36. Jax
JAX
O ne year later …
“Hey twat-waffle,” Carter says when I answer his call.
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you—that’s my word,” I growl down the line.
He chuckles. “Was. It’s mine now, so you better start looking for a new one.”
“Did you call just to be a cock, or do you want something?”
“I need your help.”
“With what?” He rarely asks for anything, so I’m immediately concerned, especially because he sounds stressed out. “Is everything okay, man?”
“Yeah … sort of. I have … um … a date tonight. I need you to help me out.”
“You have a date?” I laugh, because I think he’s pulling my leg. I know him well enough to know he doesn’t date. “And you want my help with that? I think you’re asking the wrong person.”
“I don’t need pointers, fucker … I’m capable of dating. Shit ,” he mumbles under his breath. “Well, I think I am. I just need someone to set up a few things for me. You know, so it’s all ready for us when we arrive.”
“Like what?”
“A table and chairs, maybe a candle.”
“A candle? Have you been drinking?”
He exhales a frustrated breath. “Look, just forget it. I’ll work something else out.”
Christ, he’s serious. “You have a real date … with a chick?”
“No, I’m taking your blow-up doll out on the town. Dickhead. Of course, it’s with a real chick.”
“Wow.”
“Why do you find that so hard to believe?”
“Come on, Carter. We’ve been friends for what, five, six years now? Tell me how many dates you’ve been on in that time. And bringing random chick’s home to bang doesn’t constitute as a date either.”
“This isn’t just anyone … it’s Indiana. I want it to be special.”
“The girl next door, Indiana? The one you’ve been in love with for years?”
“I’m not in love with her, arsehole. I just like her…”
“You love her. Stop lying to yourself. You moved almost two hundred kilometres away to try to forget her. That, my friend, speaks volumes.”
“When did you become such an expert on love?”
I run my hands through my hair. I’m not going there with him right now. “Look, I’m in the middle of something,” I lie. “When do you need me to set up this table and … candle?”
“Tonight. I’m sorry for the short notice, but it was a last-minute decision.”
“I can’t come to Newcastle tonight. I might be able to make it up there on the weekend.”
“I’m not in Newcastle. I’m in Sydney.”
“Since when?”
“Since yesterday.”
“Thanks for popping in to say hello, arsehole.”
“I’ve been flat out since I got here. Are you on your period or something?”
“What? No.”
“Well, stop acting like a bitch then.”
“Fuck off, I’m not acting like a bitch.”
“You are. Quit whinging and help me out. Oh, and by the way, I need you to order the food and bring it with you. Nothing fancy. Just burgers.”
“Burgers? Wow. You’re really pulling out the big guns. And FYI, I’m not being your damn waiter.”
“You don’t have to serve us,” he says. “Just bring it. I can do the rest. I don’t want you hanging around cramping my style.”
“Why? Are you worried that your girl will see I’m the better-looking one?” Ribbing him will never get old.
“Dream on, dickhead.”
“Where’s the date supposed to be taking place?”
“I’m thinking on the grassed area under the Harbour Bridge, overlooking the harbour.”
“Nice. You may win her over with the view, but seriously, dude, burgers?”
“Burgers are our thing.”
“Fair enough.” I want to throw in a smart remark, but I think I’ve said enough. Honestly, I’m happy for him. The love of a good woman can do wonders for the soul. “Text me all the info and I’ll get it sorted.”
“Thanks, man. I owe you one.”
“I better be the best man at your wedding,” I throw in, to piss him off. He’s going to bite, he always does.
“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m not in love, and there isn’t going to be a wedding.”
Hook, line and sinker. “Keep telling yourself that, buddy.”
He mumbles something incoherent under his breath as I end the call.
“Who was on the phone?” Candice asks as she slides her hands around my waist from behind, placing a soft kiss on my back.
“Carter.”
“Is everything okay?”
I turn in her arms and pull her soft body into mine.
Life is good, so fucking good. Being with her is easy, just like breathing.
She’s my air. We fit perfectly. I can’t even put into words what having my girls— my family —living here is like.
It has changed me, in so many ways. I finally feel complete … I’m no longer empty or alone.
“Everything’s fine,” I reply, tucking a strand of her apple-smelling pink hair behind her ear.
I’m still addicted to that smell. Sometimes when I’m in the shower, I hold her shampoo bottle to my nose and inhale like an addict.
“He wants me to help him set up something for his date with Indiana tonight.”
Her eyes widen. “ Indiana Indiana? He has a date with her?”
“The one and only.”
“Get out of town,” she squeals, slapping my chest.
“There’s no need to get violent,” I say, rubbing the spot she just hit.
“I can’t believe it. He has a date with her?”
“He does.”
“Okay, what do you need me to do?” She lets go of me and takes a step back. I chuckle when she pushes up her sleeves and rubs her hands together like she’s preparing for battle.
“Settle down there, Rambo. I have to wait for him to text me all the info.”
“I can’t believe he’s finally doing this. We’ve gotta make sure it’s a kick-arse date.”
Her eagerness to help has me grinning. If I’m being honest, I’m glad she’s on board because I have no clue about this shit. I know I gave him a hard time about it, but I want tonight to go well for him.
I pull Candice back into my arms. “Have you met her?”
“Indiana?” I nod. “No, I haven’t, but that night I went to Carter’s house, he told me all about her. They kinda remind me of us.”
It’s funny, when Carter first mentioned her, I thought the same thing.
“It almost killed me that night when you went to his house,” I admit. I’ve never had the guts to ask her about the details.
She gives me a sad look as her hands move up to cup my face. “I only went because I was trying to move on … to get over you. As it turned out, Carter only invited me over because he was trying to do the same with Indiana. We ended up just talking.”
“Your reasons for going sound awfully familiar.” I hate that there were so many other women for me in between.
Especially now that I know she felt the same way about me all along.
“Please know all the others meant nothing to me. It’s only ever been you.
They were just my pathetic attempt at trying to forget you.
It never helped. You still held my heart. You always will.”
She smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. I hate that my past indiscretions have hurt her. “It’s all in the past now, Jax. What is important is the future … our future.”
She’s right. I brush my lips against hers. “If Carter can find even a fraction of what we have now, with Indiana, I’ll be happy.”
“You care about him, don’t you?”
“I do. He’s like a brother to me. Underneath all that attitude, he’s a great guy. I’d swap him for Brent in a heartbeat if I could.”
“Oh, Jax,” she says as she squeezes me tight. “I totally get that. It’s like my relationship with Brendan. If I could swap my real dad for him, I’d do it too.”
“I’m glad that you have him. He adores you and Maddie.”
“And we adore him. I can’t wait until he and Mum are married. I’ve come to realise that the special people in our lives don’t have to be blood-related to be classified as family. It’s how you feel about them in here that counts.” She places her hand over her heart.
“I love you.”
Her fingers reach up to tenderly stroke my face. “And I love you too, Jaxson Albright, so much. It took a while, but we finally got our shit together. Let’s hope Carter and Indiana can do the same.”
My mouth moves back to hers, and I groan when she tilts her head back and deepens the kiss. My hands slide down to cup her arse as I push my semi-hard cock against her.
We pull apart quickly when Maddie enters the kitchen. It’s like she has a cock-blocking radar or something.
“Eww,” she whines. “Do you two ever stop kissing?”
I chuckle when Candice’s face turns a light shade of pink.
“We’re in love,” she says, looking at our daughter. “That’s what people in love do.”
“Yuck.” Maddie turns and leaves the room. “I’m never falling in love. Kissing is gross.”
I can’t help but laugh. I know she’s happy that we’re a proper family now, because she cried tears of joy when Candice and I told her that they were moving in with me.
But I think she’s still coming to terms with seeing us being affectionate with each other because we were apart for the first six years of her life.
It’s something I never had to witness growing up either.
My parents don’t do affection. Not even with their kids.
“I think that’s everything,” Candice says as I pack the last of the things in the trunk of the car.
I hope so too. She went above and beyond, making sure we had everything just right for Carter and Indiana’s date.
The list of instructions she’s given me is a fucking mile long.
I even had a lesson on how to set the table properly.
I’m a damn Albright—doesn’t she realise that the proper placement of cutlery was imperative in my house growing up? My mother thrived on that shit.
By the time I climb into the car and fasten my seatbelt, I’m a damn mess.
I make a mental note to stop off on the way and grab a packet of cigarettes.
I need to make sure I get this right, not just for Carter, but for Candice.
She’ll bust my balls if I stuff this up.
Thanks to her, the simple act of setting up a table and lighting a damn candle has now turned into a major fucking event.