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It doesn't last long, though…
Looking up, my steps falter slightly at the two very hostile glares being directed at me...or rather the person next to me. River and Luca stare Jax down like an enemy on the other end of a battlefield. River clenches his jaw and grips the table top with white knuckles and Luca… I have to avert my eyes. He looks like he’s ready to jump over the table. A vein pulses in his neck, made all the worse as Jax pulls out my chair before kissing me on the cheek as I take a seat.
“Shit, babe, you weren’t kidding,” Jax whistles low under his breath. “This looks delicious.” He snags a plate of cake and sets it in front of me before pouring me a glass of champagne. He dips a finger into the melted chocolate and touches my bottom lip with it before leaning in and surprising me with a slow, sensual kiss. Then he pulls back, licking his lips in satisfaction. “Fucking delectable.”
I blink at him in shock, having never seen this side of Jax before. There’s something so unhinged and sensual about him tonight, and the heat radiating between us is stifling.
“Slumming it with the rest of us peasants this summer, Pembroke?” River asks with a sneer that he doesn't even try to hide. He taps his fingers on the table as he leans back in his seat with casual grace and attitude.
I look up, but before I can tell River to cut it out, Jax is standing up, thrusting his hand out towards River with a sly smile. “Good to see you man, it’s been a while.”
“Six years since we spoke if I remember right,” River says as he adjusts in his chair, slinging his arm around Casey once more and ignoring Jax’s hand.
Jax takes the hint and snorts before sitting down again, but not before I see him sneak a nervous look at me. But I already know about that phone call all those years ago that he never mentioned, and that’s something we’re definitely going to be talking about later.
“Nora mentioned you two still live here. How’s that going for you?” He sips his champagne slowly, relaxing in his chair casually. “Don't you ever get the urge to spread your wings and leave the nest?”
I feel like dropping into the floor. Jax knows exactly how to push their buttons. He knows everything about my guys—from their likes and dislikes, to their hobbies and even what they smell like. I may have been a bit too oversharing when it came to details, but hey, can you blame me? I was a grieving teen girl after all.
“Why mess up a good thing?” River says with a shrug, running the tips of his fingers over Casey’s shoulder. I squirm in my uncomfortable seat. “You still living in your daddy’s mansion?” His green eyes are mean and his smile is, too. I hate this.
“Penthouse, actually. Nora got tired of sharing her bed, so she moved across the country and left it behind for me.” Leaning in, he kisses the side of my temple. “Still smells like that perfume that drives me fucking wild.” He pretends to say it under his breath, but I know it’s a show just to piss off River and Luca.
“So, there’s no hard feelings now that Nora’s mom quit and then married one of your old man’s college buddies?” Luca asks, speaking for the first time. For a second, I don’t know what he’s talking about, but then it dawns on me. That must be how Mom knows Carson, and why of all places, we moved back to this small-ass town.
River snaps his fingers and smiles too widely as he points at his friend. “You’resoright, Luc. Something’s fishy about all this.” He turns back to Jax. “Do you and your rich friends fuck the help often?”
I have to reach out and physically restrain Jax as his chair slides back with a scrape across the polished hardwood flooring. Several people turn their heads to gawk, but my fingers dig into his wrist, keeping him in place. “Sit the fuck down,” I hiss through my clenched teeth.
He yanks his wrist from my fingers. “Fuck these guys, Nor.” The others are standing now, too, staring my best friend down like a pride of lions stalking their prey. River wears a satisfied smirk and Luca just looks ready to start a brawl. “Are you gonna just let them talk about you like you’re some kind of gold digger? I thought these guys were supposed to be your friends.”
Both Luca and River scoff, rolling their eyes in unison.
I can't stand it. Each of them are acting like possessive, macho lunatics. My mom’s friends are glancing over at the standoff and whispering behind their jewel-clad fingers. Any minute now she and Carson will be forced to intervene. God forbid someone throws a punch over the toasts.
“Cut it out, assholes. I get it, all of your dicks are gigantic, can we just act like adults now please?” I blurt and it seems to snap them all out of it, only for them to each turn to me with raised brows. River’s smirk widens and I glare back at him. “This is my mom's engagement party that she workedreallyhard on and she doesn’t need you three acting like a bunch of assholes. Now sit the fuck down and let me eat this goddamned lava cake before I fucking lose it!”
That shuts them all up, though they still throw glares across the table. Jax keeps standing, but Luca is the first to take his seat. River follows, only for their girls to smack them both in the chests with scowls on their overly made-up faces. I can’t help the little swirl of satisfaction at the fact that River pissed off Casey. She’s probably seething inside right now.
I shovel bites of my cake into my mouth with near inhuman speed, not knowing when the next explosion might cause this little dinner party to end prematurely. Thankfully, the blast of chocolate goodness is enough to dim the seething rage that simmers in my gut, but it’s unfortunately not enough to distract me from the fact that Jax sits like a statue at my side.
I nudge his arm with mine and lean in. “How long are you in town?” Trying to change the subject seems like the safest idea.
He finally turns to me with a small smile—soft and familiar and it warms my aching heart just a little. “Actually, that’s part of the surprise. I’m staying until after the wedding. Your mom called after you left New York and we booked my flights.”
Muttering curses ring out from the other side of the table, but nobody says a thing to me or Jax. My eyes widen and I throw my arms around his shoulders and squeeze. “Oh my god!” I shove his shoulder as I pull away. “How did you manage that? You’re horrible at secret keeping.” I squint at him suspiciously. “And where the hell are you staying then?”
His smile only grows and his blue eyes sparkle in the candle light. “With you, dummy.” Leaning in, he places a soft kiss on my cheek that I know is for the guy’s benefit because the scraping of a chair on the floor fills the silence as River rises from the table and storms away while Casey calls out to him.
I watch with a puckered frown as his head of sandy hair makes its way through the crowd, pushing others out of his way until he slams through the closed double doors. I have the strangest urge to get up and follow him, but I choke it down, knowing I’m the last person that man wants anything to do with these days.
“You’re not staying in my house,” Luca barks, and we all turn to look at him. His arm is no longer braced behind the redhead, but folded across his massive chest in clear frustration. “No fucking way. Get a hotel or something.”
I glare at him. “It’s not your house, Luca. You don’t get to have a say in who comes and goes.” His eyes narrow because he knows I'm right. “If Carson said it’s okay, then it’s okay. You’ll just have to deal with it. Unless your studio is ready in town, then by all means, leave.”
I know he can see the fire raging in my eyes because he just clenches his jaw tightly and doesn’t say another word before throwing back a glass of some amber liquid like it’s water. He knows I’m right. He knows he has no leverage here. Carson has plenty of guest rooms, and one of them just happens to be nestled right in between mine and Luca’s.
“Looks like it’s one big happy family,” Casey teases bitterly and Luca just grunts, used to her bitchiness no doubt. She has absolutely shit timing and a laugh bursts out of my mouth before I can stop it.
