Page 63 of Jax

After that, I managed to conceal my clothes behind me as I pulled up my shirt enough for Mint to take a look. He was careful not to make me uncomfortable but also unyielding to let my awkwardness get in the way of his assessment, making me pull my shirt up all the way until the bottoms of my boobs were shoved right in his face. Well, they weren’t that big, so they weren’t suffocating the man, but still…. At least, he stopped my shirt before my nipples poked him in the eye.

It also wasn’t as uncomfortable as I had expected as his eyes went over my scars. He didn’t say anything about them. He didn’t give them a second glance. It was as if there was barely anything more than a scratch in front of him, not the forever scars to prove that I had been mauled.

He confirmed what I had suspected about the bones and about him. He had the training of a military medic; he told me the bones were not broken but bruised and there was no need to go to the hospital.

It was a short examination, but Mint went through a list of warnings and was polite enough to give me his leather club jacket when I began to shake. He seemed hesitant at first, but when the shivering made me cough and jerk at my side, he reluctantly gave it up.

Just when I was sure I was beginning to get hypothermia despite the jacket and suggest that Mint carry me back to the house, since I was sure I couldn’t walk on my own, the two boys returned.

Jax and Pretty barreled in out of the rain, both squealing like little pups about how cold it was and how soaking wet they were. Jax’s eyes went over to me, eyes scanning from my face down until stopping dead at the sight of the jacket around my shoulders.

For a moment the cold I had been fighting off pierced right through me as I couldn’t read the look in his eyes. It jumped to Mint, who shrugged but took a respectful step back out, and although I had no idea what happened, that was all it took for Jax to relax. He took a deep breath and nodded at his brother, sending what seemed like a subtle relief through the otherwise stoic man.

“Um,” I interrupted, catching his attention. “Did you get the power back on?”

“Huh?” Jax frowned at my question, as If I had asked him what the ass of a badger tasted like before he got a hard nudge from beside him.

“Sure did,” Pretty answered, slapping his hands on Jax’s shoulder’s and giving them that squeeze that connected their telepathic communication wavelength. It must have been their weird way of sending unspoken thoughts to each other.

Jax jerked, understanding the question before he nodded back at me. “Yeah. The storm cut the power, but it’s fine. It’s back on now.”

“Oh.” I nodded. “Did you find the fuse box okay?”

“Yeah.” Jax turned and began talking to Mint, not even a heartbeat after my question and I felt myself bristle. Ass.

They spoke in softer voices, but from what I got, it was about Mint’s assessment of me, although I couldn’t understand why I apparently wasn’t allowed to hear. At some point Pretty tapped Jax’s shoulders before wagging a finger and gesturing over his shoulder at me and then at Mint.

Taking notice of me at last, Jax shrugged off his rain coat and pulled a pile of clothes from underneath its cover. He handed them to Pretty and the young man crouched down beside me. He offered out the pile of clothes, a leather jacket sat on top of it.

“You’re gonna have to swap the jacket, sweetheart,” Pretty explained, his expression friendly. “Mint’s gonna need it to ride back, so you’re just going to have to settle with that grumpy ass’s.”

“Ah, of course.” I chuckled, enjoying the little bit of sunshine this youngster was offering me. “You’re so much nicer than your brothers.”

“I wouldn’t say that just yet.” Pretty offered me a wicked grin, the boyishness of his face lost in the angles of his face. It seemed he was more handsome than pretty. “I may peek while you’re changing.”

The suddenness of the comment made me burst out laughing, causing a rippling hiss down my side and the attention of the other two in the barn. Even Max had her head peering over the side as Pretty gave me a smile and placed the clothes next to my lap.

Pretty shrugged and closed the stall gate behind him, giving me some semblance of privacy as I struggled to change my clothes. There was a pair of panties in my pile, and realizing it was no doubt Jax going through my panties drawer made me glare down at the frilly pink ones he had chosen. He had also pulled out the bra that matched the panties, but they were a nice pair that I avoided because they were a little tight in a way that made my boobs look a little more pronounced and my ass a bit rounded.

I forewent them this time as well, not wanting to put them on over my bruises. I swapped my jeans and shirt for dry ones and tucked the unwanted garments into the pocket of Jax’s leather jacket. It was warm. Much warmer than Mint’s had been. I figured it was because of Jax’s high body temperature. It came with that leather musk, stained with patches of oil with wrinkles and creases from years of wear. The labels, Road Captain and the stripes, name badge, and territory label were all hand sewn.

In my drifting mind, I didn’t realize that the door had been opened and Jax stood leaning against the opening to the stall. His eyes were watching me with his hawk-like vision. He was quiet… observing.

It made me hesitant to break the silence.

“Are we ready to go?” I rubbed my hand over the back of my neck as I tried to look at anything but him.

Jax nodded, pushing from the post. He pulled the heavy pile of wet clothes off my lap, and I let him take them. He took Mint’s Jacket from the pile and tossed it over the stall.

“Thank you!” I called after I saw it fly over the side. A moment and a rustle later, Mint’s head popped up over the side and gave me a returning nod.

Jax carried on as if it didn’t happen, moving the clothes out of the way before crouching down at my side. “Cross your arms over your chest.”

“Not around your neck?” I frowned at the strong but slender man. I wasn’t sure I had enough faith for him to keep me in his arms by his strength alone.

“It’ll hurt you if you do that.” He gestured down to my side. “Don’t worry, Ronnie,” he murmured, “I got you.”

The softness in his voice threw me, and I wondered what count of the personality flip we were now on. In the last hour alone, he had changed too many times and my own emotions were suffering from whiplash. That and exhaustion had me giving up on analyzing anything else to do with this mysterious man today as I placed my arms across my chest, each hand over the opposite shoulder.

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