Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

It started out awkward, but once the entire family got into it, taking photos and videos was actually kind of fun. They did multiple outfit changes and then Lily had the idea that they should cook dinner together as a group and take photos of that as well.

Chaos was the only way Lucy could describe it.

Still, they ended up with a bunch of misshapen-but-delicious homemade pizzas that had turned into a fierce competition between the three couples.

According to Lily, the Wylder brothers thrived on competing against one another and Lucy had to explain to her she was well aware of that kind of behavior since she had three brothers of her own. Then they laughed and laughed and laughed while ultimately Simon and Juliette’s pizza reigned supreme.

Hours later, Jax was still fuming about it.

“He totally messed with our pizza.”

Lucy was crawling into bed and was done having this conversation. “Jax, it was just a pizza. They were all delicious, but Simon’s was just freaking stunning to look at. Seriously, it was like a work of art. Deal with it.” Laughing softly, she leaned over and kissed him. “Now, can we please change the subject and stop talking about pizza?”

Normally they always had something to talk about, but you could have heard a pin drop in that room and considering this was the first time they were truly alone all day, she kind of had a feeling it was going to be like this.

“So, um…we really haven’t had a chance to talk privately about…you know…everything,” Jax began after a minute. “Jules is gonna share those pictures on all of my social media accounts tomorrow and you’re supposed to too, and…”

“And the shit’s going to hit the fan,” she finished for him. “At least, that’s what I’m expecting.” Since she’d been so distracted all afternoon, this was also the first time she was allowing herself to think about all the ramifications of what they were about to do.

Beside her, Jax was leaning back against a pile of pillows shaking his head. “We can totally tell Jules that we changed our minds. It was unfair to put you on the spot like that and…”

“Jax!” she huffed before he got carried away again. “Look, I knew exactly what I was doing, and this is my version of just pulling the bandage off, you know? There’s never going to be a great time to tell my family we’re dating. They’re going to be shocked and have like…a million questions, but ultimately, they all genuinely love you. If anything, they’re going to be worried about you.”

“Me? How do you figure that?”

It felt like they were beating the proverbial horse, but she supposed she needed to say it again. “You have no idea the grief and the lectures I got when I called off my wedding. My mother was relentless for a solid week until I stopped taking her calls and refused to go for family dinners. When she finally chilled out and we could just talk, she told me how disappointed she was that I would consider marrying someone I didn’t love and how the whole mess was on me.”

“Holy crap…” he hissed.

“Tell me about it. So I’m already bracing myself for the call where she’s going to tell me…well…basically what Blake said that day in the elevator. No one’s going to take us— me —seriously. I know the public won’t know all of this, but…”

It wasn’t until Jax pulled her into his arms that she realized she was crying.

She let him hold her until she could compose herself, and when she could, she looked up at him. “So here’s the thing, Jax, I get what you’re going through. You made a bad decision and you owned up to it and yet you’re still being punished and the people you trust are still taking the other person’s side.” Sighing, she wiped away some wayward tears. “My brothers were there for me and willing to fight just like yours are, and you mean so much to me that there was no way I wouldn’t help.”

Tenderly, he caressed her cheek. “For what it’s worth, I don’t care about anything that happened before that day I saw you again in the pub. No one in this world can say that they’ve never made a mistake. I just hate that my mistake is crashing into our time together.”

“That’s how I felt about our weekend at the beach.”

Nodding, he placed a kiss on her forehead. “It’s your call, Luce. Hell, I’ll call Tyler right now and tell him everything so he can freak out on me before everything goes live on social media tomorrow.”

“You don’t need to do that. We’re all adults and we’ll all deal with it no matter what.” Resting her head on his shoulder, she added, “But thank you. I kind of love that you were willing to throw yourself on the grenade.”

She thought she was being light and funny, but when Jax tucked a finger under her chin and gently forced her to look up at him, his expression was fierce.

“I love you,” he said gruffly. “There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you. I know this probably isn’t the best time to be saying any of this—and I’m not just saying it because of everything that’s happening—but…I wanted you to know. I’ve wanted to tell you for some time now, but there just never seemed to be the right time.”

Her heart kicked hard in her chest.

Jax loved her.

And she…

“There’s no pressure for you to say it back,” he softly told her. “That wasn’t why I said it. It just…we’re sitting here baring our souls and I just wanted to say it.”

She wanted to say it—she really did—but for some reason, she didn’t.

Couldn’t.

Still, he caressed her cheek before kissing her softly. “How about we watch a little TV and get some sleep? Tomorrow’s going to be wild, I’m sure.”

And just like that, the TV was on, and they were getting cozy under the blankets, and before she knew it, she could barely keep her eyes open.

Maybe all the drama and emotion took more of a toll than she thought, because within minutes, she fell asleep.

The next day, everyone was up early, and Juliette was in serious publicist mode.

“I went through all the pictures and videos and already have several reels ready to go,” she said before sipping what had to be her third cup of coffee before nine a.m. “I think we start with something simple and brief like…this picture here.”

Holding up her phone, it was a shot of Lucy and Jax hugging and smiling for the camera yesterday afternoon. They had been laughing because Simon asked if he could go with Jax to the stadium to workout.

That wasn’t the funny part.

The funny part was when he compared his regular morning jog to the kind of workout an athlete did.

“We add a sweet caption on yours, Jax, that simply says, ‘My Girl’ with a heart emoji or something, and on Lucy’s page we use another shot from that same series of shots, with her caption being, ‘My Guy’ with the emoji. It just tests the waters. Then we follow it with the reels I made. We continue to post stuff periodically throughout the day. What do you say?”

Swallowing hard, Lucy went over and grabbed her phone. “Send me everything and I’ll post it,” she said with a smile, even though she was trembling slightly.

“Let Jax post his first and then you do yours a few minutes after. Be sure to tag each other.” Then Juliette looked at Lucy with a combination of respect and pity. “Prepare for your world to change a bit.”

“I’m ready for it.”

Not.

But she kept that to herself.

Juliette took Jax’s phone and did the post for him, and then five minutes later, Lucy posted. Then they all put their phones down when Noah walked in with a gigantic box of baked goods.

“It seemed like a good morning for some muffins,” he said with an easy grin. “I thought about making pancakes, but after last night’s pizza frenzy, I think it would be wise if we all just…stayed out of the kitchen today.”

“Handsome, sexy, and smart,” Lily said as she walked over and kissed him. “How did I get so lucky?”

Lucy was so focused on how cute the two of them were that she didn’t notice Jax coming up behind her until he wrapped his arms around her waist. “I used to tease them about how cutesy and lovey-dovey they were, but…now I get it.”

Melting against him, she thought that was a pretty sweet admission. “They really are adorable.”

Leaning down close to her ear, he whispered, “Not as adorable as us, though.”

And honestly, she couldn’t help but laugh because there was that competitiveness again. She was about to call him out on it when her phone rang. “Do we want to take bets on who it is?”

That’s when Jax’s phone rang.

“And so it begins,” Juliette called out. “Everybody play nice and good luck!”

Picking up her phone, she saw Tyler’s name and decided to take the call in Jax’s room, closing the door behind her. “Hey, Ty! What’s up?”

“Do you want to explain to me why I’m looking at pictures and videos of you all wrapped around Jax? And when were you with Simon and Noah? What the hell, Lucy?” he demanded. “All the years that I had to listen to you give me shit about my friendship with him and you’re…you’re…dating him? Since when?”

Okay, he didn’t sound nearly as outraged as she imagined he would. He was pissed, but not overly so.

“That weekend that you and I came here, Jax and I had a lot of time to talk, and I realized I had misjudged pretty much everything. Then when we started working on the camp stuff and spending time together, we realized we were…you know…interested in each other.”

It was only a partial lie. No need to tell him when things really started.

“This is insane! You have no idea how much I want to get on a plane right now and freaking punch Jax in the damn face! There’s a code and he broke it!”

“Ty, you need to be reasonable here. Weren’t you the one who practically begged me to give Jax a chance?”

“As a friend , Lucy! Not as a boyfriend!” He growled with frustration. “I do not want to think about my best friend sleeping with my little sister! It’s not right!”

“Then don’t think about it. Duh. Problem solved.”

“Are you seriously going to be a smartass with me right now? Do you have any idea what’s going to happen when Wyatt, Charlie, and Mom and Dad find out?”

“ Pfft …Wyatt’s going to react just like you are, but maybe not as grouchy. Charlie will just sort of roll his eyes, and…let’s be honest, I think Mom and Dad like Jax way more than they like me, so they’ll probably be thrilled.”

“I should have called Jax. I can reason with him. You’re impossible,” he grumbled.

“Yeah, but you love me, and I love that you’re kind of outraged. Believe it or not, you’re the only one I was really worried about. I get that this is weird, but…it just happened. I never in a million years thought I’d fall in love with Jax, but…”

“Oh, no…”

“What? What’s the matter?”

“You’re in love with him? Seriously?”

“Um…”

“Okay, I’m going to have to put my big brother foot down here. Jax is not boyfriend material, Luce. I’m sure you’re both happy and having fun right now, but trust me. Football is his only true love. I just don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

“Again, I love that you’re concerned, but I know what I’m doing. I’m not jumping in blindly. I learned my lesson after everything I went through with Blake and I’m not rushing into anything. Jax still has the rest of this season to get through, and then there’s the camp. We don’t live anywhere near each other, so we’re just taking it one day at a time, okay? You can relax. I know what I’m doing and…I’m happy.”

“I really should have called Jax and yelled at him,” he murmured. “I really wanted to yell. I was all prepared for it.”

She couldn’t help but smile. “You’re not a yeller, Ty, and we all know it. You’re a genuinely good guy who looks out for everyone, and that’s why we love you.”

“I can yell…” But there was no heat behind his words.

“If you really want to call Jax and yell, then go ahead. But you should also know that we’re going to be posting a few more things today on social media. You know…making it official.”

“Freaking social media…”

She huffed with mock annoyance. “Clearly you just want to be in a mood, so I’m going to say goodbye. I love you, and I promise to make time to hang out with you when I get back to town.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Good. And Ty?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you, and I’m sorry you found out this way.”

He laughed quietly. “Love you too, brat.”

Hanging up, Lucy let out a happy little sigh. “Okay, one down, and it wasn’t so bad at all.” She knew they weren’t totally in the clear; that was just one phone call with one brother. She had an entire family to deal with and some friends. “Probably should have warned Gemma that we were doing this.”

So she tapped out a quick text and promised they’d get together for lunch as soon as she got back.

Feeling good about it all, Lucy walked out of the bedroom and was about to share her good news when she noticed that everyone was eerily quiet. Glancing around, she wasn’t sure what to do or say.

“Jax just got a call from the Vice President of the Warriors,” Noah said flatly.

“How do you know?”

“He said it before he answered. He took it outside, but…it doesn’t sound good from what we can hear.”

And there went her good mood.

That’s when her phone rang with a call from her mother, so she took it back in Jax’s bedroom.

“Hey, Mom!”

“Are you going to try to convince another wealthy man to marry you just to get out of South Creek?” her mother cried. “And with Jax, of all people? Where did I go wrong with you, Lucy?”

Oh, good Lord…

The sigh of frustration was loud. “That’s not what this is,” she replied tightly. “Jax and I started spending time together while working on the camp and things just…evolved. I don’t owe you or anyone an explanation, and you know what? I’m kind of tired of your nasty accusations! I get that you really liked Blake. But you know what? What he did to me was far worse than me not being in love with him! So instead of making me out to be the bad guy in this, maybe be a little supportive of your only daughter!”

She contemplated hanging up, but she didn’t. Instead, she walked over to the door that led out to the screened-in porch and spotted Jax pacing. Her heart broke for him, and she couldn’t even imagine what he was being forced to listen to. If it was anything like this call, she totally felt for him.

“If you’re looking to fight with me, it will have to wait until I get home because I’m not missing out on the short time Jax and I have together,” she snapped. “And whether or not you choose to believe it, we’re together because I genuinely care about him. Hell, I think I’m in love with him!”

“Lucy? Really? With Jax? Are you sure? All these years…”

“Believe me, Mom, I know. It’s weird for me too. But if you don’t mind, I really don’t want to get into this with you right now. We’ll talk when I get home.”

“Just…I’m sorry, Lucy. I just…I guess I couldn’t understand how you would even consider marrying someone you didn’t love. Now I realize that you were always fiercely independent and did things your own way. And if going through what you did with Blake made you realize that you shouldn’t settle for anything less than true love, then…then it’s a good thing.”

“Mom…”

“We’ll talk when you’re home. Give our love to Jax, but tell him your father is not exactly thrilled.”

That made her smile. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

The call from the VP then went to a call with the legal team. That call led to a conference call with his coaches, and lastly, a call with Beau Reeves, the team owner, who he was currently talking to. All Jax wanted to do was throw his damn phone away and stop talking about this subject to death. His career had been everything to him for so damn long and he’d worked hard to get where he was, but right now, football was the last thing he wanted to think about.

Somewhere in his house, Lucy was dealing with her family and he hated that she was doing it alone without him being right there to support her. Tyler had called, but there was no way Jax could have put anyone else on hold to take it. Once his friend knew everything that was going on, he’d understand, but he had a feeling that right now he was seeing Jax’s refusal to answer the call as an act of cowardice.

I wish…

“Our PR team will prepare a statement,” Mr. Reeves was saying. “Everything will be sent for your approval and when you meet with everyone at the stadium tomorrow, it will all be finalized. Any questions?”

“No, Sir,” he said politely, even though inside he was seething. “I thank you for taking the time to call and speak to me personally.”

“You’ve been with the Warriors for a long time, Jax. You’re part of the family. That’s why this whole situation has been…upsetting.”

He nodded. “I apologize for my poor judgment. Believe me, I learned my lesson, and it won’t happen again.”

Mr. Reeves laughed softly. “I appreciate that. Now let’s get back to the business of football, okay?”

“I’d like that. Thank you.”

“Enjoy the rest of your day, Jax. Take care.”

Sagging back on the chaise he was currently on, he let out a long breath. Glancing at the clock on the phone, he saw it had been two hours—two freaking hours of this bullshit and he had no idea if Lucy was okay.

Jumping to his feet, he stormed back inside, ready to deal with whatever member of the Dawson family that was giving her grief. Sliding the glass door open with more force than necessary, he looked around wildly and found…

Everyone laughing and eating.

What the…?

They all stopped the moment they spotted him, and he knew he must look like a deer in the headlights. Lucy got to her feet and ran over to him. “What happened?”

Gently grasping her shoulders, he returned her question with a question. “It’s not important. Are you okay? Do I need to call anyone and straighten things out?”

Her smile was like a balm for his wounded soul. “Everything’s fine. Although when you didn’t answer Ty’s call, he called me back and I had to explain some of what’s going on to him. Nothing overly specific, so please don’t freak out. I just said that you were on a mandatory team call.”

“Did he upset you? Should I call him back right now?” He was already pulling the phone from his pocket when Lucy took his free hand and tugged him toward the table where they were all eating.

“The muffins were fine, but then somehow we started talking about sandwiches…”

“That’s on me,” Juliette said with a sheepish grin. “I was just in the mood for a good breakfast sandwich.”

“Lily and Noah ran to the store and got all the makings for bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches and we decided to have them while we waited for you. Do you want one?”

“Um…”

“I got it,” Noah called out, already standing by the stove. “We made a ton of bacon, so it’s really just a matter of frying up a couple of eggs. You want coffee, or do you need something stronger?”

“Um…” Right now, he couldn’t be sure.

“Come on and sit,” Lucy urged. “If you’re not ready to talk about everything, that’s fine. We were just all really worried and cooking and eating seemed like an excellent distraction.”

“Yeah, but…what about you? What happened with your family? Ty can’t be the only one you talked to.”

“Oh, well…my mom called and we sort of had a bit of a heated exchange and then we both calmed down and I think we’re good,” she assured him. “Like I said, she likes you more than she likes me.” And with a wink, she added, “But she mentioned that my dad isn’t too thrilled with the news, so…there’s that.”

The bark of laughter was out before he could stop it, and it was the first time in several hours that he let himself have an honest reaction.

Juliette put a mug of coffee down in front of him and then Lily put a glass of orange juice beside it just as Noah put a plate down with a large breakfast sandwich for him.

Then they all sat and stared at him.

“Yeah, I know what you’re all waiting for, but I’m going to take a bite of this first, so…sorry.” And he did. “Damn, Noah. That is the shit ! You always made the best breakfast stuff.” He took another bite and almost laughed at the confusion on everyone’s faces, but this meal was too good to let get cold. Not that it took long for him to finish—only another three bites—but it wasn’t fair to keep them all hanging like this.

But he needed something to drink first.

“For the love of it, Jax!” Lily cried out in frustration. “You’re killing us! What did the VP say?”

Putting his glass down, he shook his head slightly. “Basically, I’m not the only football player Tiffany was trying to blackmail. She’s playing the same con with a player in Dallas, one in St. Louis, and one in Omaha. I don’t know the specifics, but basically she was doing this all at the same time and a lot of team staffs talk, so…it was out there that this was going on.”

“Holy crap,” Simon murmured. “So then…you’re in the clear! That’s great!”

“Well…only where that’s concerned.”

“Meaning?” Juliette asked.

“Even though just twenty-four hours ago Coach Floyd was all about me generating more good PR on top of the camp stuff, the general consensus is that I’m not…” He sighed. “I’m not playing up to my potential because I’m too distracted.”

He wanted to look over at Lucy, but he couldn’t.

Not yet.

“So while the stuff we did today is great and it puts some good feelings out there toward me, the bottom line is this is one of the worst seasons I’ve had since my rookie year. There are endorsement deals on the line and I have to just…I need to stop…” Pausing, he cleared his throat. “I can’t keep flitting off for weekends here and there or taking a few days for personal reasons for the rest of the season.”

“You know we’ve always appreciated you making the time for us when we’ve needed you,” Noah told him. “And we all completely understand. This is your career and we support you no matter what.”

“Exactly,” Simon agreed. “The countless times you’ve dropped everything for one of us has meant more than you’ll ever know, and you have to know we’d do the same for you if you needed us.”

“I know,” he said quietly. “I’ve never been in this position before. I’ve never had anyone sit me down and reprimand me like what I just went through. My position on the team is safe for now, but…is that how I want it to be? That I’m just safe, but I have to worry over my every move? Do I have to be afraid to do or say the wrong thing for fear of punishment?”

“To be fair, Jax, most jobs come with a level of having to play by the rules—even with seniority,” Noah reasoned. “I’ve been with Montgomerys for years and I’m married to a Montgomery, yet I still have to put in for my time off and report to people. Simon can’t just take a day off of a tour because he wants to go do something; he’s got to run it by people and schedules have to be changed and if he doesn’t show up, there are repercussions. So don’t take it personally. This is just life. You’ve just been blessed because you’re a great guy who never truly stepped out of line.”

“That’s why this feels like such a harsh punishment. I get that I screwed up and it brought negative publicity to the team, but they can all see that Tiffany was to blame, not me.”

Simon made a noise but immediately looked away.

“Come on. Out with it,” Jax urged.

“Out with what?”

“Dude, seriously? Can we please not do this right now? If you have something to say, then say it.”

“Fine, but remember, you asked.” With a loud sigh, Simon blurted out, “You are to blame too! You showed us the texts! Everyone told you not to bring Tiffany anywhere, but you did it anyway! There were so many opportunities to just not let this happen, but you were too stubborn to listen!” Another sigh. “I get that you’re sorry and that it all sucks, but you have to take at least some of the responsibility for the situation. Yes, she’s completely unhinged, but you invited the crazy in.”

Again, you could have heard a pin drop.

“Okay. Wow,” he murmured. “You’re…you’re right. I know you’re right and I guess it’s just a little less embarrassing to just…let Tiffany take the blame, but…I did invite the crazy in.”

“That doesn’t mean you deserved everything that happened to you,” Lucy stated firmly, shooting a heated glance at Simon before continuing. “But that’s all behind you now, so…what comes next? You have to be on your best behavior and focus more on the game and the team for the rest of the season. That’s easy, right?”

This girl. Did she have any idea how he’d be willing to give it all up for her right now? To just tell the coaches and the executives and the lawyers and even Reeves that he was done?

But that wasn’t the legacy he wanted.

It wasn’t the one he’d worked so hard for.

“Right now, it doesn’t quite feel that way,” he gruffly admitted. “I’m feeling a little beat up.”

“Jax, that’s just your ego talking,” Noah said, “and I don’t mean that in a bad way. I’m just saying that it’s hard not to take it personally when you just had a team of people talking down to you and politely reprimanding you. You know it really wasn’t personal. It’s business. Tomorrow, everyone’s going to be fine and a week from now, no one’s going to remember this.”

“I will.”

There were more than a few groans, and he knew he was being unreasonable, but this was how he felt.

“So, for the next few months, the board will have to handle the camp stuff,” he said after a moment. “Not that it wasn’t the plan already, but now I know that I don’t have a choice. I have to let other people handle things until the season’s over.”

Everyone nodded.

“On top of that, I’m basically going to live, breathe, eat, sleep football until we either win the Super Bowl or our season ends.” That’s when he finally looked at Lucy. “I’m going to miss our getaways. I always looked forward to them.”

“We’ll make it work,” she assured him, squeezing his hand.

But he was already preparing for the talk he was going to have to have with her when they were alone later. But for now, he wanted to just forget about all of this for a little while. Forcing himself to smile, he looked over at Juliette. “So what’s next to post? Any chance you have footage of Simon sabotaging my pizza last night?”

And that broke the tension as they all began talking at once about who really deserved to win and why.

Then, they decided tonight’s challenge should be the ultimate taco bar and who was going to make the greatest side dish.

“Challenge accepted!” he called out, already determined to win.

It was late when he and Lucy were finally alone. She looked so happy and sexy and…selfishly, he wanted to put off reality until tomorrow morning.

Tonight, he wanted to show her he loved her because tomorrow he was going to have to send her away.

How’s that for mixed messages?

He knew she’d understand, but right now he wanted to leave the rest of the world on the other side of the bedroom door. “You know what I wish?” he asked as he slowly sauntered toward her.

“What?” She was grinning, so he knew she was probably expecting him to say something sexy.

And he was.

“I wish my family were gone and you and I could go outside and be naked in the hot tub. Those were always my favorite nights with you.”

Tilting her head, she looked at him funny. “Why are you talking in the past tense?”

“Um…” Way to go genius. Fix this! “I just meant we haven’t done that in a while and it would be a great way to end the day today.”

“Oh,” she hummed. “And I have to agree. I enjoy that too.” Moving in close, she smoothed her hands up his abs and over his chest. “I guess we could get naked and sit in that giant soaker tub in the bathroom. Or maybe in the shower?” Her hands smoothed back down until she cupped his erection. “Or we can get naked right here and climb onto the bed. That would be my suggestion.”

“I’m completely on board with that,” he agreed, banding his arm around her waist, pulling her in close. “The sooner I get you naked, the sooner I can kiss and touch every delicious inch of you.”

“Mmm…I do like all the kissing and touching, so…yes please.” Then they were kissing and doing their best to get undressed as quickly as possible. By the time they clumsily made it onto the bed, they were laughing, but it didn’t take away from where they wanted to go. Lucy raked her hands through his hair. “I don’t want to go home tomorrow. It’s no fun crawling into bed alone.”

She was killing him, but he wouldn’t be swayed.

No matter how tempting the whole thought was.

For tonight, he was going to pretend that everything was perfect—his career and his relationships. He was going to make love to his girl until he was too exhausted to keep his eyes open, and then he was going to curse the fact that he couldn’t just stay up and look at her all night. Lucy was adorable when she slept—all soft hums and sighs and an occasional snore.

He was going to miss that.

“Jax?” she said softly, interrupting his thoughts.

“Yes, beautiful?” His hand caressed her from shoulder to knee and then back again before lingering on some of her softest places.

“Take me,” she urged, arching beneath him. “Please.”

“With pleasure.”