3 #2
“Hey.” Risking it all, I yank him to me. His back collides with my chest, and I wrap my arms around his front. “I’m sorry.”
He grips my forearms but doesn’t throw me off him. “I’m fine.”
“You sound like Aurora.” I inhale deeply. “Smell like her too.”
A shudder racks his body, his shoulders bunching up to his ears. “Don’t sniff me, you creep!” He elbows me in the ribs and shoves me away, his voice laced with laughter. “God, I hate you.”
My shit-eating grin is impossible to hide. “Is that why you have goosebumps?”
“Fuck off.”
He strides into the bedroom, and I follow.
“It’s your baby daddy,” he tells Aurora then plops his ass in a leather chair in front of the fireplace.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” She beams at me from the floor, folding and packing newly bought clothes.
She’s like a kid at Christmas, and I love it.
Bending down, I cup her face and kiss her lips. “Visiting my favorite person.”
“I hear we have a new place.” Jax fixes me a halfhearted glare. “I thought we weren’t buying any more property?”
I settle into the chair across from him, Aurora between us. “It was already hers. I’m just encouraging her creativity.”
He stretches out his legs. “She has a whole Pinterest board of design ideas. Be prepared.”
“Come show me, baby girl.”
She grabs her iPad and climbs onto my lap, wearing an oversized T-shirt, tiny shorts, and those tall socks that drive me crazy. Relaxing into me, she flips through pictures. “I wanna stick with the industrial aesthetic. I like the exposed brick and wooden beams.”
“Me too.” I point to a picture of a bathtub facing a city skyline. “What’s this?”
Mischief dances in her eyes. “For us. Much bigger, obviously.”
Now I look at Pinterest and take bubble baths. Jesus, fuck, what have they done to me?
Aurora reads on my lap while Jax and I discuss the game and upcoming schedule.
My body, heavy with exhaustion from the day, sinks into the chair. Why am I always tired around them—so bone-tired, maybe I do snore—but can’t sleep alone? It’s as if my brain instinctively knows this is home. I can relax.
“Your suspension ends soon,” I tell Jax. “After this weekend, we’ll be flying with the team.” I don’t have to remind him this leaves our girl with no protection or support.
She catches on quickly. “I can fly solo.”
“Absolutely not.” I smother a yawn with the back of my hand. “We could hire?—”
“No.” He cuts me off, firm and nonnegotiable, before I even say Reece’s name.
“What’s your plan then? You know how chaotic traveling can be. Media, ice time, team meetings…”
Shy whiskey eyes peer up at me. “You don’t want me to go?”
“No, I do. If I had a choice, you’d be waiting for me in my hotel room, but I need you to be safe and for Jax to acknowledge my expectations. You can’t travel with him.”
He leans forward, eyes narrowed. “That needs to fucking change.”
I tell it to him straight, knowing if I give him an inch, he’ll take a mile. “If I made an exception for our girlfriend, I’d have to make an exception for the entire team. We’d have a plane full of family. It’s a logistical nightmare. She can’t go.”
A threat burns in his gaze, gripping me. His distress is palpable, and my chest tightens—not out of fear of him, but of my intense feelings for him. His anguish is my anguish.
Before I can make sense of it, he’s hitting me with another blow.
“And if we hire your boy toy ?” he sneers, jaw set.
I don’t understand his jealousy toward Reece, at least not where I’m concerned. The bodyguard follows Aurora’s wishes, not mine. Like everyone else, he’s wrapped around her finger. Reece listens to me and protects Jax because it serves Aurora—that’s the only reason.
She straightens in my lap at Jackson’s harsh tone. “I’ll stay home. It’s not a big deal.”
It’s a tremendous deal. His sanity depends on her. He plays better with her in attendance; therefore, someone must accompany her. “He’s not my boy toy. Don’t start. He’ll fly with her to games, sit with her in the crowd, and she’ll sleep with you at night. We’ve done this before.”
A spiteful, tight-lipped grin stretches across his face. “Too bad he’s a little busy right now.”
“He’ll return.” Aurora picks at her nails. “If I ask him to.”
Despite knowing the truth of her words, my hackles rise. “How do you know that?
Her gaze meet mine, hesitant but unwavering. “He told me.”
Jax scoffs. “Of course he did.”
I grip her chin. “When? Since he’s been gone?”
She twists the hem of her shirt around her finger. “Yes. In a text. It’s not what you think. He was worried.”
Nothing is easy with these two—well, except sex and affection.
Aurora’s attachment to her bodyguard directly opposes Jax’s desire to have her to ourselves and never see Reece again.
Unfortunately, we need him. Still… “No texting. If he’s concerned, tell him to contact me. Understand? Don’t keep shit from me.”
“Oh-kay.” She rolls her eyes.
I scoop her into my arms, bridal style, and stand. “Are you giving me sass?” I drop her onto the mattress unceremoniously. “You ready for bed?”
“Yeah.” She glances between Jax and me. “Are we…are you spending the night?”
“Maybe. Get undressed so I can remind you who you belong to.”
Jax remains seated, his legs spread, his arms crossed.
Ignoring his tantrum, I switch off the lights, leaving the fire burning low. I yank my shirt over my head and toss it at him.
“Fucker.” He snatches it, but not before it hits him in the face. “You’re not persuading me with sex.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” I strip to my boxer briefs. “You can sit there and watch.”