Page 47 of Reputation
In record time, embarrassingly so, the ball of heat gathered at the base of his spine.His release flashed through him, and he felt himself spill against the glass wall.His arm trembled where it held him up against the pane, and he sucked in the thick, steamy air around him, trying to get oxygen into his lungs.
He stood under the spray, trying to recover from an orgasm he knew would be nothing compared to what actually having her would be like.While the quick release cooled his blood enough that his erection finally ebbed, the heavy, aching ball in his gut remained.
“Fuck,” he muttered again, running his hands through the wet strands of his hair in frustration.
By the following evening, the heat had kindled again, spreading from that tight ball in his gut.He kept seeing the look in her eyes, the untamed desire reflected there as they stood nose to nose, his lips brushing hers as he asked her to leave with him.
“Yo, Jax,” came a voice to his left, jerking his attention back to the present.He looked at Brooks, lounging on the opposite end of the massive gray sectional couch.In the middle of the giant U sat a dark wood coffee table, currently holding two bottles of beer, a handful of empties, and a few bags of chips.
“Sorry, what?”he asked, swallowing down the burning any thought of Eavie elicited in him.
“I asked if you wanted to go another round?”Brooks repeated, nodding toward the flat screen on the wall flashing the hero videos forCall of Duty.
“Oh, sorry.Yeah, let’s go,” he said, focusing on the present.
“You alright, man?”Brooks asked, looking at him curiously.
It wasn’t like Jax to be so unfocused.Again, something only Cinderella seemed to bring out in him.
“Yeah, I’m good.My mind just wandered for a second.”
“Hmm,” Brooks grunted, looking at Jax in confusion, but dropped the inquiry.Brooks was never one to push a topic or pry if you didn’t want to talk about something.
“So,” Jax said a few minutes after they loaded a new game.The background noise of the war zone filled in the gaps in conversation.“How are things going with Lacey?”
Brooks shrugged one shoulder lazily.“Fine, I guess,” he muttered.
Jax raised his eyebrows at the half-assed response about the stunning, flaming-haired Supermodel Brooks had been dating for the last few months.
“Something going on?”he asked.
“No,” Brooks replied and shook his head, eyes glued to the TV.“I just don’t know if it’s going to last.”
Jax chuckled, not entirely surprised.His friend went through the same cycle every time he started dating a woman.Unlike Jax, who only did casual, Brooks dated—always looking for the potentialone.Jax didn’t know exactly what he was looking for or why none seemed to have it, but he had suspicions.
“Weren’t you supposed to go meet her family for Thanksgiving?”
“I told her not to count on me,” Brooks answered.
Jax blew out a low whistle.“I bet that went over well,” he said with a smirk.He couldn’t see Lacey being happy with that at all.
Brooks let out a heavy sigh.“Yeah, to say she wasn’t thrilled is putting it mildly,” he said grimly.
Likely an understatement.Jax kept the thought to himself.“You didn’t want to head home for the holiday?”
“Nah, it’s not enough time for me to make the trip to Albuquerque, especially since it isn’t a holiday there.”He reached forward, picking up his beer.Bringing it to his lips, he took a deep pull.“I was thinking I’d head down over Christmas this year, though, to surprise the family.They aren’t going on their annual vacation, so I might visit them then.It would be nice to see Sienna too,” Brooks said with the crooked smile that appeared every time he mentioned his lifetime best friend.
“How is Sienna?”Jax asked, thinking Brooks hadn’t mentioned her in a while.
“Good…I think,” he paused, considering.“Actually, I haven’t spoken to her in a while.”His face pulled into a frown as he thought about it.“She’s probably busy with the law firm,” he added, referring to Sienna’s job as a lawyer.“What about you?Are you seeing your family for Thanksgiving?”
“Yeah, Mom’s putting together a big dinner tomorrow.I’ll head up there around lunch.”He turned toward his teammate, an idea forming in his mind.“Do you want to come with me?”Jax asked.Since Jax had joined the team, they had become good friends.With Brooks’ family being so far away, he’d attended more than a few Morghan family events.He wondered why he hadn’t thought of inviting him earlier.“My mom always has tons of food, and I know she would love to have you.”
“Are you sure?I don’t want to intrude,” said Brooks.
“I’m pretty sure my mom would skin me alive if she found out you were alone for Thanksgiving and I didn’t invite you.You know how she is.”
Chuckling, he said, “Sure, man.That would be great, thanks.”
