaves my mouth as he flips us around and pins my hands above my head.
“You know, I think you’re right,” he says thoughtfully, pushing his hips against mine. “I’m gonna miss throwing money all over you,” he licks up my neck, making me shudder. “I liked rubbing it over your clit, too. You were such a little slut for it.”
“Oh my god, Gray.”
I collapse back against the shower wall as he lifts me up, parting my legs and stepping in between them.
“Are you asking me to fuck you?” he says, his fingers moving over my ass as I try to balance against the wall.
“Yes.”
“How badly do you want it?” he asks, circling his tongue around my nipple before sucking it into his mouth. My hand plunges into his hair as he uses his tongue in the most excruciating way.
“I need it,” I whisper as he drops me down, his cock rubbing against the entrance to my body.
“How bad?”
He steps back a little, his hand running down over my stomach as his other hand supports my ass against the shower wall. His fingers push into me, gently at first and then sliding further, scissoring as I groan above him. He chuckles low in the back of his throat.
“Oh, you are ready for it. Have I left you waiting too long?”
“You’re an asshole.”
I suck in a breath as he pulls out his fingers and replaces them with his cock. There’s been hardly any prep, and it’s tight as he pushes in, inch by inch.
“I’m gonna fuck you in every room in this house, Jacqueline, until you’re screaming for it. Begging me to fill you up with my cum.”
“Christ.”
“And when we’re done, I’m gonna do it all over again,” he says, snapping his cock into me in the final sharp movement that has me moaning against him.
“Which one is better?” he asks.
I open my eyes, looking down at him with a frown. “W—what?”
“The shower or my dick?” he asks, his eyes twinkling.
I laugh as he lowers us down, kneeling in an awkward move onto the floor, lying me down in a warm pool of water. He starts to thrust in earnest, his tongue finding mine as he fucks my mouth as hard as my body.
I pull back, crying out as he increases the rhythm. Neither of us is going to last long, and I claw my nails down his back as he thrusts into me.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he says as his cock moves inside me brutally hard and so so good.
“The… the shower,” I manage as he grins, covering my mouth with his before pulling back.
“We shall see,” he says, pushing two fingers into my mouth, choking me as I come, hard, screaming against them, my tongue sucking at them desperately. “Once I’ve had you in every room, I’ll ask again.”
His hips piston into me a few more times before he goes still above me, filling me up and lowering down on my body as the rain from the shower pours over us.
“Bring it on,” I say, wondering if I’m dreaming. If I am, I definitely don’t want to wake up.