I begin to applaud in earnest, smiling wide and they glance over in surprise.
“Oh my God!” Mer runs to me and jumps in my arms, her arms and legs wrapped around me and kisses me hard. “I didn’t see you come in.”
“You were busy,” I reply.
“I landed the throw!”
“I saw. It’s awesome.”
“I can’t wait to show Starla. She’s going to go ape-shit,” she says excitedly and kisses me again then buries her face in my neck and takes a deep breath. “You smell good.”
“You… don’t,” I reply with a chuckle.
“I know. I’m going to go take a quick shower and then I’ll be ready.” I set her down and she jogs to the back of the building.
“It’s a great routine, man,” I say to Jax.
“Thank you. She’s a dream to work with.” Jax wipes his face and bare chest with a towel then loops it around his neck. “Gonna keep her out again all weekend?”
I prop my hands on my hips and watch the man before me for a long moment. “Yes.”
He nods once and begins to walk away, but I decide to confront this here and now.
“What’s the problem?” I ask quietly.
He stops in his tracks, his back to me and slowly turns to face me. “I don’t know you,” he begins and keeps his eyes trained on mine.
I have to respect a man who maintains eye contact and isn’t afraid to stand his ground.
“I don’t know what your intentions are. You say you love her. You spend every waking moment that you aren’t working together.” He frowns as though he’s searching for the words and I cross my arms over my chest, waiting. “She’s consumed by you right now and—”
“And you’re jealous?”
“I’m concerned.”
“About what, exactly?”
“What are your intentions with her?”
“I’m going to be with her until the day I die,” I say honestly without even thinking about it. He blinks, clearly surprised by my response and then sighs deeply.
“I’m fucking jealous, yeah,” he says and wipes the towel over his hair. “Not because I want her the way you do, but because for a long time, it was just her and me, dealing with life and we were doing just fine. You need to know, man, I’m here for the long haul. Meredith is my only family, and I’m hers.”
I nod, but he keeps talking.
“Don’t misunderstand me. I have living relatives, but do you know what happens to a gay kid who loves to dance in the Deep South?”
I raise a brow. “Enlighten me.”
He swears under his breath and paces away then paces back. “They get the shit kicked out of them every fucking day. Their parents disown them and claim they’re a blasphemous abomination.” He laughs humorlessly and shakes his head. “Meredith is my sister. She’s my best friend. She’s the first person who has accepted and loved me just the way I am. She’s my confidant, and I trust her implicitly, and you need to know, I don’t trust many. And over the past ten years, I’ve been that for her too. She missed you every fucking day. Every time she got drunk, which I think was exactly four times, she did nothing but talk about you.” He points at me and I just don’t know what to say. “The guys who made their way into her pants were worthless assholes, and out of her life before the sheets cooled. It’s only been you for her, and I’ll be Goddamned if I’m going to stand by and watch you let her fall in love with you all over again unless you plan to also be around for the long haul because she doesn’t deserve anything less.”
He’s panting now, his eyes feral with protective anger and frustration. I’ve respected few more than I respect him in this moment.
“I don’t deserve her. I’m not good enough for her because no one will ever be,” I reply calmly. “But I missed her every fucking day too. I don’t know if I believe in soul mates, but she belongs with me. She belongs to me.” I shrug and hold my hands out as if in surrender. “I don’t know what else to say to you. I can tell you that I would take my own life before I’d ever deliberately hurt her.”
There are tears in Jax’s eyes as he watches my face and finally he nods and scrubs his face with the ends of the towel. “Fine. I don’t have any reason not to believe you.”
“I’ll never give you one.”
“I smell so much better!” Mer exclaims and comes running out of the back, then stops and looks between us. “Am I interrupting?”
“Nope, just more guy talk,” I reply and smile down at her as I tuck her against my side.
“What are you doing tonight?” Mer asks Jax.
“Logan and I are going out to dinner,” he replies and checks the clock on the wall. “I’d better hit the shower myself.”
“Why don’t we all go out together?” I ask. Jax’s head whips up in surprise. “If you don’t mind us crashing your dinner.”
“Yes!” Meredith agrees and nods. “We talked about doing dinner this weekend anyway.”
“Are you sure?” Jax asks.
I nod and kiss Mer’s hair then smile at Jax. “I could use some guy time.”
“Your girlfriend accused me of being a girl the other night. She almost made me watch Pretty Woman.”
“No man should have to endure that,” I reply with a shudder.
“I know, right? I’ll call Logan and take a quick shower.”
“Cool.”
He jogs away and Mer looks up at me, searching my face.
“What just happened?”
“I think I just bonded with your best friend.”
“Really?” She grins widely, ridiculously pleased.
“Yeah, we should hang out with Jax more often. He’s cool.”
“Okay.” She frowns and searches my face again then shrugs and walks behind the desk to collect her handbag. “I haven’t met Logan yet. But he sounds really nice.”
I circle the desk and pull her into my arms, burying my nose in her hair. “After dinner, I’m going to take you home.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. And then I’m going to strip you out of these clothes and fuck you until you can’t remember your own name.” I slide my hands down her back to her ass and tug her against me so she can feel my cock against her stomach.