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She taps her chin and pretends to think. I glance at the clock. I’m already a few minutes late. “How about this? If you run into trouble, or if you freak out and want to leave, just text me the wordfrench fry, and I’ll be there in minutes to whisk you away. You can come to my weird-ass family dinner with me. I promise it’ll have just as much juicy gossip as the country club.”
I raise an eyebrow. “French fry?”
Snorting, she twirls me toward the door. “Hey, you get what you get and you don’t give me shit. You look hot, now go make those asswipes jizz their slacks.”
“Good god, I'm in trouble…” I mumble as I head for the door.
* * *
You can do this,Nora Blair. Stop being a dumb bitch, and get out of the car,I chant in my head as the valet boy stares at me through my window with wide eyes. I give him a bland smile before throwing my door open and handing him my keys with a quick apology.
The lobby of the club is decadent and expensive. All marble everything and columns like a fucking Roman temple or a state capital building. It's lavish and completely unnecessary, but it’s Mom’s new world, so I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt.
All around me are men and women in golf clothing, formal wear, and more white slacks than I care to try and count. It looks like a Ralph Lauren store threw up here. Unfortunately, I know exactly where to go and have no valid reason to stall. I’ve been here a couple times with Jax when we visited his Mom and Dad on their golf days.
Down the ornately carpeted hallways toward the very end is a gigantic room, known as Ballroom One. We had a birthday party for Jax’s sister there once, but I can barely remember it. Tall, oak doors line the hallways, a few of them are cracked open ever so slightly and I catch a whiff of cigar smoke wafting from behind them. I wave my hand in front of my face. The whole scene is as cliché as it gets. Rich men hide away from their housewives, sipping brandy and smoking cigars while talking about...stocks? I have no idea, but I’m already exhausted.
Neat-looking tables are strewn around Ballroom One, covered in burgundy tablecloths with flickering candles settled in the middle of a bouquet of roses. Guests mill around in their formal wear, not a single one I recognize. I smile as I push my way around groupings of who I am assuming to be Carson's acquaintances. They smile back, but I can feel more than a few of their eyes as they travel up and down the length of me.
“There she is!” calls out my mother’s familiar voice from somewhere close by. I swivel my head from side to side. She hurries toward me with a bright smile on her beautiful face. I can’t help but smile back as I make my way to her. This is her day, not mine, and I’m not going to let my stupid drama ruin it, not when this is the happiest I've literally ever seen her.
“Oh, hun, you look amazing! This isn’t the dress I picked out.” She eyes me from head to toe but waves it away. “Regardless, you look beautiful.” Linking her arm with mine, she forces me to walk alongside her. “We saved a seat just for you. Honey, why didn't you bring a guest with you? Luca brought several. I thought you’d have invited Kennedy? She’s such a sweet girl.”
Her mouth keeps moving, but my brain is stuck on the fact that she said Luca brought a few guests. My stomach clenches with nerves, hoping I’m wrong. “She really wanted to come but she already had dinner plans,” I murmur, but we’re already arriving at the table.
The table seats more people than I expected, but before I have a chance to take stock of everyone, a familiar head of sandy-blond hair catches my eye. Green eyes sweep me from head to toe, his eyes darkening the longer he looks his fill. River looks positively delicious tonight, and I hate myself for even thinking it. His long hair is swept into a thick bun with pieces wisping around his face, and under his suit jacket is a plain gray t-shirt. He looks like a model, lounging back in his chair with his arm draped over…
Oh, fuck this—
Casey sneers at me from beside him, dressed in a powder-blue slip dress that looks like it was painted on her curveless body. Her ears are dripping with diamond earrings and her tiny lips are glossed in some sort of clear goop that in my completely unbiased opinion, looks like shit. Her self-satisfied smile makes my stomach roll, so I pretend to ignore them both. River’s just waiting for some kind of reaction, and I refuse to give it to him.
Luca sits across the table next to a pretty girl with auburn hair to her shoulders and big, brown doe eyes. I recognize her as one of Casey’s friends from that day at the bonfire. Her lips quirk into a smirk and the hand he rests on her shoulder skims her bare skin with his thumb. I want to scream. Those same fingers were inside me not two hours ago.
Whatever, fuck him and fuck the the whole male species, too.
I already missed dinner, but I don’t mind because I couldn't force myself to eat no matter how expensive or lavish the food here is. I wave to Carson and force a smile for him as my mom leaves my side to join him, standing near a small grouping of their friends. He smiles at me before leaning into my mom and whispering in her ear. Her eyes flicker to mine with a secret smile before, suddenly, drifting over my shoulder and locking onto something in the distance.
I follow that sneaky look, turning around just in time to catch sight of a familiar face heading my way. I practically break into a sprint. The breath whooshes out of my body as Jax gathers me up into his arms, tightening them around me in a vise grip. My eyes are stinging and my arms are shaking around him as I bury my face in his neck, breathing in the familiar scent of him. I can feel eyes on us and instinctively, I know that the guys are watching my every move, regardless of the dates they chose to invite along. I disregard them, though, because Jax is here, in the flesh, right where I need him to be.
He sets me down on my feet and pulls back to rove his comforting eyes over the length of me. He takes his time, too, drinking in the tight, black fabric that hangs off my olive skin like waves of silk. “Holy shit, Nora,” he groans, twirling me around dramatically as I roll my eyes. I can’t help the blush that floods my cheeks at his blatant approval.
I'm instantly reminded of the last conversation we had earlier today, and now I'm wondering if he’d been on a plane the entire time I was pleasuring myself to the thought of him. My cheeks heat and my thighs clench just thinking about our exchange. The look in his eyes says he’s remembering the same thing. Suddenly, all I want to do is drag him into the nearest closet and fuck his brains out. Maybe then the sting of what Luca did to me would ebb away.
“Who’d you steal that suit from?” I tease, reaching out and running my fingers along the edges of his jacket. His fingers reach up to clasp mine and my heart dips and stutters.
“Hilarious,” he drawls in lazy amusement. His gaze leaves mine for a moment, wandering around the lavishly decorated room. “So, these are your new stomping grounds, I see? I never knew you were a fancy pants.”
I push his shoulder lightly. “Yeah right, maybe if I learn to play golf and develop an unhealthy obsession with polo shirts.”
“Hmm, I can totally picture you in those little, plaid golf skirts…” He looks me up and down suggestively.
“Gross,” I scoff, but a smile stretches my lips from ear to ear. Just having Jax in the same room as me right now is intoxicating. It’s like the rest of the room has dimmed around us and I’m back in that safe cocoon of comfort he’s known for bringing me.
I lean into him and place my hand on his hard chest. “I don’t know how it happened, but I’m so fucking glad you’re here.” My eyes prick with tears that I somehow manage to keep in. Right now’s no time to get all weepy.
“Just lead the way, babe, I’m not going anywhere tonight.” His eyes rove my face almost reverently, sending warmth throughout my whole body. They dip to my lips as I lick them, and heat flares there, telling me he’s just as close to dragging me into a nearby closet.
“C’mon, let's find our seats. I saw the dessert spread when I walked in and that lava cake is calling out to me,” I whisper, tugging him along as I head toward the table. Suddenly, I have an appetite again, and thoughts of Luca and River’s guests have dimmed under the excitement of Jax’s arrival.
