Page 130 of The Wayward Son

J.T. pulled up beside him. “What’s going on?”

“Jade.”

“Are you guys talking again?”

“Apparently. She wants me to come see her at work.”

“That’s something, I guess. Are you going to go?”

Sawyer looked at him. “Will you come with me?”

“Sure.”

“Thank you.”

“She could’ve sent that a while ago. You should probably answer her.”

Sawyer put the phone in his pocket. “I’ll let her sweat it out a little longer.”

“Dude.”

“I might change my mind. Then I’d need to text again and tell her I wasn’t coming.”

“That’s a really lame excuse.”

Sawyer shrugged. “I guess I’m still a little pissed.”

When they got back to the barn and put the horses away, J.T. looked at Sawyer. “So, are we going or not?”

“Yeah. We’re going. I’ll pick you up at eight.”

“Okay. Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?”

“I’m sure. I’m not going to drink. That won’t help anything.”

“I’ll see you at eight.”

J.T. left and Sawyer went up to his loft. He took a shower to wash off a day in the saddle, then made himself some dinner. As he sat on the couch while he ate his tuna sandwich and spinach salad, he thought about Jade. He’d missed her. He was confident they’d work things out, but he would be reluctant to go back to things the way they were. It was a little pointless now that most of the family knew. Even Sage had her suspicions, even though he’d never answered her question the other day about whether Jade had spent the night with him and left the bed in such a mess. As good as they were on a daily basis, they were even better in bed. Every intimate time together got better than the last. Which amazed him. He always thought it couldn’t get any better. But it always did.

Aside from the sex, though, he really enjoyed hanging out with her. Whether they were doing something or nothing. They had fun, and they got each other. They truly seemed to be soulmates. He sighed.Why doesn’t she see that?

At seven-forty-five, Sawyer left the ranch and drove to J.T.’s house. He was on the porch when Sawyer drove up. J.T. came down the steps and got into the truck.

“I thought you might chicken out.”

“No. I’ll go hear what she has to say.”

When they got to town, they were able to park within a block of the bar. That was a good sign. It wasn’t too busy. Jade wouldn’t be able to say she didn’t have time to talk to him. They walked to the bar and went inside.

Sawyer stopped inside the door and J.T. looked at him. “Are we sitting at the bar?”

Sawyer looked at the bar, which was half-full. He watched Jade for a moment. He hadn’t seen her tend bar before. She certainly seemed to know what she was doing. And the customers were enjoying her company. He felt a flare of jealousy, then shook it off. She was just working the crowd.

“Yeah. Let’s sit at the bar.”

They went to two seats at one end of the bar, and it took a few minutes for Jade to notice them. Sawyer saw her take a deep breath before she walked to them and set two napkins in front of them.

“Hi, guys.”

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