Page 55 of Best Man
“Good, good,” he said. The boys were right—something was definitely bothering Jax. Niko had never seen him like this before, not even before game seven in the playoffs. The good news? Jax hadn’t charged across the room and tried to choke him to death … so that was promising … but Niko was still concerned. “How are you?”
Jax shrugged. “I’m good.”
“Yeah?” Niko gingerly sat on the couch next to him. “You sure? You don’t look too good.”
Jax didn’t say.
“We’ve been trying to pry it out of him all morning.” Beau Bradford, who was Jax’s buddy from the Colorado Blizzard, pulled up a chair and sat in it backwards. “Ol’ Big Rig won’t say.”
Niko bumped Jax’s shoulder and continued to pry. “What’s going on, man?”
“Just nervous,” Jax quietly admitted.
“About what? Getting married?” Niko prodded.
Jax wouldn’t say. But the boys chimed in their support.
“You’re marrying a great girl, Jax.”
“Yeah, nothing to be nervous about, bud.”
“She’s your best friend.”
“Is it something else?” Niko asked.
Jax looked at Niko, and the troubles lingering in his eye told him it was. Then Jax glanced at all the other boys in the room, and Niko wondered if he wanted to do this man-to-man instead.
Fuck. I’m screwed.
“Okay, Big Rig.” Niko stood and offered his hand. “Let’s take a walk. Me and you. Get to the bottom of this.”
“Alright,” Jax said, reaching for his hand.
Niko hoisted him off the sofa and turned to the others. “We’ll be back soon.”
Unless I end up in the hospital …
***
They left the hotel and took a stroll around Kalispell’s small town streets. Paulina was right—the rain had stopped and it was a warm, beautiful day.
“Perfect day to get married,” Niko said, nudging Jax with his shoulder.
“Heh. Yeah,” Jax said. But he was still quiet, still lost in his own world. Something weighed heavily on his mind. Niko wondered if he ought to come out and say it and spare them both the pain.
“Listen …” Niko said at last, sighing. “I don’t know what’s bothering you, but—”
“I’m paranoid as fuck, man,” Jax blurted out at last, his voice quiet and strained.
Paranoid?Maybe this wasn’t as bad as Niko thought. He could work with paranoid. Paranoid was what you felt when youfearedsomething, not when you knew it for sure.
“Paranoid about what?” Niko asked.
“The vows.”
“What aboutthe vows?”
“I think—” Jax cleared his throat. “Look. I think I’m gonna cry when I take my vows. I can’t eventhinkabout taking my vows without feeling like someone’s cutting onions.”
