“The fuck, Peaches? Why are you on the ground?” I whispered as I stooped to get close enough for her to hear. Was she drunk? Sick?
I saw her eyes then, the damn eyes that had mesmerized me since I’d met her. The green in them glowed with fear. She grabbed onto my shirt to pull me close. Then she whispered, “Fire.”
That one word.
Four letters whispered from her lips was all it took for me to crumble back into wanting to save her. I scooped her up without thinking, without hesitation.
The blonde I’d been thinking about fucking that night picked that moment to scurry up to my side. “What the hell is wrong with her?”
“None of your damn business.” I tried to brush past her but with Brey in my arms, the narrow hallway wasn’t as forgiving.
“Jax,” she whined. “Who cares if she’s drunk? Just leave her. I want you …”
“Move,” I commanded.
“You are an asshole,” she mumbled as she sidestepped out of the way.
Old news to me.
I rushed past her and skirted around the corner. I had gotten ready in a secluded area upstairs. I’d have to make it there without gaining any attention. Brey didn’t need this shit in the magazines tomorrow. The headlines would read, “Jax Takes Jay’s Drunken Fling for a Ride.” Or some other stupid shit that none of us needed.
“Peaches, you all right?” I whispered.
She didn’t reply and was practically panting. Like that night I’d saved her.
“Hey, I got you, I got you, I’m going to take you upstairs, okay?”
Her emerald eyes widened, shooting up into mine. “No! Jax, we have to get out.” Her voice was higher, louder than before.
“You are having a flashback, Whitfield,” I drew each word out. “We aren’t in a fire, okay?”
“Jax, put me down.” Her voice was firmer now and her body tensed. She strained against my grip.
“Settle down.”
“Put me down!”
“Fine. I’m setting you down. I want you to realize that you’re talking. You’re breathing. There is no smoke. Just breathe, baby.”
I let her body slide down mine as I said the words slow. The fear in her eyes dissipated, but a passion flared that had me instantly turned on.
Then, her embarrassment took over. As she held onto my arms and looked up at me, she realized what had happened.
“Oh my God. Oh my God.” Her trembling started and her eyes turned glassy. “I’m so sorry, Jax.”
“Peaches, it’s all right.” I moved to grab her hand like I used to when she would get embarrassed.
Her hands jerked off my arms and away from my hand as soon as I touched her. “No, it isn’t all right. I …” Her lips pursed as if she wanted to explain but stopped herself. “I apologize, Jax. Believe me, it won’t happen again.”
“What?” I barked, louder than I wanted to. I’d be damned if she was going to put on a class act for me.
“Lower your voice,” she hissed. “I have to get back to Jay. Like I said, I am sorry. I hope you will use discretion if this is the topic of any conversation in the future. I really don’t want anyone knowing what just happened.”
Ending the conversation abruptly, the woman I’d lusted over for fucking years turned on her heels and started to walk away from me.
“What the … Whitfield!” I yelled after her but she didn’t stop walking.
Fuck that.
Before she rounded the corner back into the hallway, I swept her up over my shoulder and started walking her back toward the stairs. We were having this conversation whether she liked it or not.
“What the hell are you doing, Jax?” she roared, pounding me with her fist.
“You and I need to talk.”
“No! Put me down,” she said in her best composed tone.
Again.
I hated that voice and tone.
She only used it when she was uncomfortable and looking for the upper hand. She damn well wasn’t getting it this time. I started climbing the stairs, ignoring her.
“Oh my God, Jax. You’re going to drop me. I’m going to break my neck.” The pitch of her voice climbed as I climbed the stairs.
I couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh. “What do you weigh? A hundred and thirty pounds? I’m not gonna drop you.”
“I beg your pardon! I weigh one hundred and ten, you ass! And guess what? We aren’t at fucking Burger King. You can’t have it your way. So, put me the fuck down.”
I dropped her onto the wood flooring in the room. Hard. God, the woman wouldn’t shut up when she wanted something. I couldn’t hold back my laughter. Her sassy mouth was something to be missed, especially when she swore.
She could cut someone off at their knees if she wanted to.
Except with me.
And, damn, had I enjoyed it. It was one of the first times I remembered feeling more than just lust for a girl.
Aubrey made me feel a lot of things for the first time, and every time I thought of those memories, I knew why I feared us together. I had those feelings for the first time with her and never again after.
“What are you doing?” she asked, glowering at the closed door as if she could make it disintegrate.
“I want you to tell me what happened down there.” I took a step closer to her. I needed to be near her. I wanted to hold her when she let me in, to soothe her. I could protect her. I wanted to protect her from the flashbacks.
She took a step back, staring at me for a minute, then bent over as a full belly laugh burst from her. “You want me to stay up here with you to talk like little girls about our emotions and our problems?”
Just like she used to, Brey built walls and threw stones over them when her feelings were threatened. “Don’t give me that. I just hauled your ass out of a bathroom and saved you and Jay a load of publicity.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You owe me.”
She slumped a little then, her façade deflating. “Jax, it isn’t your concern. I normally have it under control.” I barely heard the last part.
“‘Normally’?” I boomed. “What the hell do you mean ‘normally’? How often does this happen?”
“Never!” Her eyes darted away. “Sometimes. I don’t know! Only when I’m in small places or when I feel trapped.” She whipped around to pace away from me and then paced back to get right in my face. “Don’t you dare tell Jay.” Her words held more warning than I was used to, and I’d negotiated with some of the most powerful people in the world.
“You can’t breathe on a public bathroom floor. You’re having flashbacks of an attempted homicide but you’re worried about my fucking brother?”
“Keep your voice down.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I don’t need Jay walking on eggshells around me because you can’t keep your damn mouth shut. So, don’t open it.”
I wasn’t used to her commanding me, let alone swearing at me. I wasn’t used to anything about her, and that made me fucking livid. “Watch that mouth of yours, Peaches.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll show you how filthy a mouth can really be.”
Her eyes widened and shined anger under the dim lights of the small room. She stood a half a head shorter than me, and her heels under that dress had to be at least five-inches tall. Yet, she didn’t back down. “You have no idea how filthy I can be nor will you ever get a chance to show me how filthy you are. I want nothing to do with you.”
Her comment deflated my anger. “Is that so? Once upon a damn time, you wanted everything to do with me. I was your world, and you were mine.”
Her brow furrowed. I moved to rub her shoulder but she flinched away. “Seems like lyrics to an old love song, Jax. Your fans would love it.” Her tone held sarcasm. “I’m not a fan though. So, save it for your next album.”
I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. “There’s not going to be a next album. I don’t want to fight with you tonight.”
She squinted at me while I studied her.
Even without the height, she’d have been a phenomenal addition on my brother’s arm tonight. People were enamored as soon as she stepped out of that limo. Her green eyes and red dress hugging all the right places reminded every man what Christmas was like.
I’d seen her with Jay and instantly wanted to rip my own brother’s arm off just so she wouldn’t touch another man in front of me.
I tried to chalk my reaction up to the old habit of jealousy. She wasn’t mine or a part of my life anymore.
But she used to be every part of it.
I lived and breathed for her when I was younger. When I left, I’d wanted to be the bigger person for about a minute by breaking things off and letting us both grow up.
For about a minute.
It took Frank threatening her well-being to realize I didn’t want to be any of that. I just wanted to be with her, but it was too late.
I had gotten roped into something I was too immature to handle.
So, I wrote songs about her, named an album after her, and then tried to move on away from her.
And I had moved on.
Moved on and up. I surrounded myself with beautiful cityscapes and million-dollar investments. I had beautiful women on each arm and a multi-platinum album in a penthouse that overlooked my world.
I had moved on and up, yet the view up there didn’t look half as good as the woman standing in front of me.
I had her up here all to myself and I wasn’t sure I would be able to keep my hands off her even if she wasn’t mine.
Aubrey sighed in front of me. “You’re right. We shouldn’t be fighting,” she conceded and tried for a nonchalant shrug. “We have nothing to fight about. Let’s get back down to the party, okay?” she said just above a whisper.
I nodded but didn’t say anything. I’d told her I didn’t want to fight but with her telling me that we shouldn’t be, it made me want to shake her, rile her up, push her past the façade she’d thrown up for me.
If she thought we had nothing to fight about and that she wanted nothing to do with me, I’d just have to prove her wrong.
