Page 10 of Against My Fire

“No, we know each other and she comes to the functions, but we rarely talk to each other.” He squeezes my hand as he leads me to a table full of delicious dishes.

Jaxon hands me a plate before he takes one for himself. I stop and stare at him. “I forgot I was waiting for the waiter to bring me a drink.” He laughs as he points to the table I was sitting at to see his parents sitting there with Logan and my drink waiting for me.

I grab some salads and garlic bread before I move over to the barbequed meats. I am not a fussy eater when it comes to barbecues. I love my ribs and steaks. After getting the plate made, Jaxon leads me back to where his parents are sitting. I sit down next to his mother and he sits down next to me.

“Where’s Taylor?” I ask not seeing him here with them. The last I saw him he was sleeping on his grandma's shoulder.

“He’s in his bed. My aunt took him home.” Logan answers before he takes a bite of his salad. I nod as I dig into my food. The conversation is light and fun as Logan tells me a few stories about him and Jaxon when they were younger. Jaxon might have growled a few times at some embarrassing stories.

“Wait, I have the perfect one.” Logan claps his hands together and Jaxon covers my ears. I have to say that after spending some time with Logan he doesn’t seem too bad. He loves his best friend and I am sure he just wants what’s best for Jaxon. “Come on Jax, she deserves to know.” I swat Jaxon’s hands away as I give Logan my full attention. “We were about sixteen and Jaxon wanted to impress this one girl. I can’t even remember her name.”

“Neither can I.” Jaxon leans back with his arm on the back of my chair.

“Anyway, so Jaxon being the cowboy he is, got on a horse that his father just got.”

“A wild horse might I add.” His father chirps in before he takes a sip of his drink.

“In my defense, I didn’t know that it was that horse and he is my favorite now.”

“So he got on the horse and thought he was winning until the horse decided to start bucking. He went wild with Jaxon on his back and sent Jaxon flying off him…” I turn to see Jaxon with a huge smile on his handsome face. I might not know him for long but this is the most relaxed that I have ever seen him. “He landed in some cow shit, face first. None of us could help him…”

“None of them were able to stand because they were laughing too much. I did break my collarbone.” Jaxon says as he rubs his thumb on my shoulder. I want to fight this pull I feel toward him, but he is making it hard. Could I really open myself up to someone again? Maybe not, but I can be friends with him. I don't want to let Taylor get close to me and then disappear out of his life.

Jaxon checks the time and he smiles. “Come with me.” He whispers as he gets up. Logan smiles with a knowing look in his eyes.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.” He grabs my hand and leads me toward the barn. We walk to the other side of the barn and he opens a door to let me inside. “This way.” He takes my hand again after closing the door. He leads me to steps that lead to the upper level. “It’s almost time for the fireworks and I have the best place to watch them from.”

He opens the hatch and helps me onto a ledge. I sit down and he follows sitting next to me. We can see everything from up here. All the guests have gathered near the water.

Jaxon puts his arm around me and I lean into his side. “I know you have been hurt before, but I want to ask you to give me a shot to show you that not all men are dicks.” His smooth husky voice reaches me and I turn to look at him. He looks at me with so much hope that I don’t want to crush it. Before I can say anything he speaks again. “Before you answer, I need to tell you about Taylor’s mom.” I bite my lip and his eyes flick down to my lips before meeting my eyes once more. “We dated for a few years. Back then I believed that she was it for me. I would have done anything for her. I never noticed that something was different between us, not until the morning I woke up and she was gone. She didn’t even leave a note or anything. She was just gone. I tried to find her, but that led to nothing. No one knew where she went or why she left. Logan had to pick up the pieces and make sure I didn’t go off the deep end. This was almost four years ago.” I gasp as I realize that she left without telling him about Taylor. He did tell me he didn’t know he had a son, I just thought that it was a one-night stand. How can a mother do that? How can she say she loves the person and then leave with his child? “I only found out that she moved to Florida a few weeks ago when I found out about Taylor.” He turns to stare out into the distance.

“Can’t you ask her why she left?” My voice was soft as I felt his pain. What happened to me suddenly didn’t seem that bad.

“She’s dead. She was in an accident and that is the only reason I know about Taylor. I’m his only relative.” I rub his back as he rubs his hand over his mouth. “So you see, not all men are dicks. Some of us also just want someone to care about us as we care about them.” I smile as I lean my head on his shoulder.

“It will take time for me to open up, but I would like to spend more time with you and Taylor.” He kisses the top of my head as I say that.

“We can go as slow as you need. I just don't want to give up on something that feels this good.” My heart swells at his words. No one has ever wanted to spend time with me just to get to know me. I snuggle into him as we watch the fireworks go off. Maybe this can be a part of my new start. I deserve to be happy and have a friend or two. I have Shelby, but she has been attached to me since I moved in and I am used to her. Now I have Jaxon and it feels good. Just hope that I don’t regret it.

Chapter Ten

? Jaxon ?

I groan as I straighten myself before I lean on the shovel. Logan swears as he hits a rock with the shovel for the tenth time. We had some strong rains a few days ago that washed most of the entrance to the ranch away and now we are trying to get it fixed while Caleb and one of the other ranch hands are getting the cattle back into their paddock.

I have seen Bentley every day since the Jubilee and Taylor loves her. He has even gotten her to tuck him into bed a few times. I have never seen a more perfect image than the two of them in his bed. He would lay against her as she has her arm around him and was reading his book. It might be too soon for me to want that forever, but I want it.

“Are you seeing Bentley tonight?” Logan throws his shovel to the side as he asks that.

“Not tonight. She has a shift. I will see her after her shift.” I smile just thinking of her and Logan whistles. It doesn’t last long as we see a truck heading our way. The guy stops next to us with a smug smile on his face. I scan his truck and notice the logo on the door. Everton Corporated. This is the guy that other asshole was looking for.

“Afternoon.” He tips his hat at me and I give him a nod. “Is the boss here?” He nods towards the Walker Estate sign. Logan smirks as he walks closer to where I was standing.

“What’s it to you?” He asks.

“It’s not something I want to discuss with a couple of ranch hands. It might be too much for you.” I cough trying to hide my smile. He is probably the type of person that has people doing the work and he doesn’t lift a finger. Whereas I am the type that works just as hard as everyone else, if not harder.

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