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Jax froze and so did Milly. She couldn’t believe the lies that were spewing out of her mouth. For someone who broke out in a rash when they lied, she’d just jumped neck deep into it.
She looked up at Jax, her eyes pleading with him to go along with her plan. He crossed his arms in an Are you serious? stance that had her blanching. Then she saw the moment he decided to play along. His eyes went from blazing to irritated but with a hint of You so owe me.
“It almost seemed to happen overnight,” he said.
Chapter Eight
Take Life by the Balls
Get through today.
Jax’s day had turned to shit.
First off, Milly had slept with him thinking he was his brother. Sure, he and his brother had swapped places a time or two growing up, when Lucas took a math test for him or Jax would cover a shift at work for his brother, but this was the first time someone had switched things up on him. And yes, Jax was used to sleeping with women and not exchanging much personal information. But this was different.
He knew Milly from growing up around town, so he’d just assumed that when she’d said hi to him that first day that she knew which brother she’d been talking to. Hell, he and Lucas might be twins, but they were like night and day. Where Lucas was always destined for the Ivy League, Jax was the athlete. Cerebral versus cunning.
There was a time when Jax had constantly tried to fight his way out from beneath Lucas’s shadow. But he’d learned a long time ago there was no point in trying since he was never going to measure up. It was a fact he’d accepted, but it was hard to move past. It was why he’d taken a different path in life, using his talent to travel the world. And he’d been pretty damn successful at it too. But hearing Milly call him Lucas this morning really burned. It brought up feelings he’d worked hard to tamp down.
To make his day worse, he’d been summoned by the golden boy to appear at the palace for a mandatory family meeting. Jax wondered if he should feel honored that he was actually included on the “family” text thread or irritated that Lucas had once again kept something so big to himself. Something that became apparent the moment he’d stepped into the boardroom to find everyone arguing.
Lucas sat back in his chair, arms folded, body language reading proud and unmovable. Brynn, on the other hand, was on her feet, palms placed against the round conference table, leaning halfway across the thing, steam blowing out the top of her head. She might look like the sweet girl-next-door, but when riled she could argue with a pack of gum.
The Carmichaels loved as fiercely as they fought and with Lucas accepting the Carmichaels as his kin from the word go, he didn’t shy away from situating himself right in the middle and rarely backed down. As much as Jax wished he could have integrated into the family so easily, his trust issues came between him and the one thing he craved—acceptance.
Jax walked into the room and it fell silent; not a single person moved. Well, not a single brother moved. Brynn huffed out a sigh and sat back in her chair.
“Thank god you’re here,” she said. “Your brother is being an idiot.”
“I second that,” Harris said with his hand in the air like he was in elementary school.
“Lucas has a few good points,” Nolan ventured carefully. “I think we should hear him out.”
“Wait. Are you on his side?” Brynn asked.
Nolan held up a neutral hand. “There are no sides. We’re just having a discussion.”
“Sounds more like World War Three,” Jax said, eyeballing his designated seat, which was next to his twin. Lucas didn’t give a single indication if Jax should take it or let the door hit him in the ass on the way out.
Right. World War Three.
Jax knew that he had allies. Just like Lucas knew he was on the losing side. Didn’t mean his brother wouldn’t fight dirty.
Jax took his seat at the table and his past and present collided. The day he’d turned twenty-one, Peggy and Kent had placed him on the board, like he was one of their kids. He’d sat there many times, but this time felt different. It felt significant.
“What did I miss?” he asked.
Nolan checked out Jax’s rumpled walk-of-shame clothes and grinned. “You tell us.”
Irritation coursed through him. Instead of riding the high of a spectacular night, he was still reeling from the morning after. Then there was the way Lucas was looking at him, as if Jax was just pulling another Jax, and that pissed him off. “No comment.”
Lucas looked at Jax. “I wasn’t sure you’d come.”
The statement set Jax’s teeth on edge “Why? Did you mean to text the other text thread?”
“This just isn’t your scene.”
“I figure we’re here to talk about the lodge so, yeah, it’s my scene.”
