Page 46 of Bully's Second Chance
“You son of a—”
I turned to face Lily. “I thought so. Anyway, nice talking with you. Hope it all comes up all right. Oh, and one more thing: if you ever call Lily again and make her cry in my presence? I will personally see to it that your ass is grass.”
“Jax!” Lily exclaimed.
“And you can take that promise to the bank,” I growled.
“You don’t get to wiggle your way back into her life based on some stupid teenage crush you had.”
I chuckled. “Well, teenage crush or no teenage crush, my offer still stands. You call and make her cry when I’m around again, I’ll personally see to it that you’re tossed into rehab and chained to a chair until you realize the pain you’re putting her through.”
“Jackson!” she shrieked.
I hung up her phone, tossed it back to her, and then made my way back into my office. I didn’t give a shit if Lily were upset with me, but I wouldn’t let anyone else treat her the way I had during my teenage years. I had finally learned from my mistakes, and she would no longer be a punching bag for those wallowing in their own mistakes—like her brother, for instance.
“You didn’t have to be so harsh with him,” she said as he followed me back into my office.
I sat back down in my chair. “Let’s get to work.”
She closed my office doors. “Teenage crush?”
I chuckled as I opened my laptop. “It was a long time ago. And, like, only for a weekend.”
She giggled as she made her way back to her chair. “Well, if we’re talking about crushes, I guess you could say your crush was reciprocated.”
My jaw unhinged in shock as I looked over at her. “Wait, seriously?”
She typed away. “Yep. But you know, only for like a weekend. Until you woke up and decided to be a jackass.” And when she winked at me, my heart came to life.
Maybe, just maybe, there was still a shot for us after all of this was done.
18
Lily
Six Weeks Later
“Morning, Jax.”
He yawned. “Morning.”
I opened the fridge. “Where’s the creamer?”
“Already got it on the table. Can you grab me a spoon?”
I walked over to the dishwasher and plucked one out. “We got the bagels on the table?”
“Mhm. And the jams you like so much.”
I smiled as I walked the spoon over to him. “The coffee smells divine. Thank you for pouring me a mug.”
He peered over his newspaper. “Thank you for joining me for breakfast again.”
I giggled as I sat across the table from him. “You say that every morning.”
The newspaper went back up over his face. “And I mean it every morning.”
As I smiled, I fixed up my coffee the way I liked it before reaching for a toasted bagel. Jax and I had kind of found a rhythm over the past month and a half, and it felt nice. We were in each other’s worlds when we needed to be, then we had areas of the house to both liked retreating to when we needed rest and quiet. To be frank, his place had spoiled me, and I wasn’t sure how the transition going back to my place would feel.
