Page 66 of Reckless and Rooted
“Ah, I appreciate the offer, but?—”
“He accepts!” the girl, or woman, says as she stands, smoothing a hand over her long skirt and smiling at me. Her hair is long and brown, and she looks like the quintessential kindergarten teacher type.
“Celeste, I need to be home tonight,” Jethro replies with a gruff voice.
She waves a hand, avoiding eye contact with Jethro, who seems to be trying to get her attention. “Nah, I have a handle on Zade tonight. Mr. Porter would love to join you.”
“Ah.” I chuckle awkwardly, looking between the two of them. Bonnie gives me an eyebrow raise, and I see I’m not the only one who notices something going on. “Well, great. See you at eight, man.”
“I could take you home, make good use of the bathtub again. Or that new pregnancy massager you just got. That one looks like a good one,” I whisper in Felicity’s ear as we sit along the benched wall in the dart area of the bar. We didn’t come here with the intention of playing darts, but all the girlfriends and wives challenged us guys to a game of darts, so here we were.
“You’re just trying to distract me,” Felicity says, turning to face me. Her bright green eyes are lit up, and I revel in seeing that look on her face. “You scared of losing, baby?”
I scoff, looking at the scoreboard on the wall. It was sadly lacking on the guys’ side, and I blamed that on my team for allowing their women to distract them.
“I’m only scared of losing you,” I reply, laughing at Jet, who’s throwing his darts angrily at the board.
When he first got here, it was a happy time, where we caught up on all things life since high school. Then he was on his phone texting someone, and his mood changed. Ever since, he’s been throwing darts like he wants the darts to go through the board.
I had no idea what was going on, but with Felicity’s hand on my thigh the way it was, I was less concerned with my old friend.
I came home from our meeting with Jet to find Felicity surrounded by the letters I’d sent her. I was shocked to see them, but even more shocked to see her sitting there with tears running down her face. I didn’t think anything I sent was bad.
Though there may have been some about my injury.
I asked her what was wrong, but she just stood and wrapped her arms around me the best she could and then vowed to love me forever.
I didn’t ask many questions after that, though I did sweep the letters off to the floor and made good use of her desk.
I had no idea Gerald and Hannah would have kept those letters, but I was kind of glad that Felicity got to see what was going on with me during that time. It brought us even closer together.
Felicity uses a finger to turn my head to face her, and I let my eyes just drink her in. I was a fucking sap because I could waste years staring at her face, memorizing the way she showed her love for me whenever our eyes met.
Yeah, I was done for.
“You’re never losing me, Jax. Never have, really,” she replies a little more seriously, giving me a firm kiss on the lips before standing and making her way to the shooting line. She winks and starts her turn, making way too many good shots.
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I look at the screen, cringing when I see the unknown caller on the screen. Again.
Fuck. I wish he would leave me the hell alone.
I thought about moving away, figuring out a place to go where he couldn’t find me. But with a celebrity girlfriend, that was going to be a hard thing to do. There weren’t many places to hide out.
I look up, and to the side on the outskirts of our little group is Mitch, who’s looking right at me like he knows who’s calling me. I look away, not interested in having this conversation with him.
We’ve barely spoken since that night when my old man’s thugs showed up and beat the shit out of me.
“I have to pee,” Felicity says when she comes back over, and I stand, tucking her hand into mine and weaving us around the people in the bar. It wasn’t overly crowded, and somehow thelocals hadn’t shared the fact that we had a celebrity living in our town, keeping her location a secret.
I check the bathroom, making sure she has privacy before I wait right outside. Ezra took the night off at Felicity’s request, and I was happy to play bodyguard. I’ll do anything to keep her safe.
A shadow falls over the hallway, and I glance over, sighing when I see Mitch standing there. “What?”
A shrug lifts his shoulders, and he enters the hallway, turning his back to the opposite wall and leaning against it. “Just wondering when you were going to face the problem.”
“Face the problem,” I mumble, crossing my arms and shaking my head. “And what problem is that?”
He nods his head to the door behind me and says, “You’ve got a girl in there and a baby on the way, and you’re not worried about how dear old dad is going to react when he realizes who that girl is and how much money she has?”
