“Then let me prove them to you. Let me show you how sorry I am and what you mean to me.”
I lifted an eyebrow in question, not trusting myself to speak.
“Give me a chance, Elodie, that’s all I ask.”
I shouldn't. I knew deep down that I shouldn’t. But then my life was peppered with me doing things I shouldn’t have done. It was one of my major flaws.
Ducking out of his arms, I walked towards the house without looking back, my words tossed over my shoulder like a challenge.
“One more chance, Jax.”
* * *
Jax
“You look happy.”Louis found me the moment I walked out of the yard and back into the brightly lit kitchen. It was almost like he had been waiting for me. I grinned in his direction, plucking the spare beer he held out of his hands. I looked happy because I was happy. Talking Elodie into giving me another chance had been easier than I had expected. Much, much easier. If I had known she had been feeling the same way, I would have cornered her earlier.
Even days ago.
But maybe me giving her space was exactly what we both needed. It sure had given me a chance to realise what was important. Maybe it had done the same for her. Subconsciously, my eyes found her again. She was talking to her brother, but there was a small smile on her face that I wanted to believe was down to me. I shifted my weight from one foot to another. I had kissed her out there in the garden, that was all, but it had left me uncomfortably hard. If she hadn't rushed away, there was no doubt in my mind that I would have put an even wider smile on her face. I wanted to make her happy.
“Things go well?” Louis surveyed me over the rim of the bottle at his lips.
I nodded. “Yeah, really well.” I eyed her again. “Well, maybe not really well, because she’s over there and I’m over here, but we talked.” Another sip of the cold beer, and this time I held it against my tongue before swallowing it down. “She’s agreed to give me another chance.”
“Happy for you, man.” Louis clapped me on the back, hard. “She’s a good one.”
She was a good one. Much better than I deserved. The biker Domino had been right about that. “Yeah, she is...” I trailed off, my eyes on her back. She couldn’t see me staring at her, but her brother could. With a sneer, he looped his arm around her shoulders, leading her out of my eyeline. I didn’t like that very much. Not being able to see her. Even if I couldn’t touch her, having Elodie within my sight was rapidly becoming a security blanket for me. I just felt better when she was around.
“You love her.” It wasn’t a question. The way Louis said it was matter of fact and didn’t broker any argument.
Not that I could really argue with him, anyway. I’d never been in love before, but I couldn’t deny that what I felt for Elodie was passionate and extreme.
“I don’t know how I feel, Louis. I’ve never done this before. The last time I had anything resembling a relationship I was fifteen, and what I felt for that girl is nothing compared to…” I trailed off. “All I know is that I hate being apart from her. I crave her, you know?” I shrugged. I couldn’t explain to him how I felt because I didn’t understand it myself. All I knew was that I felt adrift. The last few weeks without seeing her every day had been torture. Even a few minutes without seeing her made my skin itch.
Louis chuckled. “You’re in love.” He shook his head at my startled look. “It's not as scary as you think it is, Jax. It’s meant to be enjoyable.”
Something must have shown on my face, some kind of panic because his laughter died. “I’ve never… I keep fucking up. How many more chances will she give me before she is done?”
“Have you actually…I don’t know, Jax, told her how you feel?”
I stared at him for a second. “She knows I like her,” I finally managed.
Louis shook his head. “Not talking about that. Have you told her you love her?”
My mouth went dry. Whether I was in love with her or not, I didn’t know yet. I thought I was, but thinking was one thing, admitting it to myself was another thing. Telling her, facing her and laying my heart on the line was a totally different ball game. Nervously, I glanced towards the living room door. I could see Elodie through it. She was dancing with Dion. Well, she was dancing. Dion was doing some strange twerky movement in front of her.
Dion was a damn fool. A funny one, but a fool nevertheless.
“Wouldn’t even know what to say,” I admitted, tearing my eyes away from them.
“You simply go up to her and say ‘Eli, babes, I love you’ — simple.”
I would have laughed at the matter of fact way Louis said it if his voice hadn’t been loud. Across the other side of the small room, several bikers raised their heads questioningly. One slipped away, and I watched as he went straight to Legacy and motioned in my direction.
Rolling my eyes, I bit back a groan. The last thing I needed was Elodie’s brother to come over and start something. She had forgiven me once for hitting him, but I doubted she would do it again. Legacy was going to be a problem. He wasn’t as quick to forgive as his sister was.
“I’ve got to go.” Not waiting for Louis’ reaction, I pushed my way through the small crowd, heading straight in Elodie’s direction. I had to do it quickly before I lost my nerve. Dion saw me first, nodding his head in my direction.
