AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She was far from okay, but talking about anything—especially what was going on with them—wasn’t the best idea in a text. I miss you wasn’t as bad as I love you. She could confess she reciprocated those feelings.
I’m fine. I’ll see you tonight. I’ll make us something.
Okay, so she couldn’t confess she missed him either. Her emotions were so out of whack. The fear was so embedded, she didn’t know how to get around it. It made her sick to her stomach she couldn’t be light and carefree about any of this. Hell, she couldn’t even tell her best friend she was finally dating a man she wholeheartedly approved of. One reason she rarely introduced the guys she dated to Gabby because she rarely liked the guys. Mia always hated seeing the disappointment and disapproval on her face.
While he might’ve thought to take her out somewhere nice—and eventually down the road she’d enjoy that—a night in would be better. Especially with the kind of conversation they needed to have.
That this was all a mistake.
They had to break up.
Tonight.
She should’ve never caved in the first place.
8
His hand fiddled with his phone in his pocket. Nope. He had to stop. Constantly looking at his phone to see if there was a new message from Mia wouldn’t help. He’d feel the vibration if she had sent one.
Talking via text wasn’t a good idea either. He couldn’t gauge a person properly through a phone. He liked to see their face, look into their eyes. Especially when dealing with a potential suspect or a witness in a case. It was always better to talk to them in person rather than an interview over the phone. The few messages Mia sent didn’t give him much help with deciphering how she was feeling. Other than the fact she was having cold feet. He could feel it all way through the phone, as if the device had burned his hand to the bones, crumbling his heart to pieces in the process.
She hadn’t even repeated I love you or I miss you. It didn’t mean she didn’t feel both of those things, but it would’ve been nice to read it.
Pulling open the door to The Corner Bar, he tried to dispel all of his worries and focus on the matter at hand. It didn’t work. Not with what Brick said.
“Where’s Gabby?”
Jaxson took a seat at the bar and shrugged. “We decided to split up today for this case we’re working on. I’ll take a club sandwich.” Partial truth. It hadn’t been his idea to split up, that’s for sure.
He would’ve much rather grabbed lunch somewhere with Gabby, but she had been cold-shouldering him all morning. When she told him—not suggested—they split up, he didn’t even argue. He could never win arguments with her, so it wasn’t worth trying.
Brick nodded as if that made sense, put in his order, and grabbed him a tall iced tea. Wow. Brick knew him so well—a grade-A bartender, for sure. No matter the time of day, whether he popped in for lunch or stopped after work for drinks, Brick knew what he liked. A big reason why Jaxson always tipped well, which was probably the reason Brick remembered his drinks so well.
But what did it say about his tastes? He rarely ventured out of his comfort zone when it came to his drinks. He liked what he liked and didn’t want to change. Food was generally the same. Sure, sometimes people could get him to try new things, but it was rare.
“So, what’s up?” Brick said it as if he wore an expression that said he was dying to spill his guts—about everything.
And maybe he was. It was getting harder and harder as the day wore on to hide the truth from Gabby and thinking about Mia and how far apart she was pulling away from him. She was finally his; he couldn’t lose her so soon.
This would be a brutal uphill battle the entire way with her. She was worth the fight. Broken bones and all. Well, not actual broken bones, but parts of him broke whenever she did or said something to crush his heart. Like not repeating I love you when he knew she did. She said it once; he’d get her to say it again.
While he liked to share—most of everything—with Brick, he couldn’t share any of this. Not without Mia’s blessing first.
“It’s been a rough day. Had to get up at three in the morning for a case, and it’s been one of those days, you know.”
Brick nodded. “We all have them.” Then a shit-eating grin appeared. “I bet yours was really rough. Look at that hickey.”
Jaxson almost brought his hand up to cover the damn thing but stopped short from actually doing it. Something he’d been forcing himself to do all day. He was never going to hear the end of it. Not today. Not tomorrow. Hell, not even a year from now.
Although, he didn’t regret one moment with Mia. It was all worth it.
“Don’t be jealous,” he replied with his own sly grin.
Brick laughed. A reaction Jaxson had hoped for and no further commenting. Something else he had desperately hoped for.
“Oh, I did mean to talk to you about something. Dane wants to throw Gabby a birthday party and enlisted my help. Can we have it here?”
“Dude, that question doesn’t even need to be asked. Of course.” Brick smiled as he leaned against the counter behind him and folded his arms. “Mia’s throwing a party for Dane’s birthday here as well. Next Saturday.”
