“Where are those five other punks?” Kyle asked, referring to the rest of the A-shift fire rescue team. “Breakfast is ready.”
“It's noon,” Jax muttered. “They’re outside checking equipment.”
Kyle shrugged. “So tell ’em brunch is ready. This won’t stay hot all day.”
“All right, all right. Hang on.” Jax walked over to the doorway and yelled out, “Breakfast!”
The rest of the guys gathered within a couple of minutes, jostling and joking with one other. It didn’t look like they had been doing much before they were called. They grabbed their plates and settled in at the long table on one side of the open kitchen and sitting area.
“Jax!” Daniel shouted down the length of the table. “Think you can manage to get the blonde down here tomorrow? My sister Hannah wants to order a whack of those pendants for her sorority out east.”
Jax grinned. “I prefer to call her by her name. It’s Joleen, by the way.”
Toby gave Daniel a firm shove on the shoulder. “Jackson, you know Daniel doesn't learn too fast…look how long he took to finally call Lily by her first name.”
Kyle added, “Unless it’s a babe he’s interested in sleeping with.”
“You got that right.” Daniel didn’t bother protesting. Here at the fire house, there were no secrets…well, there were very few secrets.
“She may be able to. I’m not sure.” Jax pulled out his wallet and slid out a business card from one of the side pockets. “Here’s her card. Give her a call or send her an email. If she can’t make it, you can always order online.”
“Cool. Will do.”
Brock didn’t have much to say for the duration of the meal. Once the plates were cleared the others scattered, heading off to other areas of the firehouse to read, nap, work out or do anything to keep busy until there was an emergency call. Brock got up and headed back to the office. Jax followed him, carrying a plate full of seconds.
“Got a second, boss?
“What’s up?”
“I've been thinking,” Jax slowly began. Brock cocked an eyebrow and waited. Jax licked his lips. He seemed nervous. “I'm thinking I might propose to Joleen.”
A smile broke out on Brock’s face. He had assumed one day Jax and Joleen would get married. They were already living together, and Joleen was the only woman Jax had ever been serious about. Before Joleen it had been a long string of one night stands. Jax would keep women at a distance. Which was understandable, especially for him. On top of their shared secret about being bear shifters, Jax also had other things to protect. The loss of his parents and younger sister to a fire at the age of eighteen had made Jax an orphan, and with no other relatives to call family, he wore the loner hat well for years. For a while he only considered the Chief to be family. It was the Chief who brought them all together, and being a shifter is what made Jax a part of Brock’s new family. He couldn’t be more thrilled for his friend.
“This is great news!” Brock said with enthusiasm.
“Yeah?”
“Absolutely!”
Jax grinned. “She's my mate. I know it.”
“I’m behind you one hundred percent.”
Brock swallowed hard. Jax's declaration made his chest burn. He was happy for his friend... and there was also another feeling there as well. Pride. There wasn’t much of an age difference, but Jax was like a little brother to everyone on the A-shift team. And as Brock was the alpha of their bear shifter pack, he couldn’t help but feel excited for Jax.
“Joleen is amazing.” Jax snuck a look over his shoulder before lowering his voice. “And she would never reveal us.”
“I know.”
“I wanted to tell you first…before I tell anyone else, and before I ask her…you know, your say matters to all of us.”
Jax didn’t need to ask for Brock's permission, but news as big as this was usually brought to Brock’s attention first, and if there were any other impacts, the four bear shifters in their pack would discuss it for everyone’s awareness, and sometimes for their consensus. If there were any disagreements or difficulty coming to one decision on a matter, Brock had the final say.
Brock extended an arm and shook his friend’s hand. “I’m on board, man. You have my blessing.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“When do you plan on popping the question?”
Jax rinsed off the last of the dishes and handed them over. “Soon. I've already got the ring.”
“Want to do it at Mom’s barbecue?”
Jax blinked and cocked his head. “Really?”
“Sure. She’d love it. Everyone would.”
The other man smiled. “Do it in front of everyone?”
“You’ve got to tell them all at some point.”
“It could be nice. Unless she says no. Then it's embarrassing.”
Brock smirked. “True…who are we kidding. She’s sure to say yes.”