Page 48 of Bully's Second Chance
“And just because your father worked himself to death doesn’t mean you should.”
His head snapped up. “Work didn’t kill him; the cancer’s doing that. At least, I think that’s what the cancer’s doing. But every time I figure he’s finally on his way to peace, he clings to this world of pain and torture, and I don’t fucking know why. Do you?”
I walked over to his desk. “Is that why you’ve been so upset today?”
He threw his hands in the air. “Why would my father choose to be in agony and stay here rather than have his peace and die? I don’t get it. And I know this makes me sound like a terrible son, but I’m tired of waking up and wondering if this is the day, only to have moments like that where we all believe the end is coming, only for him to snap back. Is he trying to torture me? I mean, what is the damn point!?”
I perched on the edge of his desk. “I think he’s hanging on for you and Adelaide.”
He scoffed. “He can’t even hear us half the time.”
“And yet, when you told him you loved him, his heart settled down.”
“Yeah, I also told him that I didn’t care if he crossed over. I told him it was fine, so why is he still here?”
I shrugged. “If you were dying and leaving me behind, would you fight?”
His eyes met mine. “That’s different.”
I tilted my head. “How so?”
When he didn’t speak, I knew he didn’t have a rebuttal for me.
“Jax, it’s eight o’clock. There’s dinner in the oven waiting to be reheated for us that the chef left. We can take it out back, enjoy the summer breeze, then take a dip in the pool before finishing off with a nice dessert and some wine. How’s that sound?”
He sighed. “Can we do the dessert and wine in the hot tub?”
I smiled. “We can do whatever you want.”
His eyes darkened. “Don’t tempt me with such a statement.”
So, I stood to my feet and held out my arms. “Agree to my plan, and you can have your way with me.”
He shot to his feet. “Agreed.”
I giggled as he rushed me and scooped me into his arms. He twirled me around, holding me close against him as he buried his face into the crook of my neck. I held him as tightly as I could, giving him the comfort I knew he was much too proud to ask for. And after rubbing his back for a while, I heard him draw in a deep breath for strength.
“Come on, we have an evening to enjoy.”
As he took my hand and led me out of his office, my mind swirled with all sorts of thoughts. I thought about the routine we had gotten into and how nice it felt. I thought about all of the evenings where I didn’t feel so alone now that I had Jax in a room down the hall from me. In another life, maybe things would’ve been different for us. Maybe we would’ve been in love as teenagers had our upbringings not been so… chaotic. Maybe we would have dated and become high school sweethearts.
Maybe we wouldn’t even have fallen in love.
But, those were a lot of maybes to be thinking about in terms of the past.
Still, we enjoyed our dinner. Jax decided to join me in his boxers when I leaped into the pool with nothing on but my bra and panties. And after a while, we clamored into the hot tub and popped open a bottle of wine, forgetting all about the dessert waiting for us in the refrigerator inside.
“To whatever comes our way in the coming months,” Jax said as he raised his glass.
I held mine up as well. “To life, love, and prosperity in all its forms.”
He smiled. “And to living a life that we can finally be proud of.”
I giggled. “Here fucking here.”
We clinked our glasses together and took our first sips while gazing into each other’s eyes. The stars twinkled within his irises, lighting up his entire face. And when he smiled before pulling me closer, it felt like we had always been this way, like we were meant to be this way.
But, all too soon, the moment was ruined.
