Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

“How’s your shoulder feeling? Really.”

Beside her, Jax pulled her closer. “You didn’t hurt me,” he teased. “I’m pretty tough.”

Laughing softly, Lucy kissed his chest. “That’s not what I meant. I’m just concerned about your injury. Are you sure you’re really giving yourself enough time to heal? Another two weeks feels a little soon.”

“If it were my throwing arm, I definitely wouldn’t be going back yet. It was a fluke that it happened at all—the hit and then the fall. It was like the perfect storm sort of thing.”

“I guess, but won’t the opposing teams use any weakness to their advantage? Especially with the great season the Warriors are having. I would think some teams would play a little dirty when playoff season is right around the corner.”

Tugging her closer, he placed a kiss on the top of her head. “You have no idea how hot it is that you know so much about the game.”

“Hot? Seriously?” Looking up at him in the dimly lit room, she still couldn’t believe he was really there. Although, considering all the things they’d just done together, there shouldn’t be any doubt that he was real. But it still amazed her that he sought her out. After she came back from Wichita, she had convinced herself that their weekend was just a little one-time thing.

She’d never been quite so happy to be wrong.

“Yeah, seriously,” he said softly, gruffly. “And you’re not wrong about other teams. Some of them play dirty. But I think we’ve been very clear in our press releases about how this was a minor injury and I’m taking the extra time to play it safe. By the time I hit the field, I’ll be back in top shape.” Another kiss. “When it happened, I was a little freaked out that I might be out for the season, but once the MRI cleared things up with the diagnosis, I relaxed. Plus, it gave me the opportunity to come here and see you.”

“Pfft…this was a happy coincidence,” she said lightly. “You’re here for the camp.”

He shrugged. “I could have held a press conference about it back in Wichita with all the details.” Turning his head, he met her gaze. “The incentive to come here was all you.”

The soft gasp was out before she could stop it. “But…”

Caressing her cheek, he smiled. “Lucy, it would have been way more cost-effective to make the announcement back home. All the guys had to fly out here, my brothers, Lily, Juliette…they all had to take time off of work, and then there was getting the mayor and press here. And on top of all that, we then had to host the lunch. If I had just done it back in Wichita, it would have been at the stadium and no one would have had to travel. My family would have watched it online just like everyone else. The hometown angle with all of them here just made it look a little more appealing.”

“I don’t…I mean…” She let out a soft breath. “What are we doing, Jax?”

His hand gently glided down her arm to her hip, where he gave it a little squeeze. “I thought that was obvious.” And yeah, he had that lopsided grin that made it hard to be annoyed with him.

“That’s not what I meant,” she carefully corrected. “This has been…amazing.”

“But…?”

“But…we live fifteen hundred miles apart. Once you go back to playing in two weeks, your life is going to be fully about football and going to the playoffs and possibly the Super Bowl. Meanwhile, I’m here working at the clinic. If this was just sort of a…you know…another one-time thing, then fine, but we need to be honest about it.”

Carefully, he sat up and she noticed the slight wince when he pushed up using both arms. “Why does it have to be another one-time thing? Why can’t this be…a thing? A real thing. The beginning of something?”

“Jax…”

“I’m serious, Lucy,” he went on. “Is this an ideal situation? No! The logistics suck! But I’ll be coming back here to work on the camp stuff and you can come to Wichita on the weekends, and…”

She held up a hand to stop him. “Okay, first, we both know you’re not going to be needed here to work on camp stuff. You have a team of people who are wading through paperwork and permits right now, so there’s no reason for you to be here. As for the weekends, I can’t just take off like that. I don’t live like you do, Jax. I don’t have the money to just keep flying away whenever I want to.”

“No one’s asking you to pay for anything,” he told her. “I don’t mind paying for your flights.”

It was so hard not to take offense to that because she knew he only had the best intentions, but it still stung a bit.

“It’s not just about the cost; it’s about the time. If I work until five on a Friday, I don’t even know if I’d get a direct flight. By the time I got to you, it would be late and then you’ll have practice or a game and…what would be the point? And it would be kind of icky if I was only going to be there so we could have sex and then I leave. There’s a word for a person who does that and then gets paid for her time and…that’s not me.”

His expression turned fierce. “That’s not what I meant! Jeez, what the hell?”

“But you get what I’m saying, right? Long-distance relationships are hard enough, Jax. You have this amazing career that is going to take up all your time for the next several months! It’s the end of September. If the Warriors go all the way, you won’t realistically get a break until mid-February! I just don’t see this being something…”

Twisting, he reached up and cupped her face with both hands without wincing. “But I do see this as being something,” he said fiercely. “Is it going to be easy? No! I get that. In a perfect world, you’d be going back to Wichita with me and…you know…living with me. But I know your job with the clinic is important to you, and I would never ask you to give that up.”

For a moment, she knew she would totally give it up if he asked.

That’s how much she didn’t want this to end.

She just couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Resting his forehead against hers, he sighed. “I don’t want this to end.” His voice sounded tortured. “I wish I could say that it would be easy, but it won’t. You’re right about the logistics and timing and all of it, but…can’t we just try? Can’t we at least see if there’s a way to make things work instead of treating this like a one-night stand?”

He was killing her. Never in a million years would she have imagined Jax Wylder begging her for a chance to be together, and that’s why she wasn’t willing to let this go either.

“We can try,” she said quietly. “We’ll have to look at calendars and…”

She was on her back with Jax’s body covering hers in the blink of an eye, and the kiss was savage.

And she loved every second of it.

They did have a lot to think about, but…later.

Much, much later.

“There is something to be said for pancakes for dinner,” Lucy said happily. It was after eight and, considering Jax had shown up at her door almost six hours ago, she was really just thrilled to finally be eating.

“Breakfast for dinner is one of my favorites,” he told her. “I’m not much of a cook, but I can do most breakfast foods—omelets, pancakes, waffles, and, of course, cereal.” Then he laughed. “Otherwise, we have a nutritionist for the team who has a shop that does individual meals that you can buy and then just take home and heat. I stock up about once a week just to have stuff in the house.”

She nodded. “I don’t mind cooking, but I can’t make anything gourmet. Honestly, I hate following recipes, so I stick to the basics. And whenever I don’t feel like cooking, I know I can always show up at my parents’ house around dinnertime and they’ll always have extras.”

“Yeah, that was a huge change when I first moved away. I love my mom’s cooking and I missed it so much. One time, I asked her if she could mail a lasagna, but…” He shrugged. “Now, whenever she comes to visit, she spends at least an entire day cooking stuff and stocking up my freezer.” Then he grinned. “So then I had to buy an extra freezer.” And with a wink, he took another bite of his pancakes.

“Jax! That’s terrible! Knowing your mom, she probably feels like she has to fill both of them!”

With a syrupy grin, he nodded. “But she loves doing it! I’m her baby!”

“You’re a grown man who makes enough money to have his own personal chef—and that shouldn’t be your mother!” she chided with a laugh. “But…I get it. When I moved out, my mother would come over once a week with some leftovers. It took me longer than you’d think to realize they weren’t leftovers. She was making me a bunch of stuff so that I would have leftovers and not have to worry about cooking or buying groceries.” The memory made her smile.

“Moms are the best!”

Lucy nodded. “They really are. I hope someday I’ll have kids who think of me that way.”

Where the hell did that thought come from?

Quickly averting her eyes, she put her attention back on her pancakes and changed the subject. “I’m sure it was nice to see your brothers today too.”

If he noticed how she was speaking a little faster, he chose to keep it to himself. “They actually got in yesterday and we all had dinner together last night at my mom’s. She made this enormous meal with all our favorites—most of them you would never put together—but she wanted to be fair to everyone.”

Now she looked up and grinned. “Like what?”

“There was a lasagna, a pot roast, and fried chicken, followed by an almost obscene amount of side dishes,” he explained with amusement. “She served it all and said it was made with love, but once we were all eating, she reminded us how we all don’t come home often enough.” He laughed. “The guilt trip was strong, but we all reminded her how much easier it would be if she moved closer to at least one of us.” Then he leaned in and added, “And Noah was the obvious choice.”

That made her laugh. “Seriously? Why Noah?”

“Because he’s the most grounded. He’s got this steady job in Charlotte, Lily owns a dance studio there, and she’s got a huge family that lives close by. It just makes sense. Simon’s got a great place out in California, but he tours and travels a lot so it wouldn’t be right to move Mom all the way across the country and then have her be all alone. She might as well stay here.”

“And what about by you?”

He shrugged. “Wichita is where I am now, but you know I’m thinking about retiring in the next year or so, so…” Another shrug. “Why move her there and then have her move again in a few years?”

Taking another bite of her food, Lucy took a moment to collect her thoughts. After a moment, she asked, “Where do you see yourself going then when you retire? The camp is here, so wouldn’t it make sense for you to live…here?”

“Yeah, I know. I just don’t know if I want to be here in South Creek specifically. There are plenty of options and I’m not sure how involved in the day-to-day operations of the camp I’ll need to be, but I also don’t want to be so far away that the commute is going to suck. But…no one said I have to live here full-time. I could just as easily have a place somewhere else and live here only some of the time.”

“Would you get a place near Noah or Simon?”

“I’m not a West Coast person. I love visiting him, and I always have a good time, but I don’t really see myself living there. Noah’s in a great location and I could definitely see myself having a place there. I know the day is coming when I’m seriously going to have to decide, but I also love my house back in Wichita, so…” He let out a long breath. “There’s a lot to consider.”

“Sounds like it.”

Pausing, he studied her. “What about you, Luce? Is South Creek where you want to be?”

The snort was out before she could stop it. “Are you kidding me? My whole life I’ve dreamed of moving away from here.” Pausing, she figured she owed him a little honesty. “It was one of the major attractions for getting engaged to my ex. Blake offered me a way out of South Creek.”

His eyes went a little wide, but he said nothing.

“Don’t get me wrong; I’m not proud of it and I’m actually a little ashamed that I was willing to just…settle.” She sighed. “People ask me if I’m angry about him cheating on me and having to cancel the wedding—and I was totally pissed in the beginning—but now I know he did us both a favor. We would have been miserable. I just wish I would have done things differently.”

“Like what?”

Another sigh. “Like…not accepted his proposal when I knew I didn’t really love him. There’s no excuse for it. Moving away and uprooting your life and starting over isn’t easy, and I was stupid enough to try to take the easy way out.” Another snort. “Not my finest moment.”

All he did was nod, and he was the one to change the subject this time. “Do we want to look at calendars and schedules while we finish eating, or are we going to watch some TV in bed?”

She grinned. “ Just watch TV?”

“Well…we did just have a big meal. We should rest.”

It was hard not to laugh. “We’re not going swimming, Jax. We don’t have to wait an hour.”

He shoveled a huge forkful of pancakes into his mouth and said, “Speak for yourself!”

So they finished eating and talked about what they should watch on the TV after they looked at their calendars. Together they cleaned up the dishes and then Jax took her by the hand and led her out to the living room and tugged her down onto the couch with him.

“Do you ever get Fridays off?” he asked.

“Sometimes. Right now, I’m trying to work as many hours as I can. You know, build up my savings and all that. This house is a rental, but if I’m ever going to leave this town, I need to be a little more financially stable.

“Smart.” Then he glanced around. “I think my phone’s in the bedroom. Let me go get it.”

Nodding, she reached over to the coffee table. “Got mine.”

With a quick kiss, he stood and stretched. “I’ll be right back.”

Lucy got a little more comfortable and took a minute to check her emails. There wasn’t anything that needed her immediate attention, so that was good. Then she spotted an unread text from Gemma.

Gemma: Just drove by your place and saw an unfamiliar car in the driveway. You okay?

Leave it to her best friend to worry.

Lucy: Fine. Have an overnight guest. We’ll talk tomorrow.

Gemma: AN OVERNIGHT GUEST???

Gemma: Are we talking a friend? Relative? Or sexy guest?

Laughing softly, she shook her head and considered lying just so the conversation would end, but…

Lucy: Sexy guest and I promise we’ll talk tomorrow!

Gemma: You’re killing me!! Can you at least give me a hint?

She never told Gemma about her weekend with Jax while she was in Wichita, and she wasn’t ready to tell her now—well, not right now, at least.

Lucy: I really can’t. He’s right here and…tomorrow!

Gemma: GAH! FINE!

Putting her phone down, she got even more comfortable and wondered what was taking Jax so long. Yawning, she closed her eyes and figured he’d be out any second.

Yawning and stretching as he strolled back to Lucy’s bedroom, there wasn’t a doubt in Jax’s mind that he had a goofy grin on his face. Right now he was feeling happy and relaxed and beyond content. Being here with Lucy tonight was like a balm for him. Between the injury and all the plans for the camp and the ridiculous amount of positive PR he was trying to generate, he hadn’t realized just how tense he was until he got here. Their situation wasn’t ideal, but he loved the fact that they were going to try to make something work.

Picking his phone up off the floor where it must have fallen out of his pants earlier, he noticed a bunch of notifications—several missed calls from both his brothers and one from his father. “Well that can’t be good.” He hated to keep Lucy waiting, but he had to know what was going on.

Hitting the first of Noah’s messages, he sat down on the edge of the bed and listened.

“Jax, hey, it’s Noah. Listen, can you call me as soon as you get this? We’ve got a…um…a situation. Thanks.”

“Yeah, that didn’t tell me anything,” he murmured and hit the next message.

“Me again. Really need you to pick up the phone and call me back. This is serious, Jax. Call me.”

It would have been easy to just do that, but now he wanted to hear all the messages so he could be mentally prepared.

“Dude, seriously, where the hell are you? In typical Dad fashion, there’s news that none of us expected. Apparently, we have a sister! So if you get this, can you now please give me a freaking call?”

For a moment, Jax thought he misheard the message, but when he pressed Simon’s message, it confirmed things.

“Hey, did you talk to Noah? Can you believe this? Juliette and I decided to surprise him and Lily and followed them to Raleigh and then this all hit the fan.” He groaned. “Listen, call us because…um…yeah. This is insane.”

There was another “Where the hell are you?” message from Simon before Jax played the final message from his father.

“Hey, Jax. I’m guessing by now you’re in the loop too. Listen, I tried talking to you and Simon about this, but the time never seemed right. I didn’t plan on it all coming out like this, but your sister got tired of waiting on me, I guess, and took matters into her own hands. Call me so I can…hell, I don’t even know. Just…call me.”

Raking a hand through his hair, he stared down at his phone as he tried to figure out who to call first.

“Jax?”

When he looked up, Lucy was standing in the doorway, looking confused. “Is everything okay?”

“Um…” That was all he could get out before shaking his head. When she sat down beside him, he knew he was going to have to say something. “So there were a bunch of missed calls from my brothers,” he explained. “And my dad.”

“Oh?”

“Apparently we have like…a sister.” It sounded so weird to say that out loud. “I…I need to call my brothers. I was sitting here listening to all their messages and…” He looked up at her. “I’m sorry. I need a few minutes. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry, Luce.”

Her expression softened as she caressed his jaw. “There is nothing for you to apologize for.” Then she got to her feet. “Take all the time you need and I’ll just be inside watching TV, okay?”

“Are you sure? I…I have no idea how long this is going to take.”

“If you’re okay with being here and doing it, then I’m okay with waiting for you. This sounds like a huge deal, so…” Leaning in, she kissed him. “Go make your calls.” Quietly, she slipped out of the room, shutting the door behind her and he almost wanted to call her back and ask her to sit with him while he did this.

“Might as well get this over with,” he mumbled, hitting Noah’s number. It only rang twice before his brother answered.

“It’s about damn time,” Noah huffed. “Where the hell were you?”

“Busy,” he snapped. “And my calling sooner wasn’t going to make any damn difference.” It wasn’t like him to get so defensive, but he was a little out of sorts—as they all were. “So…what’s going on? Did Dad call you and tell you?”

“No,” Noah said, sounding calmer. “She did. We had just gotten to the hotel and were relaxing when my phone rang. I didn’t recognize the number, but I answered anyway. So she asked if this was Noah Wylder and I said it was and then she introduced herself and told me how her mother and Dad had a fling years ago that resulted in…well…her. She didn’t find out about Dad until recently and wanted to know her family, but he wasn’t exactly cooperating.”

“So she took matters into her own hands,” he commented. “How old is she? Like…our age?”

“Brace yourself,” Noah said with a mirthless laugh. “She’s seventeen.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah. Seriously. It sounds like the mom is as big of a train wreck as Dad, and right now she’s living with her grandfather because her mom’s in rehab.”

“Are we sure this is legit? I mean…our family would be great for someone to latch onto to extort money from. Hell, Dad’s been doing it to me and Simon for years.”

Sighing, Noah agreed. “I know. There’s a lot to think about here, but the three of us need to sit down and talk about it. Simon and I have already reached out to a private investigator to see how legit these claims are and we’re already making arrangements for a DNA test. I don’t want to meet with this girl unless we absolutely have to.”

“That’s fair. So have you talked to Dad?”

“I did, but only because he couldn’t get through to Simon, and I guess you. She must have told Dad she called me and he was trying to either do damage control or looking to explain himself. He said he called you, but you didn’t answer.”

“Like I said, I was busy.”

“Mm-hmm…nice of you to pull yourself out of someone’s bed to talk to us,” Noah muttered. It wasn’t like his oldest brother to be snarky, but again, this situation was making them all crazy.

“How’s Simon taking it?”

“Hang on. Ask him yourself.”

After a moment, Simon was on the phone. “Hey! Are we having fun yet?” he asked with a laugh, breaking some of the tension.

“Oh, yeah. Aren’t you glad you didn’t get on a plane earlier? You could be halfway to L.A. by now and missing all the drama.”

Another laugh. “I know, right? But I will say this—I’m surprised it took this many years for a so-called sibling to come out of the woodwork. I have to imagine there’s a possibility of more.”

Jax groaned. “Jeez, I never even thought about that.”

Although now that was all he was going to think about.

“Okay, so we’ve put our travel plans on hold for another day, and so did Noah and Lily. Any chance you can get here to Raleigh in the morning so we can all sit down and figure this mess out?”

“I can, but I don’t see what there is to figure out until we get some tests and reports back. I don’t think we need to make ourselves any crazier until we absolutely have to. Did she ask for money or something?”

“Not directly, but she was talking to Noah about the trouble with her mom and how she’s kind of a genius who got accepted to Harvard but can’t afford to go, even with some scholarships.”

“So she’s definitely asking for money. Awesome.”

“Like I said, we need to sit down and talk about this and just maybe get ahead of it a bit. We both know you don’t want this getting leaked to the media, and neither do I.”

“Oh, shit, did she threaten with that?” he demanded. “Because I’ll get the team lawyers involved and…”

“And that will raise a red flag for you that you don’t want raised,” Simon reminded him. “We’re trying to stay ahead of any scandal and no, she did not threaten or even mention it. It’s just how Juliette’s mind works. We need to be prepared for anything and everything.”

Letting out a long breath, he fell back against the mattress. “Okay, okay. You’re right. I’ll be there tomorrow by ten. Text me the address and I’ll definitely be there.”

“Did Dad call you?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you going to call him back?”

“Not until after the three of us talk tomorrow.”

“Okay. Cool. See you in the morning.”

“Yeah. See you then.” Hanging up, he tossed the phone aside and closed his eyes.

Jax had no idea how long he had been lying there, but when Lucy gently knocked on the door and opened it, he figured it had to have been a long time.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered, tiptoeing into the room. “I just wanted my robe. Sorry.”

As she walked past him, he reached out and grasped her wrist. Wide green eyes stared back at him before she must have read on his face what he was feeling. Without a word, she crawled onto the bed and curled up beside him.

“We don’t have to talk about it,” she softly told him. “But if you need to, I’m here.”

The first thought to go through Jax’s mind was what would he be doing right now if he’d gotten this call when he was back at his home in Wichita. Would he be packing a bag and booking a flight? Would he be on the phone with his father balling him out? Would he be punching a wall?

How about all the above?

Yeah, that sounded more like him.

They got a little more comfortable on the bed before he wrapped an arm around her to hold her close. A war was going on in his head if he should talk about this, but…this was Lucy. He could trust her.

“Noah got a call from someone claiming to be our sister,” he said gruffly. “Our father seemed to confirm it.”

To her credit, she didn’t react—no gasping or spouting out anything like “That’s crazy!” or “Are you serious?” And strangely, he almost wished she would.

“Has this ever happened before?” she asked. “Since your family is kind of famous, I would imagine people would come out of the woodwork frequently and pretend to have a connection to you.”

But Jax shook his head. “First time.”

“Has he—you know, your father—known about her all this time? Or is this a surprise to him too?”

“Seems like he just found out about her not that long ago.” Groaning, he raked his free hand through his hair. “What a cluster fuck.”

He felt her nod. “What are you guys going to do?”

“I have to go to Raleigh in the morning and meet up with them.”

“Wait…Juliette told me she and Simon were flying back to L.A. after lunch.”

“That was the plan, but then they decided to go and hang out in Raleigh with Noah and Lily.”

“Oh.”

That…wasn’t quite the response he was expecting, but then it occurred to him…

Hugging her closer and placing a kiss on the top of her head, he explained, “But we’ve got all night. I’m not going to sneak out of here in the middle of the night, Lucy. I wouldn’t.”

Lifting her head, she stared at him oddly. “What does that mean?”

“Um…you just sounded disappointed and I just thought…”

“That wasn’t what I was thinking at all,” she quickly interrupted. “I just kind of felt a little guilty that you’re missing out on time with your brothers—especially with this whole drama unfolding—because you’re here with me.” She shrugged. “And it also bothered me that Noah and Simon would go and hang out together and not invite you. I mean…is it because they’re both in relationships? Or is this about them just being closer in age and purposely not including you?”

That last one kind of amused him, and he figured he owed her an explanation.

“There’s honestly nothing nefarious about any of this,” he explained softly. “But…to be fair, there were a lot of years where there was a sort of an…. imbalance in our family. I was an athlete and my dad definitely favored me because of it.”

She made a quiet little snort of disgust, but Jax understood. After all, Lucy clearly still harbored a lot of anger toward his father.

“He was completely indifferent to Noah, and he was outright antagonistic and cruel to Simon. It took me a while to realize that his favor of me wasn’t a good thing. There were a lot of years where the two of them just sort of distanced themselves, but they knew it wasn’t anything I was doing on purpose.” He let out a long breath. “Believe me, even until a few years ago, there were times when it still came between us. My father would reach out to me for money and if I didn’t give it to him, he’d threaten to go after Simon and just mess around with him.”

“So you’d pay him,” she whispered, and he heard the disappointment in her voice.

“It was either that or know that I was the reason my brother was getting harassed. Then I came to find out that he was doing it to Simon anyway.”

“You realize your father’s a monster, right? He’s a narcissistic sociopath who deserves nothing but bad things.”

Hugging her, Jax nodded. “I fully agree. My brothers and I have come a long way and we’re all united on how we deal with him. This call tonight just…” He groaned. “It’s like we’re never going to ever be fully free of him.”

They both grew quiet for several long moments, and Jax realized this wasn’t how he wanted to spend his time with Lucy. If anything, he hated that this nonsense had intruded on the little bit of time they had together.

Now he fully intended to get their night back on track.

Slowly, he maneuvered them until Lucy was on her back and he was braced above her. “We’ve had pancakes and we’ve had a little rest,” he said gruffly before leaning down and trailing a line of kisses along her jaw. “I can’t think of a better way to spend the rest of the night than right here in bed.” More kisses. “Minus all the clothes.”

Her laugh was more of a breathy sigh as she arched beneath him. “I’m totally in favor of fewer clothes.”

“That’s my girl.”

And just like that, they were moving together to get where they wanted to go. Clothes slipped off, kisses lingered, touches ignited. Her smooth hands on his skin felt better than anything ever had before, and when her legs wrapped around his waist and she smiled up at him, Jax resented the fact that stolen moments seemed to be all they had. She deserved so much more and he silently swore that he was going to do better by her.

Soon.

But for tonight, they were back in their own little world and he vowed to make it everything for her.

Tomorrow was going to bring a whole new set of worries and responsibilities to his life. So maybe this night wasn’t just for her, but for him as well.

Either way, he was going to enjoy the hell out of it.