Chapter 17
Jax
I’m not gonna lie, I was pissed about all the shit that went down with Bentley and her family. But after the phone call I just got, I know soon she’ll have more family than she knows what to do with.
“Hey, dude,” she says when she answers my call.
“Darlin’,” I reply. Fuck it feels good to be done with all our bullshit messing around.
“What’s up?” she asks.
“Are you able to get any time off?”
“Um probably, why?”
“My sister-in-law just gave birth to our nephew, and we wanted to go down.”
“When?” she asks.
“Mav and Aubrey have their midyear break starting on Friday, so we thought, if you could, we’d leave then.”
“For how long?”
“How long can you get off?” I ask.
“I’m not sure. I’ll ask Lisa and get back to you.”
“Sounds good, darlin’. I’ll see you at home?” I didn’t mean to start calling her place home, but we’ve been spending so much time there, it just kind of slipped out.
“Yeah, I’ll see you at home.” She hangs up, and I have the biggest smile on my face.
“So tell me about your family,” Bentley says as we snuggle on the couch that night.
“There’s a lot of us,” I warn.
“If I can handle you, I can handle anything,” she says.
“Good point. Okay, so we have my grandpa, Jay. We call him Pa.”
“Pa is Jay, got it,” she says, nodding.
“My dad, or Nate, is Pop.”
“Go on.”
“My eldest brother is Parker. He has a kid, Christian, who’s six. Holy shit,” I say when I realise how old Chris is.
“Does Parker have a wife?” Bentley asks.
I shake my head. “Nah, Chris’s mum, Emma, and Park were dating, but they weren’t ever very serious. They were only together for Chris’s sake.”
“So where is she now?”
“She died when Chris was a baby. A drug overdose.”
“Oh.”
“So that makes three women who have mothered Ryans who have died young, in case you wanted to keep count.”
“Wow,” she says.
“Yeah. Park and Reed have a major thing about it. Well, Reed used to. I think Bria pretty much blew that out of the water for him.”
“They just had the baby, right?”
I nod. “Yep. Reed’s the second eldest. He married Bria three years ago, and they have a daughter, Avery, who is our princess, and now a son, Chase.”
“Cool.”
“Reed’s the VP of our racing team, and Bria handles all our PR and shit.”
“So she was the one who had to keep your arse in line?” Bentley asks.
“Yep, Bria Ryan, aka the fun police.”
“Aww, poor Jax,” she says mockingly.
“Life’s no fun when you have to behave.”
Bentley just snickers. “Who’s after Reed?”
“Liam.”
“He’s the racer, right?”
“A three-time NRS champion, thank you very much.”
“Is he…?”
“Gay?” I supply. “Yes, he is. His partner’s name is Mason, and he is one of the finest-looking men to ever grace the planet.” She raises an eyebrow. “Seriously. You’ll see when you meet him. I mean, I love women, but if Mase and Liam were to break up, I’d turn for him.”
“Oh really?” she asks, a gleam in her eye.
“Don’t go getting any ideas,” I warn.
She holds up her hands. “Hey, there are no ideas here,” she says, gesturing to her face.
“Good.” I give her a quick kiss.
“Mav’s next, right?” she asks.
“Yep.”
“Then you.”
“Then us,” I correct. She blushes and beams.
“That doesn’t seem so complicated.”
“Well then you’ve got friends, who are basically family as well.”
“And who are they?”
“We’ve got Rome and Grayson and their son, Xander. Rome is Ryan Racing’s head mechanic.”
“Okay. What else you got for me?”
“Cole and Knley and their twins, Ryder and Nia.”
“And they fit in how?”
“Cole is on our racing team. He was runner-up to Liam last year in the NRS, and he’s taking it to him again this year. Knley is in Places.”
“Wait, wasn’t your ex in Places as well?”
I shift uncomfortably. “Ah, yeah. Knley and Quinn are sisters.”
“Oh,” Bentley says, and moves a little bit away from me.
“Hey,” I say, bringing her back to where she was. “Quinn and I are long over. What I feel for you is a million times more than I ever felt for her, okay?” She nods but doesn’t look me in the eyes. I tilt her head so she does. “I’m serious. With Quinn I was chasing affection. I wanted to be with her because I wanted someone to love me. With you, with us, I’m here for you, because you drive me fucking crazy.” I’m so close to saying the L word, but I’m not entirely sure she’s ready to hear it. And truthfully, I’m not sure if I’m ready to say it and totally and completely mean it. She laughs, and I know I’ve got her back. “Quinn is just a girl I used to bang. There’s nothing there for me, I promise.”
“Okay, I believe you,” she says, and leans up to kiss me. She goes to deepen it, but I pull away. “What?” she asks, confused.
“That’s not to say if we do happen to see her she won’t go apeshit when she’s reminded of what she gave up.”
Bentley shakes her head. “You’re so….”
“I’m so what?” I ask, pushing her so she’s lying on the couch, and covering her body with mine. She opens her legs and I slip between them.
“Mmm.” She moans as I grind against her.
“What am I, Bentley?” I ask as I continue to grind.
“You’re so, fuck, Jax.”
“Mmm, no, I don’t think that’s it,” I say as I kiss down her throat.
“Jax,” she whines, scratching at my back, trying to pull me closer.
“Tell me what I am, Bentley, and then I’ll let you have it,” I say.
“You’re mine,” she gasps as I pinch her nipple through her shirt.
“Fuck yeah, I am,” I say. I prove it to her all night long.