1. Jax

Jax

" J ax Fucking Mitchell. What the fuck are you doing here?"

I'd never been good at traveling across time zones, so with the jetlag, it took more than a moment for my brain to engage.

That and never in a million years had I thought I'd see him again. And definitely not on my first night back in the country.

"Hi, Tan…Tanner. Sorry, force of habit."

His smile widened and the blue in his eyes, which could light up the darkened bar, took me to a different time in my life.

"Hey, you know I'll always be Tan to you." He winked.

Twelve years.

The first stupid thought I had was, Fuck, he's grown . He was no longer the slight boy I'd known. Of course he'd grown. He was only a couple of years younger than me.

The second stupid thought was that his blond hair hadn't changed. Still a little too long. Still a little too floppy, like it was made to have someone's fingers running through it. Which wasn't a thought I wanted to have for a straight guy.

Tanner Beckett in front of me took me back to a lifetime ago.

"How do you guys know each other?" Noah asked. I'd almost forgotten he was here.

Noah was the college buddy responsible for my move to Cliffborough and the reason I'd come out to a bar. It was hard to say no to your best buddy when you'd moved into his building. Knowing Noah, he'd pick the lock on my door and drag me out anyway, so it was better to comply.

"I dated Jax's little sister in high school before I realized boys were my thing," Tanner said.

"What?" I asked, the words spilling out of my mouth as my brain processed what I'd heard.

"Oh yeah, I guess you'd left for the Army by the time I came out." He shrugged like it was no big deal.

I grabbed my beer and downed it, setting the bottle down on the bar again. "So you're…"

"As gay as a summer's day parade."

"Right."

Someone called Tanner's name from behind the bar. I tried not to stare as he turned and left, giving me a display of his perfect ass in the tightest jeans I'd ever seen.

Two questions filled my brain. How could he breathe in those, and he's gay?

Three questions, actually. Did he know he was gay then?

I picked up my beer, forgetting it was empty. When Noah called me to come out to his favorite bar, he half-joked about scoring tonight. Our conversation had been interrupted by Tanner, but Noah's eyes hadn't stopped flicking to the other side of the bar, where a hot guy was nursing some hard liquor.

Instead of ordering another beer, I turned to Noah. "If you're going to hit up Mr. Silver Fox over there, I'm heading out. It's time to catch up on sleep."

"So, you and Tan…" he teased, returning his attention to me while drawing out the nickname I'd given Tanner all those years ago.

I snorted. "Dude, I found out he was gay a minute ago. Haven't seen him since he was eighteen."

"Aww, you left for the Army because you were in love with your sister's boyfriend. How cute. You know this is the stuff romance novels are made of, right?"

"You're a dick, and I'm out," I said, giving him a mock punch in the gut.

I glanced at the room behind the bar where Tanner had disappeared but didn't see him again. Maybe after I caught some Zs, I'd realize this had all been a figment of my sleep-deprived imagination.

On my way out of the bar, the sign I hadn't paid much attention to earlier caught my eye: Tanner's Bar .

Was Tanner the Tanner? Did he own the bar?

It dawned on me that I didn't know anything about him anymore. I didn't even know if he was still in touch with my sister. They'd been inseparable while they were dating, but after I left, I'd pushed thoughts of him to the recesses of my mind, never to be thought about again.

My walk home was filled with questions, and the emptiness of my apartment didn't help my unsettled stomach.

My phone rang just as I picked out my clothes for my first day at the hospital tomorrow.

"Hey, kiddo," I said, knowing how much my sister hated when I called her that.

"I'm letting that one slide because you're jetlagged. How does it feel being back in the country? Although I'd have preferred if you'd moved a little closer to home."

I looked around the empty room. "I need furniture and…well, everything else."

She laughed. "I was asking more about your state of mind, but if you need some interior design help, I can fit you into my schedule in about three years."

"What? No friends-and-family privilege?" I yawned and stretched my back.

"You're deflecting."

I was, and I wasn't ashamed of it.

"And you never mentioned Tanner lived in Cliffborough."

When her reply didn't come, I looked at the screen to see if she was still on the line.

"I didn't think it was relevant," she said after a moment. "You haven't mentioned him in all the time you were gone."

"Neither did you."

"Why would I?"

Was it me, or did she sound a little prickly?

"I don't know. Maybe because he practically lived at our house when you were together. How did I not know you're still friends?"

"Well, you know now. Maybe you can reconnect. Just…"

"Just what?"

"Be nice to him."

What did she mean?

"Why wouldn't I be nice to him?"

I didn't need to see her to know the expression on her face just from hearing her huff. "Oh, I don't know, because you hate him?"

"I do?"

"You would always change the subject whenever I talked about him, so I stopped. I thought you didn't like him or were doing your I'm your big brother and I'll protect you from the bad guys impression when I told you we broke up."

Had I done that? I didn't remember.

"I'm sorry, kiddo. I promise I'll be nice to Tanner. Hell, at least now I know two people in this city."

"That's the spirit. Now go sleep to get ready for your big day, Doctor Mitchell."

"Yes, ma'am."

Tomorrow was my first day at Cliffborough General Hospital. My dream job. I'd done twelve years of training and work while on active duty for the Army so that one day I could work in a hospital without crippling student debt.

I'd seen death and worked in conditions I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but I'd made it. I was here now.

This was the new start I'd been working toward for years, and it seemed it now included the guy I'd once had a crush on.