12. Tanner

Tanner

A dulting officially sucked donkey balls.

My body was in the car as I drove out of the city, but my mind, heart, and soul were still in my apartment, where I wanted to be, wrapped in Jax's warm body.

Lazy kisses, cocks hardening between us, hands exploring each and every inch of our bodies.

"Fuck." I cursed myself for making the appointment to meet the brewery owner I'd been waiting to do business with for a while, but there was no way I could have moved a meeting that had taken me months to secure.

My phone rang loudly in the car. I glanced at the console and saw Jax's name pop up.

"Aww, miss me already?" I asked.

His laugh got me right in the belly. "You have no idea."

"It's my body, isn't it? You had a taste, and now you can't live without me."

"Hmm, it's more of a medical issue. Did you know that prolonged sexual inactivity can lead to sperm buildup, which in turn may cause discomfort or pain?"

"That doesn't sound good, Doctor Mitchell. What do you recommend?"

"I would be breaking my oath if I didn't recommend regular sexual activity as a preventive measure to avoid sperm buildup."

I burst out laughing. "That's it, I'm turning the car around. I can be back there in twenty."

His laughter came through the car's speakers and wrapped around me like a ray of sunshine.

"Don't. I'm back at my place getting my shit ready for work tomorrow."

"Did you call just to tease me?"

"How am I teasing you?"

"First of all, your voice, and second, all the memories of what we did last night. If I don't get the brewery deal because I'm sporting a boner throughout the meeting, I'm blaming you."

He chuckled. "Let me help you with that."

"You saying that doesn't help at all, Jax."

"I spoke to the chapel."

Boner sufficiently killed. I hadn't had time to process anything that had happened this weekend, least of all the fact we'd slept together like it was the most natural thing in the world. I wasn't sure I was ready to hear what he had to say.

"Okay," I managed.

"It's um…a little complicated…"

"How so?"

"The officiant is responsible for submitting the marriage certificate to the clerk's office, which they have up to ten working days to do. The problem is that our officiant quit yesterday."

"What does that mean?"

I heard a sigh from the other side of the call as I exited the interstate.

"It sounds like this has uncovered some illegal practices by the officiant. They can't locate our paperwork, which means they can't tell at this stage if we're even married."

"Fuck. So there's nothing we can do?"

"No. All we can do is wait."

As I turned onto the road leading to the small town where the brewery was located, I struggled to get my head around all the information.

"You know what this means, right?" I said, defaulting to the man whore I was, especially where Jax was concerned. "While we're technically and probably married, you're going to have to perform your husbandly duties on a regular basis. You know, for health reasons."

He laughed again. "I've never been one to shirk my responsibilities. Are you working tonight?"

My dick thickened again at the thought of fucking Jax against the door leading to the bar from my apartment.

"I am, but if you can swing by around seven, I can show you how sturdy my office desk is. I'll even buy you dinner after."

"Sex and food? Where do I sign up? Oh wait…" He chuckled. "See you later."

My grin refused to leave my face as I reached the brewery and parked.

For the next couple of hours, I learned everything I needed to know about the brewery and shook hands with the owner. Pending a contract, Tanner's would be distributing one of the best ales in the region.

Not only that, but I'd managed to only think about Jax a handful of times. Props for being a responsible adult.

I was reversing out of the brewery's parking lot, with a selection of ales clinking in the back seat, when my phone rang again. A smile spread over my face, and I answered immediately. "You really can't get enough of me, can you? You're good for my ego."

"I sense a story there."

My foot hit the brake when I heard Jodie's voice through the car speakers.

"Jodie!"

"Hey, boo. How's it going? I'll guess that from the way you answered the call, it's going better than good."

"Um…err…gimme a sec, just pulling out of a parking lot," I semi-lied and grabbed my phone to mute my side of the call. "Fuck. Fuck. Think, Tanner."

I took a few deep breaths and turned out of the lot. There was no way she would guess what I'd done by my voice, right? At least she hadn't started a video call. One more breath to steady myself and I unmuted while navigating my way toward the road.

"I missed you, honeybun. How are you?"

"Nuh-uh, you first."

There was no point arguing with her, but I could divert. "Fine. Yes, I spent the last twenty-four hours getting railed by the man of my dreams. Jodie, you should see the size of his?—"

"Enough. I don't need to know more. You're getting dick. Congrats."

I chuckled. Victory .

"I'm calling because I have a couple of big projects coming to an end and need to get away. My apartment is making me claustrophobic, and sadly for me, there's no distracting dicks here."

"Are you still working on that television project?" When she mentioned she'd been approached by a streaming channel to star in her own home design show, I was so proud and happy for her, but it turned out those things take a long time to happen. It has also been a lot of additional work.

"Yes, we'll start filming soon, hence the break."

"What are you thinking?" I didn't want to come right out and say it, but right now, I couldn't really afford to get away from the bar, not to mention her brother.

She was going to kill me when she found out I was messing around with Jax.

"I was thinking of coming for a visit. See you and Jax. I miss you both. Maybe I'll get to meet that new guy who's got you answering your phone like a cat in heat."

"I did not answer the phone like that."

"You really can't get enough of me, can you?" she said, mimicking my voice but making it extra breathless.

"I'm hanging up if you're going to be mean."

She laughed. "Hey, boo? Don't tell Jax, okay? I want to make it a surprise."

"Sure. When are you coming?"

"It's all up in the air, but I'll let you know, okay?"

"Okay. Love you. Bye."

For the first time in our friendship, I was intentionally lying to my best friend, or at least omitting some pretty important information, and I felt like an asshole for it. But at the same time, I also couldn't bring myself to feel bad about what was happening between Jax and me.

When Jax turned up at the bar later that evening, I didn't have the guts to tell him about the call from his sister. Ignorance was bliss and all that.

Instead, I lost myself in his body, verified my desk really was as sturdy as it looked, and shared a platter of the city's best wings, thanks to my chef.

We'd talk about it at some point, but for now, I was too scared that mentioning Jodie and her possible impending visit would put an end to the one thing I'd wanted for as long as I could remember: Jax.

Besides, Jodie had a track record of canceling plans at the last minute because she'd met a new client with an exciting project. Maybe she wouldn't even come at all, so there was no point in worrying about it.