Chase rose halfway out of the seat, fist extended, only to be hauled into a bear hug that nearly launched him over the table. They were evenly matched in height and weight, but Jax had taken Chase completely off-guard. He couldn’t help laughing as he thumped his old friend on the back. “Hey, man,” Chase said, his throat surprisingly tight.
“Dude, it’s so good to see you. Here, of all places.” Jax stepped back and gestured. Black tattoos covered his knuckles on his right hand. His fingers looked like a slot machine that didn’t have a hope of coming up with a matching row. “Same ol’ booths. Same ol’ pictures on the walls.” Both men glanced around at the ancient framed pictures of Elvis and Jack Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. that covered the yellowed daisy wallpaper. “It’s like a damn blast from the past.”
Chase couldn’t help grinning. “Still have the same meatloaf too.”
Jax’s hazel eyes gleamed while he fingered Chase’s menu. “No shit? Does it still have a whole can’s worth of sauce?”
“Don’t know about that part.” Chase would’ve said more but their waitress took that moment to appear, her smile firmly in place to greet Jax.
“Why, hello there. Welcome to Slocum’s.” She thrust a menu at Jax before he had a chance to sit and rattled off the day’s specials, ending with the meatloaf.
“I’ll take a Coke and a meatloaf, please,” Jax said, returning the menu with a wink. “And I like it extra saucy, so don’t skimp, okay, darlin’?”
She tucked her pencil behind her ear. “I never get any complaints.” With a wink of her own, she turned to Chase. “And you? What’ll it be?”
“Meatloaf for me too.” And a clue how to flirt so effortlessly, though he wouldn’t get that information from the waitress. It hadn’t been that long ago that he’d been able to charm the panties out from under a woman’s skirt before she had a chance to unzip. Now everything felt stilted and unnatural. Guess he’d lost his taste for the game in a lot of ways. “And a lemonade, if you would.”
“Sure thing, sugar.” She sashayed off.
“Lemonade? Guess the rumors are true then.”
Chase glanced at Jax and unrolled his silverware to give himself something to do. “What rumors are those?”
“That you’re dry as dust. Good for you, man. I never believed you were in trouble like they said, but still, it’s not a bad thing, considering—” Jax cleared his throat, apparently catching himself. “Your family history and all.”
Sometimes it was great to reconnect with those who’d known you since you were a boy. And sometimes, it was a fucking pisser. “Yeah, w
ell, my dad’s doing better too.” He toasted Jax with the lemonade the waitress set in front of him. “Cheers.”
Once the waitress had dropped off Jax’s drink and left the table, Jax leaned forward. His brows scrunched tight over eyes way too earnest to have seen and done all that Chase knew he had. Somehow Jax always managed to play the angel role while having the soul of a devil. “Let’s lay it all on the line. I know you’re a free agent now. You want me to use my connections, see if I can get you the inside scoop on where your best bet is?”
Chase only gaped, but Jax wasn’t finished yet. Use his connections? What the hell? He had an agent for that. Talk about an overinflated ego. “Thing is, I’d love to help you if I could. But I can’t.” Jax tore the wrapper off his straw. “I’m out of the game too.”
“You really think a lot of yourself, don’t you? How stupid of me to believe I could possibly get back into ball without you and your fancy ass friends pulling stri—” Chase broke off. “What? What do you mean you’re out of the game?”
The news wasn’t totally out of left field. He’d heard rumblings about Jax stepping away while he was still on top, something that was virtually unheard of in the major league. That was one of the reasons he’d approached him about the bodyguard agency. But he’d figured Jax walking away for good was a year away, maybe more. Until then, he’d planned on going solo with the agency if he didn’t get back into ball himself, and that was still a strong option.
Moderately strong.
Jax shrugged and drained half his soda. “It’s not the same anymore, man. I’ve been quietly working my way toward this for years. Last season was my final one.” He jerked a shoulder. “I got into ball because it was fun. It hasn’t been that for a long time. I had to get out.”
Chase rubbed a line of condensation off his lemonade. They kept the diner hotter than a sweat lodge, so it wasn’t too surprising. “That’s what it’s all about for you? Fun?”
“Not entirely, no, but if I’m going to enjoy it as much as digging a ditch, then why shouldn’t I go dig that ditch? Yeah, the perks are better. The money, the lifestyle.” Jax rotated his bulky brown watch around his wrist. Nothing flashy for him. From what Chase had heard and seen, Jax’s particular charm with the all-too-willing females was his low-maintenance, “aw, shucks” attitude, though he’d grown up as a Yankee. “The attention.”
“The pussy,” Chase said flatly, unsurprised that Jax merely shrugged again.
“Not sure that’s true. I guess I’m not into that as much as I once was, you know?”
Chase cocked a brow. “You switching teams?”
“Nah. I just want…” Jax blew out a breath, shook his head. “Something more.” Before Chase could begin dismantling that ridiculous idea, Jax’s gaze sharpened on his face. “So, how’s your sister?”
Chase leaned back and linked his fingers over his stomach. He didn’t much appreciate the segue in conversational topics, not when he wondered why Jax had picked that particular moment to mention Cass. “She’s fine. Busy.”
“Drove by Triple Scoop on my way here. Almost stopped in to say hello, then thought better of it.”
“Why? You and Cass were always friends.”