Page 51 of Dirty Pucking Tease

"Did you mean what you said tonight?" she asked after we both finally caught our breath.

"Every single word. I don't want to share you anymore."

"So, are you my boyfriend?"

"We don't have to put a label on it. We don't have to complicate it. It's just you and me."

"So it's a secret."

I nodded. "For now."

I didn't know how to be a boyfriend, but I knew I didn't want to be with anyone but Kaia. I also couldn't imagine having that conversation with our parents. I wasn't sure what the future held, but right now, there was nowhere else I wanted to be. We'd figure the rest out later.

34

Pulling open the bathroom door, I sucked in a deep breath inhaling the scent of greasy bacon. My gaze flicked over my room. Jax was gone. My mouth twisted with confusion. He was cooking breakfast? Jax didn't even know how to turn the stove on. Or at least I didn't think he knew how to turn it on.

Bouncing down the back staircase to the kitchen, I froze when I hit the tile kitchen floor. "Dad?"

His gaze flicked up to meet mine as his face spread into a smile. "There's my baby girl." My gaze flashed to Jax sitting at the breakfast bar, eating whatever my dad was cooking.

It wasn't that I wasn’t happy to see my dad because I was. I hadn't seen him in over a month, but I wasn't expecting him back for another month. I also knew what this meant for Jax and me. It had only been a few days since Jax claimed me, and things were good, and the house was usually the only place we didn't have to hide. Who knew how it would go now? I didn't think we needed to be a secret, but Jax needed to do this in his own time, and I was okay with that.

Wiping the confusion off my face, I strolled further into the kitchen, pulling out the stool next to Jax and sliding in.

"Breakfast?" my dad asked without looking up from the bacon he was frying.

"Sure." I forced a smile. "What are you doing back so early?"

"We have to fly to Australia tomorrow, and Linda wanted to come home and check on everything first."

"What's in Australia?" Jax asked.

"Business stuff," my dad said, flipping the bacon in the pan.

"When did you get back?" I asked.

"Early this morning," my dad answered. "Everyone was sleeping, and we didn't want to wake you." Good thing they didn't because they would have found Jax in my bed naked, and there would be no turning back from that.

"Good morning, Ms. Fritz," Linda said, and my spine stiffened as I twisted to see Linda strolling into the kitchen with the phone to her ear.

They hadn't even been home twenty-four hours, and the community gossip was already calling. She was the neighbor from hell. The one who knew and saw everything, and if she'd seen Jax and me on the front lawn the night I found him in the driveway, Linda was about to know about it. Jax must have thought the same thing because his body stiffened as his gaze followed her.

"Uh huh," Linda hummed into the phone, smiling at my dad before leaning in for a kiss. "Well, Ms. Fritz, I would say that is their business." Linda's gaze flicked between Jax and me, offering a good morning smile. "I'm sure everything will work out in the end, but I do have to go. Perhaps we can catch up later." She grabbed a piece of bacon off the plate. "You too. Goodbye." She disconnected and dropped the phone on the counter.

"What was that about?" I asked, trying to sound disinterested.

"Apparently, Lacey Hall is pregnant."

"She's like fifteen," Jax said.

"I believe she's sixteen, but still," Linda said, raising her shoulders. "And apparently, the father is Christopher."

"Her stepbrother?" my dad cut in.

"Yes," Linda said with no judgment in her voice. "I'm just glad we never had to worry about that with our kids. You were all so responsible." I knew without a doubt she was referring to teen pregnancy and not a relationship between Jax and me.

"I have to go," Jax said, jumping off the stool, and I knew what she'd said had gotten to him. "I want to get in some ice time before school." Jax bolted out of the kitchen without another word.

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