A football sailed through the air and hit Jathan smack dab in the forehead, and when she turned around, Jax was smiling remorselessly. Bash belted a laugh that sounded like the bray of a donkey.
None of this should’ve been funny. None of it. That didn’t stop Annalise from laughing disproportionately loudly at their antics and at this surreal and strange moment. These crazy Gray Backs, Boarlanders, and Ashe Crew…they reminded her a little of Red Havoc. Of the boys teasing constantly, reacting in ways she never would’ve expected. That battle and bear claw spanking had reminded her of the way Barret, Anson, Greyson, and Ben had protected She-Devil for days from those lions, trying their best to keep her in control without really hurting her.
For a tiny instant, she almost felt…homesick.
Shaking her head hard at that idiotic thought, she looked over at Jax, who had a mouthful of something. Her plate now only sported half the food it once did. “You stole my food?”
“I’m so freaking hungry,” he said with a full mouth.
When he reached for another, she swatted his hand and yanked the plate away. “Get your own.”
“Mean and greedy,” he accused through a grin, but he sauntered off toward Bash’s grill.
As she watched him load up a plate, talking and laughing with Bash and Jathan, it struck her how relaxed he was right now. It wasn’t like with Red Havoc, when the fur along his back was bristled all the time. Where he was ready to fight and bleed the cats at any given moment.
Here, he wasn’t battle ready. He was just Jax.
He was Gray Back, and she was Red Havoc, and if they were going to stay together, one of them was going to have to make a very big sacrifice.
Chapter Fourteen
It was dark in Jax’s trailer except for the soft moonlight that filtered in through the blinds, covering the bedroom in blue stripes. Annalise was lying on her belly on his bed, smiling over at him, because he couldn’t seem to stop smiling either. She was naked as a jaybird because she was trying to get her butt to heal faster. Jax had bandaged it and taken care of her, and they’d hung out in here for the rest of the evening and into the night, just the two of them. It had been relaxed, and they’d talked for hours. And She-Devil had stayed silently pouting inside of her, giving her muscles time to relax and heal. Thank goodness for her quick shifter healing, too, because she was feeling like a new woman, and more hopeful than she had in a week.
It had been the perfect night.
“I want to show you something,” Jax murmured, stroking her hair from her face.
“I’ve already seen your dick. Very impressive.”
He chuckled low, his white teeth flashing in the dark. “Thank you for saying that.”
“I mean it. That thing’s like…Thor Dick.”
He buried his face in the pillow and cracked up. He sighed and looked over at her again, the corners of his eyes crinkling with his smile. “Tell me the next one.”
With a put-upon sigh, Annalise propped herself up on her elbows and read the next on the list. “Number eight, get a motherfuckin’ job.”
“Where did you work before?”
“Before She-Devil? Because you know I wasn’t working while I was my own one-animal circus act.”
His smile widened. “Yeah, before the bite. Where did you work?”
“The post office.”
He inhaled deeply and feigned shock. “You were a postal worker.”
“Yeah, it was super-sexy,” she said in her best phone sex operator voice. “I wore this blue, button-down, short-sleeved shirt and navy pants over my granny panties that made my butt look like two flapjacks—”
“God, stop.” Jax was laughing again. “Did you like your job?”
“I loved it. There were some really nice ladies who worked there with me. And the people who would come in were usually nice and talkative. It was a low-stress job, good benefits. I was happy. Content. What are you doing?” she asked, swatting his glowing phone away from his face. “Pay attention to me. I was telling you important stuff!”
“I’m looking up the post office in Covington. I want to mark more off the list.”
Okay, that was actually really sweet. “Anything?”
“It says they’re hiring.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, look.” He showed her the screen. “So there’s more motivation to be bigger than She-Devil because your dream post office job could be right there.” He bit his lip in that sexy-boy way and let off a low rumble. “I can’t fuckin’ wait to see your sexy flapjacks in those navy man-pants.”
She giggled and said, “Okay, number nine, steal a car to get me to the super-awesome job I find.”
“Oh, mark that off. I can take care of that.”
“What? No. You aren’t buying me a car.”
“Wait, why don’t you have a car? Everyone has a car, Anna.”
“I did have a car until I had an uncontrolled Change in it. Apparently, She-Devil doesn’t know how to drive, and it smashed into a tree and was totaled. And then she scratched up the seats and pissed in it. Insurance gave me some money. I just haven’t replaced it yet.”
“Your animal’s the worst,” he said through a smile that said he was teasing her.
“But really, she is.”
“Nah, she’s not so bad.”
“She attacks everyone.”
“Not me.”
Annalise propped her elbow on the pillow and rested her cheek in her hand. Huh. “She hasn’t ever attacked you. I didn’t think about that until now.”
“It’s because she like-likes me.”
“Or she’s in heat and she saw Maximus.”
“Babe. Did you just name my dick Maximus?”
“It was that or call it a worm again.”
Jax dragged her close and tickled her ribs as he rubbed his beard against her neck. With a squeal, she squirmed against him, then peeled into a fit of giggles until he released her.
“You’re even better in person,” he said suddenly.
The butterflies were back with his spontaneous compliment. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was afraid that if we ever met, you wouldn’t be like you were when we texted. You wouldn’t be as positive and nice. You wouldn’t be as caring. But you’re so much better than I imagined.”
“That’s because you have a crappy imagination.”
“Accept my compliments, woman.”
“Same.”
“What?”
She smiled because she was feeling mushy right now. “I feel the same. About you. You’re so much better than I could’ve ever imagined.”
He searched her eyes for a few moments before he murmured, “Go back to number two.”
From heart, she recited, “Make him fall in love with me asap.”
“Mark it off.”
Her entire body warming with a happy blush, she picked up the purple pen and marked off number two.
“Next.”
“Call Samuel so he doesn’t worry. It’s too late to do that one tonight. I could text him. That would be close enough.”
“Yeah, do that.”
While she was typing an I’m okay and doing better text to her brother, Jax read off the next one. “Find a magical serum to cure shifter-dom, aka kill She-Devil.” The smile faded instantly from his lips, and his face settled into a troubled expression.
Annalise hit send on Samuel’s text and then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like this one. I don’t like you talking about killing her. She-Devil is part of you. I like her. I want you to keep her.”