Eight weeks of nothing since he pinned me up against him in that linen closet and took my breath away. Now he’s here.
“Girl, are you okay? You look frazzled,” Brynleigh asks as she reaches the table, Sydney shuffling not far behind her with a worried look.
“Yeah, I was just thrown for a loop. I wasn’t expecting to see him again. I can typically play it cool, but I don’t know. I mean, it was only a little makeout session in a freaking linen closet for fuck’s sake. How the hell he managed to get under my skin from just that is beyond me. This isn’t like me.”
“You really liked him,” Sydney whispers softly.
“And he just disappeared,” I whisper back.
“I’m sorry we sprung it on you. We thought we were just reacquainting you guys, since he called the clinic looking forColin so that he could find you. He’s clearly been thinking about you.”
“He waited eight weeks though…”
“You realize men have zero concept of time, and it was his last few weeks of his residency? That man was tired as fuck. I guarantee he thought about trying to find you or Colin at least a hundred times, then got side-swiped by the hospital,” Sydney explains. She’s right. I know I showed up at a stressful time, and there’s likely more to the story. I should hear him out.
“Hear Dr. Sexy out, will you?” Brynleigh asks, echoing my thoughts.
“I really must have impeccable timing when it comes to walking up on conversations about me.”
I roll my eyes to the porch roof and will myself to be cool.Breathe.
“Ladies, can I have a minute with Holly?”
Sydney presses her lips together and pats me on the arm before walking away with Bryn.
The door swings closed, leaving us in deafening silence. I look across the highway, taking in the waves and wishing they were a smidge closer to drown out the sound of my heart hammering. Jaxon’s footsteps fill the space as he nears me. I look over at him as he slides onto the stool beside mine. Those green eyes are just as stunning as they were at the hospital all those weeks ago.
“I’m sorry.”
I continue the eye contact, not knowing what to say. Like, really? What is there to say? There wasn’t even a relationship. I have a feeling the hurt is more deeply rooted from my own issues and the aftermath of Michael. It’s the only thing I can think of.
“I wish I’d thought of Colin’s clinic sooner. When it hit me this morning, I didn’t wait. These past weeks have been grueling. I know it’s a crappy excuse, but I just want you to know that itwasn’t a lack of wanting to find you; I just had a lot on my plate. For the first few weeks, my head wasn’t in a great spot to even start things. That night, I had that emergency case that brought me to my knees, and…” Jaxon trails off, looking out toward the shoreline and realizing he’s gotten a little more vulnerable with me than he’d intended. He’s quiet for a moment before looking back at me. “I’m sorry. I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
His sorry tugs at my heart, but I won’t believe it until I see it.Thanks for that, Michael.I know Jaxon probably doesn’t deserve what I’m about to say next, but my armor’s up, and I just don’t have it in me.
“No worries. It was just a linen closet hookup. That was my third one that month,” I say cooly, tapping his hand with mine as I rise and book it back inside. His huff of surprise tells me he found it amusing, but it ventured on the side of only drawing him in more. I blow out an exasperated breath with that thought. He’s not giving up just yet.
???
Jaxon
I huff to myself in amusement as I watch Holly walk away. I know I hurt her by disappearing the way I did. There’s no way that was just a ‘linen closet hookup’ for her, as much as it wasn’t for me. The ‘third time that month’ comment has me chuckling inside. That’s not her style either but nice try. What we shared was completely beyond both of our norms, and the pull between us was too strong to fight. It may have been a moment of insanity on both our parts, but I don’t regret a second of it.
I still want her as badly as I did the moment those golden brown eyes connected with mine in that hospital room. She intrigues me. The soft side of her that blushes, combined with the wit and playfulness with her friends, had me on my toes. Then the way she looked up at me in that linen closet had me wrapped around her finger. Her sounds, her sighs, that dirty smirk that begged me to do something, anything, had me utterly and totally at her mercy, and she didn’t even know it.
I run my fingers through my hair, telling myself that anything worth it in life is likely earned through blood, sweat, and tears. I’ll have to fight to earn her trust back.
I don’t know who did a number on her, but I can bet there’s someone in her past that caused the wall she threw up a few minutes ago. Up at the bar, I grab another beer for me and buy the girls another pitcher of margs. When I get to the table, I pour Holly’s first, sliding it to her with a smile before pouring Brynleigh, Jane, and Ava another. This seems to go over well with all of them. By nine, Garrett is clearly itching to get Jane home.
“You still up for taking a look at my place, or would you rather pick a different day?” Trystan asks.
“Let’s do it.”
I manage to rise from my chair just as Holly stands to let Brynleigh out, neither one of us clearly thinking of proximity. We manage to clash heads just like we did in the hospital.
“Ugh!” Holly practically growls, and I hold back a snicker because, face it, that was just fucking cute. I reach out to steady her, one hand on her arm and another on her hip. It’s not lost on either of us that I let my fingers linger a little longer than necessary. I let go of her hip with reluctance.
“How bad did I get you?” I ask, letting my fingers trail lightly down the side of her arm and enjoying when her skin breaks out in goosebumps. I catch the shiver and the way hereyes dilate. Her gaze finds mine as her lips part the tiniest bit. I want nothing more than to run my thumb along the bottom one. The memory of biting it threatens a moment of public indecency if I think about it much longer. She may be mad at me, but she’s still affected by me. I can work with that.
