Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

“How is this my life?” Lucy murmured as she climbed into the waiting SUV after landing in Wichita on Friday. Normally Jax picked her up or she took an Uber, but this time, he sent a car. Letting out a shaky breath, she smiled at the driver. “Thank you.”

Pulling out her phone, she immediately texted Jax.

Lucy: You did NOT have to send a car for me!

Jax: I wanted to make sure you were nice and relaxed when you got here.

Lucy: Why wouldn’t I be relaxed? I’m always relaxed when I get here!

Jax: Can we stop saying relaxed? Lol!

Jax: I just wanted to do something nice for you, that’s all.

Lucy: Aww…and it is! And a pleasant surprise. You just didn’t need to do it. I’m fine with getting my own Uber.

Jax: Stop arguing and just say thank you!

She could hear the frustration in that one sentence and grinned.

Lucy: Thank you!

Lucy: Are you home or still at the stadium?

Jax: Stadium, but I should be home in a couple of hours.

Jax: Noah, Lily, Simon, and Jules are already at the house. I hope that’s okay.

Lucy: It’s your house, Jax. Why wouldn’t it be?

Jax: I meant because I’m not going to be there. I’m not trying to ambush you with my family, I swear!

That made her laugh.

Lucy: I didn’t think you did. No worries. I’ll see you soon!

Then she sent several heart emojis and immediately began to worry.

“I say ‘no worries’ an awful lot for someone who is often worrying,” she mumbled. That’s when she decided to call Gemma.

“Hey! Is everything okay? I thought you were flying out to see Jax this morning?” her friend said as soon as she answered.

“I did,” she said, feeling breathless. “He’s at the stadium and I’m going to his house.”

“Okay, that’s not a big deal.”

“But his brothers and their wives and fiancées, or whatever you want to call them, are all there waiting for me! Isn’t that going to be awkward? I mean…it’s awkward, right?” She groaned. “I told Jax no worries, but…”

“You’re worrying. Got it. First, calm down and take a couple of deep breaths.”

And she did. “Okay, okay, okay…this isn’t terrible. I’m overreacting. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“Um…”

“OH MY GOD!! You think something’s going to happen?”

“Lucy…”

“No, no…I should be prepared. What if they’re all going to grill me on why I’m with Jax? Or what if they decide to call my brothers and tell them? What if they call my parents? Oh, no…this is bad. This is so bad!”

“Lulu, do you even hear yourself? Why would they call your parents or brothers? Think about it! And you saw them all back at the whole groundbreaking and luncheon thing. It’s not like you’re a stranger or they hate you. You really need to stop freaking out. Everything’s going to be fine.”

“Maybe. But you totally hesitated when I asked what’s the worst that could happen.”

“I was trying to think of something to say to put your mind at ease, but you immediately started yammering and talking nonsense!” Then she laughed.

“And that’s funny, why?”

“Because now I know that this relationship is a good thing.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna need a little more context.”

“You’re freaking out because this means something. Jax means something to you. Back when you were with…you know…he who shall not be named? You were almost robotic whenever you talked about him. There was zero emotion there. So hearing you like this makes my heart happy.”

“Aww.”

“Look, have fun,” Gemma told her. “Enjoy yourself and be thankful that you have this time with Jax’s family. You know they’re going to be curious as hell about the two of you, but you know you’re kind of curious as hell about them too!”

“I know.”

“And do I even need to remind you how you’re basically spending the weekend with Simon Freaking Bennett? I mean…I am so damn jealous right now!” She squealed with excitement. “I love his music so much! The first time Mike and I kissed, it was to a Simon Bennett song.”

“Seriously?”

“Oh, yeah. It was a great song!”

Snickering, she asked, “And the kiss?”

“Let’s just say he’s gotten better at it.”

They both laughed at that and for the rest of the ride, they just chatted. “I appreciate you taking my call. I know you’re at work and all.”

“Pfft…it’s a quiet day here in the office. All the animals are behaving. The actual animals and the ones I work with.”

“I thought Dr. Vic was supposed to retire soon. When’s that happening?”

“Not soon enough. Trust me.” There was a loud ruckus in the background, and Gemma groaned. “I spoke too soon. Gotta go. Have fun and I’ll talk to you when you get back!”

When she hung up, Lucy realized they were at the gate to Jax’s neighborhood. She put the window down and smiled at the attendant. “Hey, Bill!”

“Hey, Lucy! I’ve got you on the list. Go ahead through and have a nice weekend!”

“You too!” And with a wave, they drove on to Jax’s house where she grabbed her bag, thanked her driver, and watched him drive away. Facing the house, she let out a long breath. “Okay, here we go…”

Noah was waiting for her at the door with a serene smile. “Hey, Lucy!” Stepping back, he motioned for her to come in. “Perfect timing! Jax let us know when you were landing, so we ordered lunch. I hope you’re hungry because Jules and Lily went a bit overboard.” He took her suitcase from her as they walked in to greet everyone else.

It was friendly chaos, and they were all so warm and welcoming that she forgot to be nervous. Within minutes, they were all filling their plates with sandwiches and assorted salads while Simon got drinks for everyone. It was all so normal that it was easy to forget that she was basically surrounded by a wealthy celebrity family.

“I love how this all came together,” Lily said as they sat down. “Jax rarely is the one to invite all of us here—especially during football season—so when he offered to host, we all jumped at it!”

“Well, to be fair, he can’t get a lot of time away. The rest of us have at least a little flexibility in our schedules,” Noah reasoned before glancing at Simon. “Some more than others.”

“Hey, you told me I needed to stop working so hard and now that I am, you’re going to give me grief?” Simon said with a dramatic sigh. “There’s just no pleasing some people.” Then he winked at Lucy. “I’m glad you could get the weekend off too. I imagine your clinic is very busy.”

She nodded. “It is, but it just worked out that I had taken today off before Jax even mentioned this.”

“I hope we’re not pulling you away from anything,” Juliette commented. “We know you have an important career, and I’m sure Jax is already being needy and asking you to take time off to spend with him.”

It was said lightly and everyone began to laugh and joke so Lucy didn’t take offense.

“We’re still working on logistics and how to make the most of our time,” she explained. “Obviously his schedule is way more rigid than mine, but I don’t think I’ve ever been away from home this much in my life.”

“What does your family think of all of this?” Noah asked. “I can only imagine what that conversation must have been like.”

Awkward…

“We um…we haven’t told them about us yet,” she murmured, pushing her salad around on her plate. “At first we were just trying to figure out how serious this was, and once we did, there just hasn’t been the time.” Glancing around, she noticed the shocked expressions. “I know it doesn’t sound great, but…”

“Hey, who are we to judge?” Lily said before anyone else could speak. “Noah and I snuck around because he worked for my family and neither of us wanted to deal with the potential repercussions there.”

“Yeah, and I worked for Simon when we first got together,” Juliette chimed in. “We didn’t let anyone know about it for a while, so don’t worry. Really, no judgment.”

Everything in her sagged with relief.

And now I can relax…

Suddenly, her food tasted better and she felt herself smiling more. This was a great group of people, and she felt completely at ease with them. Both of Jax’s brothers were so much older than her, so she never really hung out with them or even knew them when she was growing up, so it was nice that she felt so at ease with them now.

“I’m guessing you’re going to have to tell them eventually,” Lily said with a hint of amusement. “It’s not like you can keep it a secret forever. And once the season’s over, I imagine Jax is going to be hanging out more and more back in South Creek because of the camp.”

She nodded. “He’s still not sure how that’s all going to go. It seems like he’s going to be very hands-on once the camp opens, but during construction, there isn’t much he actually can do other than stand back and watch.”

“If I know Jax, he’s going to try to convince someone on the construction crew to let him drive the concrete truck or build at least something,” Simon joked. “He’ll be sure to get a hard hat with his name on it and walk around like he knows what’s going on.”

Everyone laughed at that, including Lucy, because…yeah…she could totally picture that.

“You know, from a PR standpoint, it would kind of awesome to get pictures of Jax doing that sort of thing,” Juliette suggested. “I mean, PR was the reason he finally pulled the trigger on this project to begin with, so in order to keep the good press going, we should seriously consider staging photos like that.”

Noah groaned. “I can already hear the exaggerated stories he’s going to tell…”

“Aww…I think he should totally brag,” Lily countered. “He’s doing something amazing and for a noble cause. Sure, the whole PR angle made it happen sooner than he maybe was going to, but ultimately Jax chose to do something completely selfless with his money. Something that’s truly giving back and even though he’s a major doofus sometimes, I think it’s sweet.”

Tears stung Lucy’s eyes and all she could do was nod.

As if sensing her emotions, Juliette changed the subject.

Sort of.

“So you’re a pediatric physical therapist,” she said with a smile. “What’s that like?”

So for the next several minutes, Lucy explained what the life of a physical therapist for kids was like. Everyone asked questions and seemed genuinely interested, and she kind of loved sharing what she did.

When she explained some of the tasks she used on her patients to make it seem more like a game rather than therapy—like the rebound trampoline—Simon commented, “That just sounds like something fun to have at home!”

And that’s when Jax walked in wearing a big grin. “What’s fun to have at home?” He walked right over to her and kissed her soundly before looking up at his brother for an answer.

“The rebound thing to bounce balls on,” Simon told him. “It just sounded like a great stress reliever for when I’m feeling fidgety.”

“Dude, you’re not a good catcher,” Noah reasoned. “We all know this.”

“But maybe…”

“No,” Jax said firmly as he made a plate for himself and sat down. “You’re not coordinated enough. If you even try to use that thing near anything breakable, you’ll break it. Trust me.”

It was the kind of silly teasing and bantering she had with her own brothers, so she felt right at home. And as Jax moved his chair close beside hers, he looked at her with a goofy grin on his face.

“What?” she asked softly. “Why are you smiling?”

“Seeing you here with my family makes me happy,” he said before taking a giant bite of his sandwich, and honestly, being here made her happy too.

It had killed him to have to leave Lucy in his bed and head out to practice, but…that was the way it had to be. He had cut out of practice early yesterday, so he was going to have to make up some of that time today. Last night, Lily and Jules had talked about doing a girls’ day with Lucy—something about manicures and pedicures and lunch—so he figured he wouldn’t be missed. Still, it felt kind of shitty to have asked her to come for the weekend and then not be there with her.

So he powered through practice.

He did his time in the weight room.

And then he sat through an hour-long film session with the coaches going over last week’s game.

“Wylder?” Coach called out when he was leaving. “A minute?”

That was never good.

With a weary sigh, he nodded and walked across the room. “What’s up?”

“Have a seat, Jax.” Coach Floyd was always fair and they had always had a decent respect for each other, but he could tell by the look on his face that whatever he wanted to talk about, it wasn’t going to be great.

Taking a seat, he let out a long breath and waited.

“You’ve been taking a lot of time off. You were very open and up front with the staff that you were starting up this camp and while it’s a great thing and it helped give you some good press, there are a few executive staffers who don’t feel like your heart’s totally with the team.” And with a pointed stare, he put the ball right in Jax’s court.

Shifting slightly in his chair, he knew he owed it to the team to be honest, but he wasn’t crazy enough to make a retirement announcement just yet. Hell, he wouldn’t even say those words anywhere near the stadium for fear of it getting out before he was ready.

“I guess the camp project has been a bit of a distraction,” he admitted, “and I’m sorry about that. Between that and my injury, I know I haven’t been playing my best.” Pausing, he tried to think of something to say, but really, he had questions. “Knowing all of that, I don’t get why anyone’s commenting on where my heart is or my commitment to the Warriors. I’ve given this team everything for years and I have been one of the loudest supporters of our organization.”

“You’re making stupid mistakes,” the coach said evenly. “On the field and off. We understood the shoulder injury and we appreciated all the hard work you put in to get back on the field, but…”

“But…?”

“The whole party incident has left an unpleasant taste in people’s mouths. You know the Reeves family is very protective of the Warriors brand, and your behavior wasn’t particularly…uh…family-friendly.”

Good grief…

“Okay, I made a mistake months ago, but it’s not like I’m the only player in the NFL who’s ever had a lapse in judgement!” And yeah, getting loud totally wasn’t helping, but he was frustrated, dammit!

“The Reeves family isn’t concerned about the other players in the league, just…our players.” Shaking his head, his coach took a seat beside him. “Look, I’m not saying I agree or disagree, and believe me, I know a lot of your teammates were at that party, but you’re the only one who had it publicized so…publicly.”

It was hard to argue with that.

“Then…there’s this.” Taking out his phone, he tapped the screen before handing it over to Jax. “Seems like this girl is still looking for her fifteen minutes of fame.”

Slack-jawed, Jax read a letter Tiffany had written to the team owner’s wife, stating that she was pregnant with Jax’s baby and was demanding money to keep quiet about it.

“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” he demanded. “This is a total lie and extortion! I never slept with her!”

“She says differently,” Coach said, slipping his phone back into his pocket. “Our legal team is working on everything but…you are seriously going to have to pull a rabbit out of your hat to clean this shit up. Anymore PR opportunities we can use?”

With a snort of derision, he glared. “Five minutes ago, you were telling me my PR stuff was a problem and making people question my commitment to the team. Now I need more?”

“Honestly, Jax, I don’t even know what you need. Most guys screw up and move on. This season has just been one long, slow…” He sighed. “Hell, I don’t even know what to call it.”

“This isn’t all on me. I can’t be held responsible for this woman’s delusions. I’m being falsely accused!” Muttering a curse, he added, “Maybe I need to get myself a lawyer too.”

“Our legal team is handling it.”

“The extortion part, not the rest,” Jax argued. “Shit!”

“Take the rest of the weekend to think about all of this, but…we’re trying to keep it quiet, so do not—under any circumstances—talk to your teammates about this.” He stood. “And be here Monday at nine. We’re meeting with the lawyers then.”

Jax got to his feet. “What the hell am I supposed to do until then, huh? Don’t I have a right to defend myself?”

“You will. Monday. Trust me.” Turning, he collected his things. “And seriously, any good PR would be smart to have lined up.” And with that, he left, leaving Jax feeling like his entire world was falling apart.

Fortunately, Declan and Travis didn’t wait for him, so he could walk out to his truck alone. His mind was in total chaos the entire drive home, and by the time he pulled into his driveway, he was more confused than ever.

Still, he forced himself to put a smile on his face and try not to let his foul mood ruin the weekend. Grabbing his duffel bag, he climbed from the truck and walked inside.

“Holy crap, dude. Who died?” Simon asked as soon as he saw him. “Rough practice?”

“Something like that,” he murmured, tossing his bag aside. “Where’s Lucy? Are the girls back yet?”

“They’re on their way,” Noah said as he walked over to join them. One look at Jax and he frowned. “Okay, seriously, what’s wrong? Please tell me it’s not another long-lost sibling reaching out to us again.”

Raking a hand through his hair, he mumbled, “I wish.”

“Out with it,” Simon gently demanded, even as he walked over to get him something to drink.

Coach only said not to talk to his teammates; he never said anything about family. So…he told them about the meeting and how he was freaking out.

“Okay, okay, we can see why you’re upset,” Noah commented. “What can we do?”

“I have no idea. I hate that this is happening and I hate it even more that it’s happening this weekend. We have dinner reservations and Lucy’s here and…and…”

“So, we change the plans or…maybe we go out and present a united front,” Simon reasoned. “From what it sounds like, no one knows about this. So we go out and have a nice family dinner and if anyone sees us all together, they’ll also see you with Lucy.”

“I don’t know…”

“Wasn’t this Tiffany chick in jail? They arrested her on grand theft and a bunch of other charges.”

“I guess she’s out. I have a restraining order against her, so I’m surprised she’s honoring it, but it’s only a matter of time until she crosses that line.”

“Or maybe this little stunt is her way of getting at you without getting near you,” Noah suggested before looking at Simon. “What time did the girls say they’d be back? I bet Juliette would be incredibly helpful here.”

“Oh, my girl will have a plan in a heartbeat. No problem.”

“Well I have a problem with it,” Jax snapped. “I really didn’t want this being a thing while Lucy’s here. I don’t want to ruin the weekend.”

“Jax, trust me. She’ll come home and take one look at you and know something’s wrong. And from what I’ve learned about her just since yesterday, she’s not afraid to speak her mind. So if she thinks something’s wrong, she’s going to question you about it. Why not just be open and honest about it?” Shrugging, Noah added, “Your coach told you to come up with some good PR, so…let’s come up with something.”

Everything inside him said to tell them no—that this wasn’t the way he wanted to handle things—but maybe they were right. And the bottom line was there was no way he was going to be able to just pretend like nothing was wrong. Lucy would definitely know something was up and he was sure that Lily and Jules would too.

“So…now everyone can sit around and we can talk about how I make poor decisions and how much of a screwup I am. Great.”

“Stop pouting,” Noah joked, playfully smacking the back of Jax’s head. “It’s called brainstorming and…you’re welcome.”

It was pointless to argue. He appreciated that he had them here to help him through this, especially since he wasn’t allowed to talk to Declan, Travis, or pretty much any of his buddies.

Sitting down on the sofa, his whole body just collapsed against the cushions. “Do we wait for Juliette or just start brainstorming on our own?”

No sooner were the words out than the front door opened and Lucy, Juliette, and Lily walked in laughing and smiling.

Enjoy the moment, ladies, because I’m about to kill it…

Lucy looked over at him and he saw it on her face instantly. Quietly, she walked over and sat beside him. “What happened? Are you hurt?” Worry laced her tone as she scanned him from head to toe. “What do you need?”

Unable to help himself, he hauled her in close, burying his face against her neck. “You, Luce. I just need you,” he whispered. Letting out a shaky breath, Jax had no idea how long they stayed like that, but he felt when everyone came over to join them. Reluctantly, he let her go and hated the confusion on her face.

“Jax?”

Swallowing hard, he sat up, resting his elbows on his knees, and repeated the events of the day. He never looked at anyone, just at his clasped hands, and when he was done, he was almost afraid to hear what anyone was going to say. But more than anything, he hated the thought of seeing disgust or disappointment on Lucy’s face.

“Screw that bitch,” Lucy declared. “I mean, with her track record, why are they putting any of this on you? She’s a train wreck and everyone knows it! Why is it up to you to work on your image when you’re the one being slandered?”

“If I may,” Juliette carefully interjected. “It doesn’t always work like that. She’s got texts and pictures of the two of them and, with the right spin, she can easily play the woman scorned.” Looking at Jax, she added, “And sometimes the public sides with the wrong party. We’re definitely going to need to do some preemptive damage control, but I don’t think you’re going to need to do anything drastic.”

“Um…”

“We can start by doing a series of videos of you talking about the camp—just some short reels for social media showcasing some of the plans,” she went on. “Then we have you doing some goodwill right here in your own backyard—signing autographs, visiting the local high school, and maybe tossing the football with their team.”

“I can do all that.”

“And while we definitely want to shine the best light on you right here in Wichita, we need to make sure we’re doing a lot publicly on a greater scale.” She paused to think. “Back to the camp and your hometown, I think it could be fantastic PR to showcase you and Lucy! You know, how the camp brought the two of you together and how you’re working together while being in love and…” She grinned broadly. “A love story attached to this—especially the hometown hero dating the hometown girl or the girl next door? It’s like a Hallmark movie!”

Beside him, Lucy didn’t say a word.

“If the two of you are up for it, we can really move forward with that one, and I think it would be a great start!”

Turning his head, Jax looked at Lucy and saw…he didn’t know what. He couldn’t read her expression. “Luce?”

“I…I need a minute,” she said quietly. “This is…it’s a lot. My family doesn’t even know about us and suddenly I’m going to be part of a PR campaign telling the world about us.” Her laugh was a bit mirthless. “I’m not sure how they’re going to take it. They’ll think I’m crazy, or…or…that I have serious issues. After the whole Blake thing…”

“What’s the whole Blake thing?” Juliette asked.

Jax groaned. This so wasn’t helping.

“I was engaged to a guy and let’s just say I wasn’t marrying him for the best of reasons. It wasn’t really a love match,” she sighed loudly. “I caught him cheating on me and broke things off, but…everyone knew I wasn’t with him…you know…because I was in love with him. I saw it as a way out of my small-town life.” Now she hung her head.

Wrapping his arm around her, he pulled her close before looking back at Juliette. “That has nothing to do with anything or our relationship. It’s not like that for us, okay? So before anyone thinks…”

“Dude, no one’s thinking that,” Simon quietly commented. “We all get why you’re a little defensive and freaking out, but we’re all on your side. The truth is going to come out that Tiffany is unhinged. The extortion threat alone has got to prove that she’s lying about there being a baby.”

Again, Juliette stepped in. “It doesn’t necessarily prove that she’s lying, but it is a punishable crime. She’ll face jail time for sure, but not for any significant amount of time. Although…on top of the theft and everything else that she’s out on probation for, this certainly isn’t helping her case.”

Leaning back, he let out another groan. “This is a freaking nightmare! How much more am I supposed to deal with, huh? I made a stupid mistake! I lost my truck, was publicly humiliated, then we have a potential half-sibling reach out and who knows if there are more out there, and now this! All I wanted was to play ball and do something good with this camp, but everything’s too much of a damn shit show right now!”

Everyone grew silent and Jax figured it was because they knew he was right and didn’t have any answers or any positive spin for any of this. The quietness became mildly awkward until Lucy spoke up.

“Do you think the whole Hallmark thing will work? Because if you believe it will, Jules, then I’m in,” she stated, sounding determined.

Jax sat straight up. “Wait…what?” Then he looked at Juliette. “We don’t even know what it will entail!”

“Um…”

Taking his hand, Lucy gently tugged it to get him to look at her. “It doesn’t matter what we need to do, Jax. If this is going to help you, then I’m in. Whatever it takes.” And her smile was the sweetest thing he’d seen all day.

“Luce…your family…they’re going to see this. You know we haven’t talked about how we were going to tell them…”

Then she chuckled. “Well, it will be hard for them to get upset when everyone is commenting on how happy we are and how great our love story is.”

Love story, he thought. She deserved a genuine love story, not this madness for the sake of boosting his reputation. “I don’t know. This just feels wrong. Like…you’re sacrificing for me and we don’t even know if it’s going to help.”

“Okay, but it can’t hurt either,” she reasoned before glancing in Juliette’s direction. “Right?”

“It’s always better to be in the press for something positive, Jax.” She stood. “So…are you in? Because this is the perfect time for us to get some fun, family videos and pictures. We can make it Instagram official to get the ball rolling.”

He looked at Lucy again. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I’m in, Jax. Whatever you need, I’m in.”

Part of him knew he was the only one benefiting from this, but he silently vowed to make it up to her, no matter what it took.

Letting out a long breath, he said, “Okay. I guess let’s create some content!”