Page 36 of Reckless and Rooted
I shake my head and throw a nod at my brother before following behind the woman who is destined to make me crazy for the rest of my life.
19
jax
“What?Why are you looking at me like that?” Felicity says, stuffing another fry into her mouth. The girl is going to town tonight. When she ordered from Clyde’s granddaughter, who apparently had taken over the diner from her grandfather a few years back, she ordered half the menu.
There is currently a large burger sitting in front of her, a double order of fries, a large strawberry milkshake, and an order of onion rings.
“Nothing, baby, just haven’t seen anyone eat like this since high school,” I say, smirking around my own bite of fry. My order had been considerably less, but I wasn’t complaining.
“Hey, no judgment. I don’t know the next time I’ll be back here.” She brings her hands out to the sides and breathes it in, closing her eyes. “I’m reveling in the nostalgia and want to take advantage of it.”
“I’ll bring you back whenever you want.” The words are out before I can think better of it, and I’m rewarded with a very kind smile.
“That’s nice, Jax, but I highly doubt you’ll want to.”
I frown at her answer and immediately go to refute that statement. “I?—”
“How’s everything tasting?” Lydia, Clyde’s granddaughter, interrupts with a smile. She clearly recognizes my date, but hasn’t said a word to her about it. As a matter of fact, no one has except the guy who is currently sitting over by my brother, and that hadn’t been to get her autograph. He was just stating a fact.
“It is wonderful, Lydia. I am going to devour every last thing,” Felicity says, charming the new owner and getting a beaming smile in reply.
“Great! Well, holler if you need anything at all.” She taps the table and walks off, avoiding walking by my brother’s group except to call out and ask if they were good. She doesn’t walk up to their table, and I’m curious why.
“So when did bullfighting become your thing?” Felicity asks, drawing me back into the conversation. “When we were in high school, you were all about bull riding.”
“Ah, well, I don’t mind bull riding. It’s a lot of work and hard to place well when you’re not as experienced as others,” I say, smiling at her and taking another bite. “But bullfighting kind of came about accidentally.”
“How so?” The woman is eating at a fast pace, but her eyes are latched onto mine, listening intently to every word.
“Well, there was a night that the rodeo clown had taken ill, and they needed someone to fill a spot, so I volunteered.” I shrug, laughing at the memory. “I didn’t mean for it to become a thing, but I got in front of that crowd and was allowed to really interact and entertain, and it just blossomed into being what I loved.”
Felicity’s eyes are alight with happiness, and I wish I could freeze this moment. “That’s incredible, Jax. You found your purpose.”
“I suppose I did,” I answer, nodding my head.
“That makes me so happy. So you went from rodeo clown to bullfighter.” She waves a fry, urging me to continue. “How?”
“There was one night that I was clowning around…” I smirk at my pun, and she rolls her eyes before smiling at me. “And there was a guy in the crowd who had a whole business of training bullfighters. He came up to me after the rodeo and asked if I was interested. I wasn’t at first. I didn’t think I wanted to put more stock into rodeo.” I pause thinking of what pushed me. It was seeing Felicity on a movie poster, actually. I saw that and knew that she’d moved on and going home, finding her again, wasn’t likely. But I wasn’t about to tell her that. Not yet. “But it was potentially a lot of money, so I went and did it. I did some tours with the group and then became pretty damn good at it.”
“Until?” she asks, her lip in her mouth with worry, but her whole attention on me.
“Until one night a few months back when I thought the bull was out of the pen when my show was over, but the cowboys didn’t get him out, and I foolishly turned my back.” I tell her the story, the memory of that night crashing through me.
The hits I took, the sounds of bones cracking, the snap of metal against skin. I shudder and shove the thought of that night away. The night that changed my life.
“Jax.” Her eyes mist over, and she reaches across the table. I gladly accepted her hand. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
I shrug, rubbing my thumb over her knuckle. “Nature of the business.” And it had been time to end my career, to get out of the spotlight where I was too accessible.
“Still,” she whispers, and I nod my head, not sure what else to say.
“Well, I guess I can be glad for the timing,” I say, looking around at where I am. “I’m here with you now, so I have no complaints.”
She shakes her head, her emotions still on high alert. “You’re too nice to me.”
“Felicity, I’ve never felt the need to be mean to you.” I start, shaking my head. “When we were kids, when we finished high school, I had this picture-perfect image in my head. But if we had gone down that road then, we wouldn’t be here now.”
