9. Marley
MARLEY
I spin in the mirror, taking in my dress. It’s a peach color, hugging the curves of my body. I haven’t worn a dress since I broke up with Jax, finding no reason since I had no desire to date and was comfortable enough in my signature black jeans and T-shirt.
A smile pulls on my lips as I brush the soft material down over my hips. I undo my braid and let my long hair flow freely, cascading down my back and chest. I don’t ever really feel ugly, but I feel really pretty now.
I sit on the ground near the full-length mirror, pulling out my bag of barely used makeup.
I’ve never been able to stand much of it on my face, but a tiny bit of mascara, blush, and lip gloss goes a long way.
Just as I finish, a knock on my door startles me, and I frown when I look at the time.
I wouldn’t put it past him to be fifteen minutes early, but what if I wasn’t done getting ready? Impatient man.
I open the door, a taunt right on my lips that I swallow down when I realize it’s not Jax.
“What are you doing here?” I blurt out.
Cooper’s eyebrows furrow, and then his eyes drag down my body before they widen in shock. “What are you wearing? I haven’t seen...Are you going on a date?” The astonishment in his tone is loud.
I don’t get embarrassed easily. Thankfully, the lifelong responsibility of my mom and little brother made me incapable of such things when I had bigger problems to worry about. But for a moment, my cheeks heat with a blush before I stand taller, and my hand curls around the doorframe.
“Maybe. No. None of your business. Go away.” I try to shut the door, and he catches it with a laugh. I let out a small growl as my brother pushes his way into my apartment.
“Cute,” he teases. He looks around at the makeup still lying on the floor and the few other dresses I tried on thrown about. It’s not half as bad as its usual state. My apartment may be clean, but it’s messy. I’m too tired after work to pick it up.
I move around him, grabbing it all and throwing it into my bedroom. I cross my arms over my chest when I see he’s sitting on the couch with a smirk.
“I’m serious, Coop. You gotta leave.”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I want to meet whoever got you to agree to a date.”
My heart pounds in slight fear. Coop would never judge me, but he also doesn’t know the full story. He thinks Jax left me with a broken heart, not that I pushed him away, even if it tore me apart to do it.
He must see my fear because his smile falters. “What’s wrong? You’re not being forced into it, are you?”
I give him a reassuring grin. Even though I’m his older sister, he’s always been protective of me. I sigh, dropping my arms to slump on the chair across from him.
“No, he’s not forcing me.”
Cooper narrows his stare. “He?”
I’m sure he has his suspicions about who.
There isn’t anyone I’ve ever paid attention to, and I bet he hoped I’d move on with someone like Tracy.
We’ve grown close ever since I started working at the bar.
She was the firm hand I needed to not follow the destructive path of my mother.
Especially when I heard Jax left town without even a goodbye.
It’s not like I deserved one, but it still hurt.
My mouth opens and I wince when there’s another knock on my door. Cooper flies out of the seat before I can stop him, flinging the door open.
Jax’s head snaps back a little, and he looks between us before rolling his shoulders back.
“Coop.”
My brother hums, staring suspiciously at Jax’s nice button-up shirt and slacks. It’s obvious he’s here for our date. “Jax.”
I push on Cooper’s arm, making room for me at the doorframe, and give the man of the hour a small smile. “Hi.”
Jax smiles back, but it tapers off when he looks over my dress, and his lips part in awe. “Fuck.”
Coop grunts. “Don’t stare at my sister like that.”
There’s enough growl in it that Jax’s alpha instincts tense at his tone, and he flashes him a sharp look. “I’ll stare how I want at my wi—” He chokes on the last word.
I inhale sharply as Cooper’s arms drop to his sides. I pinch my eyes shut.
“What was that? What were you about to say?” my brother demands.
When I look back at Jax, he’s unashamed, staring back at me with determination to blow our one secret.
My tongue sweeps across my lips and I sigh. “Coop, can we talk later? Did you need something when you stopped by?”
His mouth opens and closes a few times before he gives me a nod. “I’ll call in the morning, and if you don’t answer within an hour, I will stop by.”
I roll my eyes but also wonder where my phone is. I actually hate carrying it on me. It’s a brick, a reminder that I’m alone since no one calls or texts but Coop. And even then, during the weeks he’s off with the rodeo, he’s too busy to check in much.
He storms past Jax, making a motion with his fingers as if he’s going to keep watch.
“Oh my god,” I mutter, leaning against the door and waiting for him to climb into his truck and drive off.
Jax turns back to me, amused. “Almost spilled the beans.”
I raise an eyebrow. “If I didn’t know you better, I’d almost say you did it on purpose.”
His tongue pokes at the corner of his mouth and I narrow my stare. Maybe I don’t know him better. At least not anymore. We could have both changed in the years apart. I know I have. There’s a certain part of you that dies when you lose the love of your life. “Ready to go?”
“Still a fan of Thai?” he asks.
I shrug, watching out the window as we leave the small town of Brackenridge behind. “Haven’t had any since our breakup.”
Jax clears his throat. “You avoid anything and everything to do with us?”
It’s an innocent question, though I can hear the small tinge of hurt behind it. I look over at him, giving a small smile. “I tried, at least when I was conscious.”
His lips pull up into a smirk. “I appear in your dreams?”
I roll my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your ego. It’s already large enough.”
He bites down on his bottom lip, and I know the retort he’s holding in. Such a boy at heart.
After a moment and one small chuckle, he gains control of himself. “So, Thai? You good with that, or you want something else?”
“Whatever you have planned is fine. I’m not picky.” I’m also not very hungry, but mostly because I’m so nervous. I hadn’t thought it would be this awkward between us. It’s like we’re strangers who know what each other looks like naked.
“I ate it for two months straight,” he says.
My eyebrows shot straight up. “Your poor stomach, and also, why?”
He shrugs. “To be honest, my stomach handled it just fine, and I was the opposite. I wanted everything to remind me of you. My parents sent me to the city because they were afraid I was going to be charged with stalking. It hurt to leave, but I agreed with them. I needed to give you space.”
Tears sting my eyes but I blink them away.
I want to know about his life, what happened when we were apart.
It hurts to think about, but it’s needed for us both to move on.
“Not much to stalk. I rarely left the house for the first couple of weeks. I think it was one of the few times my mother forced food and water on me.”
Sometimes I swear I could feel her hand stroking my head, and her gentle fingers wiping away my tears. But I wasn’t fully aware of everything during that time, so I couldn’t be sure if that was real or something I desperately wanted during a time when I could use the comfort of a mother.
“Would I sound like a stalker if I said I know?” he teases.
I laugh, looking over at his equally smiling face. “I wish I had seen you. I had to convince myself that you were better off and imagine you already went and found an omega.”
Jax’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. “I hate that doctor. I hate the ideas he put in your head. I never wanted anyone else.”
I reach over, patting his arm before quickly pulling away. It feels awkward, a little unnatural to do so, which is odd because there was a time when touching Jax was second nature.
“Sorry. It’s fine, we don’t have to talk about it,” I say.
Jax takes my hand in his. He doesn’t tangle our fingers, but it’s still nice to feel his strong presence wrapped around me. “We promised each other to give this a shot, and I think we need to discuss the past to move forward.”
I nod, squeezing his hand. “Okay. What did you do once you got to the city?”
“Found my aunt. She didn’t have the space to take me, which was how I ended up in the motel with some of the cash my parents lent me.”
I frown. “What about the money we saved?”
His hand twitches, and he keeps his focus on the road. “It didn’t feel like mine to take. It was…is our money for our future.”
I blink, registering his words. “Wait, you never used any of the money we saved? So it’s just sitting there?”
He nods. “I transferred the rest of my checking into the savings account and started fresh in the city. I didn’t want any part of that life to touch the one I built with you.”
Emotion clogs ?my throat. “Jax…”
He squeezes my hand. “Don’t. I didn’t think twice about it.”
I nod, trying hard to let go of the guilt. I spent as much time as I could erasing our story while he worked to preserve it, and it makes me feel unworthy of his love. Jax would never make me feel that way purposely, but I can’t help it.
“The girl at the motel,” he continues, “she really helped me put it into perspective. About how hard it is to not feel inferior when the world is built to maintain alpha and omega pairings. Even my parents didn’t help.
They’ve been betas their whole lives and found each other young. There was never anyone else for them.”
My lips lift into a small smile. “Your parents are lovely. If our relationship is anything like theirs, we’ll be lucky.
My mom…It was like she was an omega in name only.
She never really found a pack. I know my father was an alpha, same with Cooper’s dad, but…
” I shrug. It seems so weird to think of relationships and boil them all down to our designation when it’s so much more than that.
“But nothing. No omega, or beta, or alpha. Just Marley and Jax.”
The determination in his tone makes my smile grow. “Okay. Just Marley and Jax.”