Page 39 of Just Friends
“So there was neveranyromantic interest between you two at all?” she asked, stunned.
“No …” I hesitated. “Well, okay, maybe when we very first met.”
I told her the story of the night I first hung out alone with Jax. Sure, maybe I’d hoped he had potential for a boyfriend—he’s a handsome pro athlete, for God’s sake, what girlwouldn’thope for something like that? We had a great time together, but we went into that date with different expectations. At the end of our date, he made a move and tried to get me to come back to his hotel. But I shot him down, and we had a good talk why it wouldn’t between us: he didn’t do relationships, and I didn’t do hookups. And that’s when we decided to be friends instead.
“And that’s the way it’s been ever since,” I said.
“Really,” she said. “Huh. Wow.”
“Yup,” I said.
“I’m impressed that you could both shut that interest off and have a strictly platonic friendship.”
“Itiskinda crazy, isn’t it?” I agreed with a laugh. “But that’s exactly what we’ve done.”
Just then, the front door swung open.
“Hi, Jax!” we said as he walked in.
Reavo walked in right behind him.
“Oh, hi, Derek!” Katerina said.
“Hey, babe,” Reavo muttered. “What’re you doing here?”
“I invited her over for some of Jax’s biscuits and gravy,” I said.
“It was delicious, by the way,” Katerina said. “Great job, Jax.”
“Oh, thanks,” Jax said.
And then we noticed his face.
Katerina and I both gasped. He had a massive shiner on his eye, a line of stitches on his bottom lip, and bruises all over his face.
“Oh my God, Jax! Your face!” I ran over to inspect the damage up close. “What happened?!”
“It’s nothing.” He grumbled, as if I were making a mountain out of a molehill. “Got into a fight, that’s all.”
“With who?!”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said as he took a seat on the couch.
I ran to the freezer, made an ice bag, and hurried back to his side. I held it out to him but he pushed it away. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, your face is swollen.” He still wouldn’t take it, so I gently held the ice bag against his cheek myself. “Fine, I’ll do it for you.”
Reavo stood sheepishly by the door. His wife joined his side and they greeted with a hug.
“Poor Jax,” I said. I ran a hand through the wavy locks of hair he wore on top—and then grazed my fingers over the short, prickly hair he wore on the sides. “You’ve been in a lot of fights, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you get beat up like this before.”
He groaned.
Katerina jumped in, trying to salvage Jax’s ego. “I’m sure if we saw theotherguy, he’d be in a lot worse shape. Right, Derek?”
Reavo suddenly looked very uncomfortable. “Oh, er—”
“Whoisthe other guy, anyway?” I asked. “Wait, aren’t you guys practicing against each other? You didn’t fight ateammate, did you?”
