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Fucking hell. If I died before Friday, it would be from blue balls, not Justice Kendall.
“Justice,” I greeted Jenna’s father when I opened my door.
“Hey, Chase,” Blair said cheerily from beside him.
“Hi, Blaire. Come on in.”
I’d decided to invite them to my place to gain the home court advantage. At least this way, I knew where everything that could be used as a weapon was. And I didn’t want to have this conversation with the possibility of Jenna being there.
“Have a seat,” I murmured as I walked into my living room and gestured to the couch. “Would you like anything to drink?”
Justice shook his head, but he kept his eyes on me. Exactly where they’d been since I opened the door.
“No, thank you,” Blair murmured with a gentle smile. “How have you been, Chase? You’re always so busy. We see very little of you.” She sat on the couch and tugged on Justice’s hand until he lowered himself onto the cushion next to her. His expression made it clear that he would have preferred to stand.
“What is this about, Sutton?” he asked, his tone low and even.
“I’m good, Blaire. Thank you.” I responded to her question first since everything I’d planned to say was suddenly jumbled up in my brain. “I’ve actually been cutting back my hours quite a bit.”
“Chase,” Justice growled.
I glanced at the chair across from them, trying to decide whether I should stay standing, making a statement about who held the power right now, or sit and try to reason with Justice on the same level. Considering how much Jenna loved her family, I wanted to do everything I could to avoid causing a rift, so I took a seat.
“Look, there are a million ways that I could try to ease into this. But it doesn’t matter how I present this, it all boils down to the truth, and I think you’ll react the same no matter what.”
Blaire smiled encouragingly and placed her hand on Justice’s thigh. Her expression was so soft that I almost missed the subtle tightening of her fingers. If the situation wasn’t a powder keg on the verge of an explosion, I might have laughed. Especially when Justice tossed her a look that could almost be described as a pout.
“I’m in love with Jenna,” I announced.
“What the fuck?” Justice bellowed. “I’m going to kill you, Sutton!” He jumped to his feet, but Blaire grabbed his hand with both of hers to keep him from leaping across the room.
“Justice Kendall, sit down and discuss this like a rational human being, or I swear on the lives of our children, you will regret it.”
He froze and looked down at his wife with an incredulous stare. “Excuse me?”
“I just want you to hear him out. Then if we aren’t happy with what he has to say, I’ll let you kill him.”
His head swung around, and he glared at me menacingly. “Have you touched her?”
I shook my head. “I wouldn’t do that. For several reasons but mostly because I have too much respect for you.”
Justice’s eyes narrowed, and he studied me as if trying to gauge my honesty.
“Please sit and listen?” Blaire’s plea seemed to do the trick because he took a deep breath and sat back down. Although he still looked like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey.
“Go ahead, Chase.”
Something in her tone niggled at the back of my brain, but it wasn’t clear yet.
“As I said, I’m in love with her. I know I’m too old for her—”
“Damn fucking straight,” Justice snarled.
“Pot, shut up and let the kettle talk,” Blair quipped, clearly annoyed with her husband.
“You have every right to be upset, Justice,” I acknowledged. “But it won’t change anything. I’m going to marry Jenna, and I will spend the rest of my life making sure that she is happy and never questions how much she is loved.”
Standing, I ran my hands through my hair as I paced a few steps, then faced them again. “Part of making sure Jenna is happy means having a relationship with her family. So we need to come to some kind of understanding, but make no mistake, the outcome will be the same either way.”
