“One day, I’ll take you on a date to Cocky Pete’s,” Jax told Piper, handing her the four-leaf clover he found.
Accepting it, she laughed, looking up from where her head was laying on his lap. “A date to an old saloon? Sooo romantic, Jax.”
“What could be more romantic than taking you to an old whorehouse?” he replied, shooting her a wink.
Laughing, she reached a hand up and swatted his stomach. “For sure. What was I thinking?”
Grinning, he captured her hand with his, pressing a kiss to her knuckles before twining their fingers together. “I want to take you everywhere, Piper. When you’re old enough to get in, you’ll come home from college on break, and I’ll take you there. And once you graduate, we’ll go everywhere, see the world together. I want to experience it all with you.”
The smile faded from Piper’s face and she sat up, scooting close to him. “I don’t want to leave you behind when I go to college next year. I don’t need to go, anyway. I already know I’m going to work in the bakery when I’m older, and take it over one day. I don’t need to go to college for that.”
He reached up and brushed her hair from her face. “You need to go, Pippy. For the experience of it all, if nothing else. I want you to have everything.”
“But I don’t want to leave you for four years, Jax. I want to stay here and work in the bakery. I want you.”
“You have me. Heart and soul. But you need this, you know you do.”
“I don’t know any such thing, Jackson St. James. But I know I love you.”
“And I love you, Piper McCoy. Always.”
“Always.”
Piper pushed open the door to Cocky Pete’s, looking around the crowded bar for Kelly. She was surprised to see so many people here on a Thursday night, but she supposed in a town as small as Eagle Creek, there wasn’t much else to do.
Spotting her friend waving at her, Piper began making her way to the booth Kelly was seated at. “Hey, Kelly,” she said, sliding in the booth.
“Hey! I ordered us a pitcher of margaritas. I hope that’s okay.”
“Sounds good,” Piper replied, looking around the bar before returning her gaze to her friend. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I just can’t get over how different you look now.”
Shrugging, Piper waited until the waitress placed the pitcher and glasses on the table before replying. “I like expressing myself creatively.”
“Still,” Kelly replied as she poured them glasses. “It’s so unlike you. Your divorce must have been very hard to push you into reacting like this.”
Choking on her sip, Piper swallowed and set her glass down. “Kelly, really? This doesn’t have anything to do with my divorce. I talked about doing this kind of thing all the time when we were teenagers.”
“I mean, yeah, but we also talked about running away from home and becoming tour groupies for Snow Patrol too, and you didn’t do that. Was it really hard?”
“Was what hard?” Piper asked with a frown, not following.
“Your divorce, silly,” Kelly replied, avid curiosity in her eyes.
“It wasn’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done,” she said, resisting the urge to squirm at the question. “But it was what was best for me.”
Kelly reached across the table and patted Piper’s hand. “This is me, Piper. We’ve been best friends since we were six. You don’t have to lie to me. It must have been devastating.”
Humming, Piper shrugged and took a sip of her margarita. The sympathy in her friend’s eyes made her uncomfortable, and judging by the look on her face, she wasn’t going to accept the truth. Which was just what Piper said. Divorcing Scott was the best decision she ever made, and she was so much better for it.
“So what have you been up to since high school, Kel? Besides working at the bakery?” she asked, trying to turn the conversation away from her disastrous marriage and subsequent divorce.
“Oh, not much. I dated Darryl Hanson for a while, remember him? We broke up when he moved away. Such a shame. And I fly to Chicago fairly often to help take care of my mom. Other than that, it’s really a boring life I lead, and so much different than how I envisioned my life would go. Much less exciting, you know,” Kelly replied with a light laugh.
“Sometimes less excitement is better,” Piper replied softly.
“Oh, that’s right. You run a homeless shelter, don’t you? I’m sure those people give you lots of excitement. I bet you have some stories stored up. Spill!”
Frowning over how Kelly called the homeless Piper worked with those people, she reminded herself that Kelly was always a gossip and a drama queen. She didn’t mean any harm, and certainly didn’t mean it like it sounded. Piper hoped, anyway.
“We get some drama from time to time,” she admitted, mostly because she knew Kelly wouldn’t let up until she said something along those lines. “But for the most part, my regulars are amazing people who’ve just had a rough time. They’re sweet and gentle, and I spend a lot of time trying to help them find jobs and low-income housing. Trying to help improve their lives in a small way.”
Kelly looked almost disappointed at the lack of gossip, but she forged on. “And what about you? Do you live in low-income housing, as well? Working at a homeless shelter, even running one as you do, can’t bring in much money, I’m sure. However do you get by?”
Just barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes at Kelly’s continual hunt for gossip, she replied, “I’m an artist, too. I paint portraits as well as landscapes. I’ve had a couple of showings at a gallery, too. It brings in plenty to pay the bills. I work at the homeless shelter because I want to help, not to make money.”
“Oh, that’s right. Helen mentioned that before. I guess it slipped my mind.” Reaching out, she patted Piper’s hand again. “Helping out sounds so much like the Piper I knew from high school. I’m glad the changes on the outside weren’t changes on the inside as well.”
Piper gave a half-smile. Kelly was exactly as she’d been in high school. Gossipy and a lover of drama, but with a heart of gold inside. People had often taken her the wrong way, but Piper always knew how good her friend was, down inside. She was just opening her mouth to reply when Kelly’s eyes widened at something behind Piper.
Leaning forward, Kelly said, “I’m sure you must be over him, especially since you moved on and married. But I don’t want you to be taken off guard by seeing him for the first time in eight years. Jax just walked in with the other fighters.”
Before Kelly even spoke, Piper knew he was here. Like it had always been. His presence was like a sixth sense, her whole being focused and awake when he was around, and like all the air had been sucked from the room.
Keeping her voice even, she asked, “Fighters?”
“Your grandmother never told you?” Kelly asked in surprise.
“We never talked about Jax,” she replied with a shake of her head.
“Are you still hung up on him?” Kelly asked suspiciously.
“What? No,” Piper insisted, ignoring the voice inside her that said she’d lied. “More like I never cared enough to want to know.”
Kelly nodded, eyes clearing of questions. “That makes sense. Anyway, Jax left not long after you two broke up, but you knew that part. He met up with Ian Gallagher, you remember him? He was a grade ahead of us. At some point, they learned how to fight, and roamed the country, fighting matches wherever they went. They fight MMA style. So hot,” she said dreamily.
“Do you have a thing for Ian Gallagher, Kelly?” she asked, taking a sip of her drink to hide her smile.
“Ian?” Kelly asked, genuine surprise in her voice. “No, not at all. Although, I have to admit, he’s pretty hot. All big and muscled up. Still, no, I don’t.”
Piper nodded, wondering whether that was true or not, despite the surprise in Kelly’s tone. “I guess they don’t fight anymore if they’re settled back in Eagle Creek. Not much opportunity to fight around here.”
“No, they still do. There are fights held almost every Saturday night at the Anderson ranch.”
“Really? This is the last town I’d expect see stuff like that happen.”
“Not much else to do around here,” Kelly said with a shrug, laughter in her voice.
Piper checked her phone and raised her eyebrows when she saw the time. They’d been chatting for well over an hour, but the time had flown by. The evening was still fairly young, but she was going to grab at the excuse to split, now that Jax was there.
“Kelly, I’ve had a great time, but I need to be getting back to the house. I need to let my dog outside soon.”
Disappointment flitted across Kelly’s face. “Oh, I didn’t know you had a dog. I wish you could stay longer, but I understand. How long will you be in town?”
“I have a lot to do, what with going through Grandma’s things, and getting everything ready to sell, so I gave myself a month here. I’m hoping to have it done sooner, though.”
“Oh, a whole month with my bestie! That would be great. I hope you stay for the whole month. I’d love to spend more time with you.”
“We can definitely do that,” Piper replied, fishing some cash from her pocket and putting it on the table before standing. Grabbing a napkin, she asked, “Do you have a pen?”
Kelly took one out of her purse and handed it to her, and she quickly scribbled down her cell number. Handing the napkin and pen to Kelly, she said, “Call me, and we’ll hang out some more. I’ll see you soon.”
Turning, she made her way to the entrance, studiously avoiding looking in Jax’s direction. She knew instinctively, as she always seemed to when he was in a room with her, where he was. And she could practically feel his eyes burning into her skin as she made her casual and unhurried escape.
Walking outside, she paused for a moment, taking a calming breath of night air. Head slowly clearing, she walked through the gravel to her car, pausing at the door when the sound of footsteps hit her ears. She knew without looking that it was Jax, and if she could have jumped in her car and sped off without it looking like she was fleeing him, she would have.
As it was, she steeled her spine and turned around, arching an eyebrow at him. “What do you want, St. James?”
“Did you leave because I came in?” he asked, looking delicious in the moonlight as he came in closer than she was comfortable with.
Refusing to back up or show any other sign of weakness, she asked, “And what makes you think I base any decision off of you? What makes you think I think about you at all when you’re not right in front of me, shoving yourself down my throat?”
His eyebrow cocked, and she was grateful for the cover of night that hopefully meant her blush wasn’t noticeable. She knew what was going through his mind over her last comment, because it was going through hers, as well. Dirty, dirty minds. The two of them were still alike in that way.
Cursing herself for letting him get under her skin, she summoned her inner Boss Bitch again. No more blushing like a schoolgirl, when she never blushed. No more thinking they were alike in any way. They weren’t, and she couldn’t let herself forget that.
“I just didn’t want to run you out of Pete’s. It looked like you were having fun back there with Kelly.”
“I’m leaving because I want to leave. It has nothing to do with you, and you flatter yourself to think it does.”
He gave a half-smile and raised his hands. “Okay, okay. I get it.” His eyes slid behind her, and when he looked at her again, they held warmth and pride. “You went out and bought yourself a ’69 Mustang. I’m proud of you for chasing that dream. It’s even green, like you wanted.”
Keeping her stony expression, she searched his eyes. The look in them and the sincerity in his voice threw her off balance. “It wasn’t when I bought it. I had it restored and painted this color. And you don’t get to feel proud of me for anything. You gave up that right eight years ago.”
Inwardly wincing over the last sentence, she nevertheless held her glare steady. She hadn’t meant to bring up the past, or to sound so bitter about it. That time didn’t affect her any longer. He didn’t affect her any longer.
At least, that’s how she wanted it to be. But she was never into lying to herself, not any longer. Lying to herself was how she got into that whole mess with Scott. Brutal honesty from then on out, so she had to admit to herself—Jax still had the power to affect her. But there was absolutely no reason to let him know he did.
“You’re right,” he said softly, stepping closer to her. “But it doesn’t stop me from feeling it. And I don’t deserve it, but I want to earn that right again, Pippy.”
For a sliver of time, her heart stopped and then soared sky high at his words, but she clamped down on it. “Get the fuck out of here with that shit. You’ve turned delusional if you think I’d ever let you back in. How’s that saying go? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And don’t call me Pippy again, or I’ll rip your nut sack from your body and feed your balls to you, one by one,” she bit out, turning around and getting in her car.
The engine rumbled loudly as she pulled out of the parking spot, and she couldn’t stop herself from glancing in the rearview mirror before turning out of the lot. He was staring after her, hands on his hips, huge and imposing in the darkness of the parking lot. Blowing out a breath, she tightened her hands on the steering wheel, trying to get control of the tremors.
She shouldn’t have gotten so aggressive, shouldn’t have threatened him like that. That was the opposite of calm, impassive, and in control. If she kept saying shit like that, she was going to make it more than obvious that she never got over what he did. That she hadn’t ever truly gotten over him. The admission was painful to admit to herself, but she couldn’t deny the truth of it.
If she’d truly gotten over him and moved on, she wouldn’t lose control of herself and her temper. She’d be able to just walk away without saying shit like that. Fucking hell, this wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.
How the hell was she going to survive a month in the same town as Jax? She had to avoid him. She’d become a hermit, only leaving the house if she needed to go to the bakery or the grocery store, and get everything wrapped up as fast as possible. She needed to get the hell out of this town.
Jax stood still, watching as Piper’s taillights faded in the distance. That had gone about as well as he expected, but at least he stated his intentions. He was going full throttle forward now, despite the threat to his balls.
Lips quirking, he turned to go back inside, stopping short when he saw Cammie leaning against the wall of the bar. “I like her already,” she called, pushing herself upright.
Shaking his head, he walked toward her. “She’s got a mouth on her now,” he muttered.
“But you’re not letting it stop you, are you,” she stated.
“Nope.”
“Just don’t call her Pippy again,” she said with grin. “You’ll lose your ability to produce little eaglets.”
“Haha.”
Her grin faded as she studied him. “So that’s Piper. Your mate.”
He nodded shortly, not saying anything.
“Why didn’t you ever tell us you had a mate, Jax?”
“Wouldn’t have made a difference. Besides, talking about her made it worse.”
“What happened? Why did you break things off?”
“Because I had to,” he answered simply.
“Chatty as ever,” she said with a smirk. “I hope you put in more of an effort to speak when you pursue her.” She quieted for a moment, smile fading as she turned pensive. “I can’t imagine having Alex for years, and then being forced to give him up. I’m not sure I’d be able to.”
“You’re a dragon who can fight fire with fire. I was a scared eagle shifter, barely more than a kid. And they were threatening her, not me. I didn’t think I could protect her from them.”
Eyebrows high, she looked at him in surprise. “Four whole sentences. Wow, I’m impressed. Okay, okay,” she said as he glared. “I guess I can see why you had to walk away. Who is ‘they’?”
“My colony.”
“That makes it worse, it being your people. Well, I know you. I’ve seen you fight. You’re a beast, and I know you can protect her now. And you have a whole crew of fighters backing you up that would help you do that with everything in them. I guess all that leaves is winning her back over. Looks like you have your work cut out for you.”
Cammie headed back inside, bumping his shoulder with hers as she went. He stayed silent, acknowledging to himself that she was right. Winning Piper back was going to take everything in him, and even then, it might not be enough.
We got this.
Jax nodded at his eagle’s words, but he felt like crossing his fingers and wishing on a falling star as he thought about the upcoming battle he was going to have on his hands. This was going to be the hardest and most important fight he’d ever fought, but the prize at the end was priceless.