Page 63 of The Finding Series: Vol. 1

“You okay?” Jax asked.

Dane nodded. “Who’d you call earlier today?” he asked.

“My friend at the security firm. I asked him to have our tech people check your phone again for anything unusual.”

The reminder that Jax was only here for one reason was brutal but Dane pushed the painful thought away. “Maybe it really was a carjacking and the rest was just some weird coincidence.”

“Maybe,” Jax agreed.

They both fell silent and Dane felt the tension returning between them. But he couldn’t bring himself to ask Jax what was going on so instead he said, “Will you do something for me, Jax?”

“Anything,” Jax responded. God, how Dane wished that were true.

“Whenever you’re ready to move on, just go. Don’t draw it out or make excuses. I’m a big boy and I know this has to end sometime. Just please don’t lie to me.”

Dane hid his disappointment when all he got in response was a non-committal grunt. He left Jax inside the front door and went to the bathroom to give Emma a quick bath. The little girl’s exhaustion was clear because she didn’t make the usual fuss about getting out of the tub and her eyes were closed by the time Dane got her into her pajamas and put her in her crib. He left Emma’s room and saw that Jax’s door was closed. A clear message if he’d ever seen one.

Dane went into his room and closed the door, then came to a stop when he saw Jax leaning against the bedpost. “We need to get a few things straight,” he said angrily.

* * *

Jax stalked to where Dane stood and grabbed him by the arm and dragged him over to the bed. He pushed Dane onto it and followed him down so that his greater weight held Dane in place for their chat. “That’s twice now that you’ve implied that I’m only here because I have to be. Tell me why.”

“Jax, let me up,” Dane ordered.

“Not until you talk to me.”

“Let me up!” Dane said again, his voice cracking as his anger started to take hold.

Jax pinned Dane’s arms when he tried to push him off. “Tell me what happened between this morning and tonight that has you questioning my intentions already.”

“No.”

“Was it the sex? Was I too rough?” Jax asked as he ran the events of the day through his mind. “Did I hurt you?”

“Let go of me, Jax.”

“Please, Dane, talk to me.”

Dane closed his eyes and turned his head away. “You wouldn’t speak to me,” he whispered.

Jax felt like Dane had punched him and he realized how his actions after they’d made love on the couch must have seemed to someone who’d been so coldly betrayed by a man he trusted – a man who’d claimed to love him.

“Dane, I’m sorry,” he started to say but Dane began to struggle beneath him.

“Let go!” he shouted and Jax hoped to hell he hadn’t woken Emma up because Jax wasn’t about to let this go.

“Damn it, just listen!” Jax yelled as he tightened his grip on Dane’s arms. “I realized this afternoon that I’m in love with you!” Dane went completely still beneath him. “And I’m scared to death because it’s never happened to me before. I needed some time to try and wrap my head around it.”

“Jax,” Dane began but Jax stopped his words with a kiss.

He pulled back and said, “You don’t need to say it back. But I need you to stop punishing me for what Isaac did to you.”

“I haven’t-”

“You compared me to him last night. Do you remember?”

Dane shook his head.

---