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“Like we were?”
Chase said nothing, waiting while Jax scraped a hand over his head, barely ruffling the short dark hair cropped close to his skull. “Last time I was home, some stuff went down between her and me.”
Chase kicked out his feet, narrowly missing Jax’s legs. “Such as?”
“Nothing major.” Jax adjusted his watch, fiddled with his fork and generally avoided Chase’s narrowed gaze. “We got into it a bit, like you guys used to get into it.”
Considering Jax had never spoken a cross word to Cass in Chase’s presence, he had trouble believing that. Something was up. “Somehow I doubt it. What happened?”
“Seriously, it’s no big deal. You know how women get overly emotional about stuff.”
“Stuff like what? Cass would have zero reason to be overly emotional over a guy she hasn’t seen in forever. Tell me what went down. Now.” And if Jax veered in the direction Chase didn’t want to consider, he’d rescind his job offer before he’d even made it.
His baby sister didn’t need Jax Wilder-sized problems in her life. He wasn’t the worst the MLB had to offer, far from it, but the bottom line was that Jax wasn’t known for sticking with one woman much longer than Chase himself. Speeches about saving-the-pussies aside.
Cass couldn’t just jump into relationships. She had to be more careful than that. And if Jax had anything to do with why Cass had seemed quieter than usual the last few months, he’d use his ex-best friend’s nuts for earwarmers.
Screw the bodyguard thing. Screw trying to make amends with his past. His sister’s wellbeing trumped everything.
“Thanks for the reminder that I haven’t been part of her life in forever.” Jax gave him a thin-lipped smile. “I forgot for a minute there.”
Chase gripped the hem of his shirt, pulling it tight. “Look, man—”
The waitress reappeared with their meatloaf. They must’ve kept it on standby. Since his stomach was roaring now, not growling, he didn’t much care. Throw some sauce on it and he’d be good to go.
“Here you boys go. Gotta make sure you stay nice and strong.” She pinched Jax’s biceps and grinned at his wink. The guy was going to develop a twitch, if he hadn’t already.
The minute she’d gone, Chase seized the pepper and started a brutal assault on his slab of meatloaf. He wasn’t going to let one brief flare of well-deserved guilt distract him from his interrogation. “I asked you a question,” he said, voice low. “What exactly went on between you and my sister? And when?”
“Damn, you’re suspicious enough to be a cop. Ever consider that line of work? Think you’d be a natural.” Jax cut into his own meatloaf, sampled. Apparently declaring it more friend than foe, he continued to eat at a rate of speed that would impress a linebacker. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I didn’t sleep with your sister, man. We go way back. For fuck’s sake, she blackened my eye when we were kids.”
Chase had to laugh. “You’re the dumbass who dared her to punch you in the face on the count of three.”
“Yeah, well, I thought she’d hesitate. Not so much.” Jax shook his head, smiling. No, not smiling. Full-on grinning like it was Christmas or something.
Chase’s amusement dimmed. It was a good memory, even a great one. But something smelled off at their table, and it wasn’t the insta-ready meatloaf with chunky sauce. “So then what? What happened with you and her?”
Jax finished off his soda, then leaned back and threw an elbow over the back of the booth. It barely accommodated the two of them, especially considering the volume of food they were inhaling. “Last summer, my mama got sick.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
He’d meant to come back and see Mrs. Wilder, a woman who’d been closer to him than his own ma growing up. But he’d balked, grateful for the routine of ball and babes that gave him an excuse. It wasn’t easy crossing back over a threshold you’d walked over willingly, sure you’d never want—or need—to come back. At the root of it, he’d been ashamed. And maybe even a little afraid. He didn’t want to unintentionally bring up the past and make things worse for her.
Or himself.
She’d tried to talk to Chase after he and Jax had fallen out, but Chase hadn’t wanted to listen. Still didn’t, truth be told. He’d loved being a part of the Wilder family and missed her something fierce. That didn’t mean he wanted to meander down memory lane and tumble into the potholes.
Coward.
“She’s better now?” he asked when Jax fell silent. He already knew the answer. He’d kept tabs on Jax’s mom from afar. The quadruple bypass had done its job, though things had been touch and go for a while. She was okay. One of these days—sooner rather than later—he’d go see that for himself.
“Yeah. She is. Thank God.” Jax’s smile flared to life for an
instant before disappearing again. “But anyway, I was home a lot last summer and I stopped by the ice cream place. I didn’t even remember it was hers at first. Then she came out of the back and I did a fucking double take. She grew up nice, huh?” Before Chase could fumble out a reply, Jax continued. “She came right over to me and acted happy to see me. At first I thought it was just her being polite to a customer. We got talking and I knew it wasn’t. No matter what happened with you and me, she was still Cass.”
The back of Chase’s neck burned. With regret or shame, he didn’t know. To shake off the feeling, he dug into his meatloaf and put a serious dent in it before he spoke again. “She was always the best of us.”
“Hell yeah. No argument there.”
