He swallowed and nodded once.
“You got this, boss,” James said.
Ash blew out a breath and nodded again, this time with more determination. He was done processing. He was doing this. He was gonna get his husband back. He dipped down and pressed a firm kiss to my forehead, and then he walked over to James, kissed his cheek quick, and left without another word. A man on a mission.
A bajillion butterflies were unleashed in my stomach, and I couldn’t stop the shit-eating grin on my face.
It was finally happening!
James Hackett
“This is gonna work,” Jordan said confidently. “They’re gonna get back together.”
I smiled unsurely, hoping he was right. The boss definitely needed his hubby back, and it would be nice to see him happy.
I rejoined Jordan, and now we had three sodas.
Jordan grabbed the Sprite Zero. “How are your hands? I noticed you rubbing them earlier.”
“Eh. Just one of those days.” Nerve pain came with the job, literally. I didn’t know anyone at work who wasn’t suffering from varying degrees of it.
“You’re supposed to tell me, honey.” After taking a swig of his soda, he grasped one of my hands and started pressing the thumb along my palm.
I released a breath.
“I’ll give you the full treatment tonight,” he said. “A long soak, massage, and that cooling gel.”
I smiled at him.
I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve Jordan, but I was eternally grateful.
“Does Ash struggle with this too?” he asked. “I only see him crack his knuckles sometimes.”
“He says it used to be worse,” I replied. “He does exercises?—”
“Imagine that,” he deadpanned. “You need to get better at doing those.”
Yeah, it was on my list. I just kept forgetting.
“Anyway,” he continued. “Um, do you remember when you told me that you weren’t worried about the emotional aspects, aslong as my feelings for someone else didn’t diminish the feelings I had for you?”
I raised my brows. “Yeah?”
He swallowed and focused on my hand. “It’s possible I’m developing feelings for Ash.”
Oh, it was possible? Bless his sweet heart, I’d detected that weeks ago.
I’d once been scared shitless to lose him, because nobody understood me like he did, and I loved my life with him. But exploring this new thing, this…this, whatever I could call it…with Ash, possibly with Nathan—a man I didn’t know at all—and who knew… It was…exciting, like the biggest adventure Jordan and I had been on so far, and I felt his devotion every step of the way.
“I stand by what I said,” I murmured, lifting his chin. “As long as you and I come first, I’m good. That’s all I want.” I saw the flash of relief in his eyes and kissed him quickly. “Just, word of advice? Don’t rush him.”
“Oh God, no,” he laughed. “I’m not even friends with him in the online forum. The last thing I’m gonna now do is confess I have feelings for him.”
I grinned, then wrinkled my nose a little in confusion. “Y’all’re not friends online?”
He shook his head. “Wait—areyou?”
“Well, yeah.” I scratched the side of my head. “After you set up the account for me and told me his username, I thought that was your way of tellin’ me to go in there and send him a request.”
