CHAPTER32
JAX
Iroll out of bed, planting my feet on the solid wooden floor as I realize I’ve overslept. I stayed in Lucia’s bed until after four because I couldn’t tear myself away from her. I wish I could wake up next to her every morning, and to my surprise it’s not because I want to fuck her every second of every day—although there is that. But I want to be a part of every bit of her life. I imagine Matthias climbing into bed with us and chattering about dinosaurs or superheroes and it brings an unexpected smile to my face.
I’ve never thought about having kids of my own. It’s not that I’d decided not to have them, but I’ve never met anyone I wanted to be attached to for the rest of my life before. But now there is Lucia and the thought of her pregnant with my baby inside her brings out something primal in me. Not to mention the kid she’s already got is pretty fucking awesome and I’m as much in love with him as I am with his mother.
I pull on my jeans then run my hand through my hair and sigh. The sooner we tell Alejandro and Alana about us, the better—though hiding in the shadows was fun for all of two days, now I want the whole fucking world to know that she’s mine.
She’s not in the kitchen when I go to check, or the den. The house is eerily quiet and it makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I open the back porch door and hear Matthias scream and my heart races in my chest. I run toward the sound but when I get to the edge of the yard, I see him with Lucia and my father. He is clinging onto my father’s leg while Blue stands beside him wagging his tail. I feel a rush of relief quickly followed by anger at Harvey.
Matthias is scared of dogs and that asshole has his old hound running around here.
I look at Lucia wondering why she’s not putting a stop to this and I notice she is smiling as she looks at her son and my father. I look back and watch as Matthias gingerly reaches out his hand and scratches Blue behind the back of his ear, and that old dumb dog stands as still as a statue and lets him. My father bends down and whispers something in the kid’s ear that makes him smile. Then he lets go of my old man’s leg and steps closer to the dog. He is hesitant at first, but Blue drops his head slightly, allowing Matthias to pat his fur. If there’s one thing my father has done right in his life, it’s train that dog. He is the most obedient mutt I’ve ever come across.
I lean against the tree, my arms folded across my chest as I watch the scene before me and Matthias slowly grows braver with each passing second. When Blue lays down and rolls onto his back, the boy squeals with laughter and drops to his knees to rub the dog’s belly.
Lucia laughs too. Fuck she is beautiful when she smiles like that. She walks toward Harvey and wraps an arm around his waist before giving him a soft kiss on the cheek. He nods politely but then he steps away from her and she steps back too, as though she is hurt by his rejection. A pang of guilt gnaws at my chest. He’s not rejecting her, simply keeping his distance because I warned him to stay the fuck away from her and Matthias. She is so fucking hard to stay away from though. They both are. Like little magnetic rays of sunshine.
I walk over to them.
“Jax,” Matthias shouts. “Blue is letting me rub his belly.”
“He sure is, buddy.” I crouch down and ruffle his hair. “You want to come for a ride with me and your mom?”
He looks up at me, huge brown eyes shining with happiness. “Can I stay with Harvey and Blue?”
“Harvey might have things to do, Matthias,” Lucia replies.
“I got all the time in the world,” my father says but then he looks at me, knowing he should have kept his mouth shut.
“Can I stay with Harvey, Momma?” Matthias asks.
Lucia opens her mouth to reply, but then she looks at me instead, and now the three of them stare at me waiting for my response. My approval.
“Please, Jax?” Matthias asks.
“Can I trust you to stay here and look after him?” I ask my father.
“Sure. We’ll be right here in the yard playing fetch with Blue.”
I suck in a breath. “It’s your call,” I say to Lucia.
“If he won’t be a bother, Harvey,” she says with a smile.
“Not at all,” he smiles back at her. “This kid is the best company I’ve had for a long time.”
“Then of course you can stay.” She leans down and kisses his head. “But you behave and do as Harvey says, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Momma.”
We walk away, leaving Matthias and my father to play with Blue.
“That was incredible the way your dad did that,” she says as she smiles at me, her eyes sparkling in the sunshine. “Matthias was so scared when Blue licked his hand, but then your dad just really calmed him down.”
“Yeah? Well he always was good with animals.”
She reaches for my hand and squeezes it in hers. “Thank you for letting him stay, Jax. I know that wasn’t easy.”