“Won’t happen to me. At least, not now.” He drew off his beer, a curled smile on his lips when he lowered it. “Got other priorities these days.”
“I’ll bet. You excited to start classes? Meet your new roommates?” I knew he’d chosen to live on campus instead of getting his own apartment. He was going to Bay Cove University in the fall.
“Quite.” His brow jumped before he drank more of his beer. “It’s sure to be a good-ass time.”
“For sure, and hey, you’ll get to meet your step-family. Your stepmom and stepsister?” I stated, knowing he had those and for a while now. I mean, a while.
After Jax’s dad had left the picture when he’d been a kid, the guy had gotten remarried within months. This marriage ultimately resulted in a kid and new mom, a step-family that Jax had managed to never meet either of until now.
He’d literally had zero relationship with his dad, which was why we’d all been surprised to hear him want to come down here for school. In fact, the decision had been so sudden it’d been almost alarming, dizzying even.
At the mention of his steps, Jax’s smile widened. “I sure will. Dad and stepmom are out of town, but they’re supposed to be back tomorrow. Dear old stepsister should be at home, though. Plan on stopping by after this.”
“You excited?”
“Ecstatic.” He panned, something dark glinting his green eyes I didn’t understand. “I got some plans for her. Plans for my dad. It’s going to be a riot.”
A chuckle as he picked up his beer again and with a sigh, I scrubbed my hand into my hair. “I thought you were coming down here to connect with your dad, man. Not work some ‘plans’ or some shit.”
His eye twitched like I’d said something blasphemous.
I shook my head. “Seriously, bro. I’d use this opportunity to fix the bullshit with your dad. Not make it worse.”
“Because you’d know so much about reconnecting with asshole fathers?” he cut, but couldn’t phase me. I’d long gotten over the woes of my own asshole father. He’d left when I was so young I barely remembered his ass, and all this aggression with Jax now obviously came from somewhere.
Being one of his best friends, I knew this attitude stemmed from basically years of hurt. His dad could pretty much win the award for absent father. The guy literally hadn’t tried to connect with Jax until he’d turned eighteen, and even then, the attempts had been few and far between since. Even still, if the guy was trying to reach out now, be better and get to know him…
Jax was right at the end of the day, though. I didn’t know much about this shit; it was his own journey. It may not be how I’d deal if it was the other way around, but I had no right to tell him what to do, not my place.
I raised my hand. “I’m not saying you have to forgive your dad. Fuck. You know what? Fuck him. But I am saying try to find some peace. And you do that for you, buddy. Not him.”
I’d like to say I saw some consideration behind his eyes, but that’d be a bald-faced lie. Whatever he was doing, he’d obviously made up his mind, and I could only hope he’d make the right decisions about his life in the end.
Jax was generally a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, but this dude standing in front of me now looked seriously fucking plagued. I’d hate to see some of that ease and love for life bleed away from a situation that wasn’t his fault. It was on his dad for leaving his family, leaving him.
We chatted for a few more moments before the air changed, and I was clouded with honeysuckle, my sexy-as-fuck girlfriend pushing her soft curves up on me. She’d surprised me from the back, her arms looping around my waist.
Turning within them, I brought her in, caging her face and sealing our lips.
She moaned beneath my mouth, melting underneath me as my tongue flicked out to taste hers.
A throat cleared beside us.
I rolled my eyes but did let go of Billie enough for Jax to say hi to her. Being the welcoming girlfriend she was, she embraced him, the girl fitting right into my world. My buddies weren’t just my friends but brothers, family.
“Nice to see you again,” she said.
He extended her out. “Same. And you look…” A whistle. “Damn gorgeous—”
“All right, buddy.” I dropped an arm across my girl’s shoulders. “You got a bridesmaid to find or…”
“Sure.” A chuckle from him and a shake to Billie’s head. Jax bumped my fist. “Get at you later.”
“You better.”
A two-fingered salute and he disappeared into the crowd. He’d probably be leaving with a couple women tonight, knowing him, or maybe he’d call it a night since he said he was going to meet his stepsister.
Wishing him luck with that and the situation, I asked my girl for a dance. She joined me on the dance floor, and I tucked her into me.