Page 16 of Ours to Keep

“Well, they took her to their place in Camber Sands. They have a house there.”

Jax sits up straighter. “That could be the perfect place for Tommy and Lily to lie low. Do you think they’ll agree to it?”

I nod. “Yeah, one thing I know about Caleb is he hates feeling indebted to anyone, and after everything went down with Jessica, I’m pretty sure he’ll be happy to repay the favour.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” River pipes up, sitting beside me. His thigh brushes mine and sends goosebumps over my skin.

“Unless they’re there, I can’t see it being a problem,” I say, my eyes flicking between them.

“Great, can I leave it with you to sort out all the details? I want to see Lily and make Tommy come back here, sort himself out, and get some rest. All being well, they can be on the road tomorrow.”

I feel River stiffen beside me. “Do you think she’ll be up for travelling?”

“Yeah, he has a point,” I say.

Jax mulls it over.

“I’ll speak to Lily, see if she wants to give it a day or two before they set off. We can make it work. We can always take her back with us for a few days before they hit the road. Plus, Tommy can stop on route to try and make the journey less stressful for her. But either way, she won’t be coming back here.”

Good, that’s something we’re all in agreement with. We only stayed so I could work on hacking into Richard’s central modem. I have it transferring all his information so I can start looking into his dealings more closely and find out what the fuck is going on outside of the obvious.

“You can say that again,” River says, ripping into his sandwich once more. His anger is just beneath the surface, but not as volatile as before.

But it’s still there simmering, and that’s what worries me. Usually, his default mode is humour, but there’s a deeper, more serious side to River that few ever get to see.

“I’ll leave it to you. I’m going to hit the road and relieve Tommy.”

Out of all of us, Tommy has found it the hardest to stay away. And as only one of us is permitted to be there at any time, neither River nor I have had the heart to deny him. As for Jax, he’s been using the situation as an excuse to stay busy. I know what it is, seeing her in the light of day after everything isn’t something we want to face. He saw her when she initially came to, but she wasn’t as coherent as she’d been in the last day, so this will be different.

Facing his guilt head-on isn’t going to be easy for him, it was hell for all of us. But Jax is our boss, a born leader. He already feels like he’s failed us one way or another, no matter how much we tell him otherwise.It doesn’t help that we all feel equally to blame. Its why River lashed out and punched Jax, needing to expel some of his anger.

“Can you do me a favour when he returns?” Jax asks, pushing the chair back with his legs as he stands. “Make sure he eats and try to get him to sleep or at least shower. Fuck knows I feel better after it.”

He still looks rough, maybe even more so with the bruise forming on his jaw and the split lip, but the heavy exhaustion has lifted, not by much, but enough for him to seem more alert.

“We’ll take care of him, man,” River says, wiping his mouth and rubbing the remaining crumbs from his fingers before taking a swig of my juice.

Jax arches his brows, a smirk playing on his lips.

“Not like that, you kinky bastard,” River replies, but it’s good to hear some of the humour returning to his voice.

Jax holds out his hands, palms up. “Hey, I never said I wasn’t. And you know what I mean. Who am I to judge? From what I caught the tail end of, it seems like you’re very good at taking care of each other,” he says with a wink before turning on his heels.

I clear my throat as my cheeks heat because he’s not wrong.

River throws his thumb over this shoulder. “Was he flirting with us?”

“You wish,” Jax calls out, clearly hearing his remark. This time, I let out a laugh of amusement.

River rolls his eyes, but it’s so damn good to see some of his lightness return. I can’t help it when I grab the back of his neck and tug him towards me and slam my mouth against his.

He opens up to me immediately, and the faint taste of zesty oranges lingers on his tongue.

The kiss is slow, sensual, and unhurried, opposite to our kiss from earlier. There he is, my River, who saw me through some of my darkest days.

I pull back, breathe, and rest my forehead against his.

“What was that for?” he asks, his breath skating across my lips.

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