“You’re being ridiculous.”
“Actually, it’s pretty perfect. You’re going to feel the same pain you’re putting me through. And I’m not talking about just one piercing, Caleb. If I’m staying against my will, then you have to get a Jacob’s Ladder.” I smiled wider. “Since you’re old, let me break it down for you. It’s three piercings down the shaft of your dick in the shape of a ladder. Hence the name. The first barbell goes through the head of your cock, and the other two follow.”
I felt immense satisfaction when he rubbed his forehead, knowing he was losing his shit. Caleb thrived on control, and for the first time since I’d met him, I held all the power.
“You can’t be serious.”
“As a heart attack,” I emphasized, standing my ground. “You have to get it pierced sometime this weekend too.”
“Evie…”
“You’re the one who said you’d give me whatever I wanted. These are my conditions—take it or leave it. However, I’ll be the one who’s leaving if you say no. You can be the one who spends the rest of the weekend lying to my brother about why I’m not here.”
“For fuck’s sake.”
I shrugged. “When you play with fire, you’re bound to get burned. Consider me the match, asshole.”
He snarled, “Darlin’—”
The lock on the door clicked.
“Go change,” he quickly mouthed, stubbornly pointing to my room.
I cunningly shook my head, smiling like a fool. The second Jax opened the door, Caleb darted out of the living room. I resisted the urge to laugh when I saw Jax.
Let Caleb try to explain why I was in his button-down to Jax.
“Hey,” I welcomed, walking toward him.
“Hey.” His stare tapered at me before he pulled me into a tight hug. “What are you wearing?”
“Caleb’s shirt.”
“Why are you in his clothes?”
Caleb walked back into the room. “Hey, man,” he greeted, nodding at him. Shifting his gaze to me, he held up his cell phone. “They found your luggage, Evie.”
“Her luggage?” Jax questioned.
“Yeah, she dropped it off with Delta before she missed her flight. It’s why she’s in my shirt.”
It was that moment, this precise second, that I realized how much my brother truly trusted Caleb. He didn’t question his lie at all. He simply nodded it off, not thinking twice about it.
I rolled my eyes, pissed I finally thought I had him trapped to be honest with Jax. When in reality, it was just another lie that escaped his lips so easily.
“I’m going to go put my dress on and leave.”
“Leave? I just got here. Where are you going?”
“They’re bringing your suitcase to you, Evie. I told them to park near the piercing shop.”
“Oh.” I beamed, assuming I won this battle. “You’ll meet Jacob then?”
I swear Caleb’s poker face was on point.
He didn’t break a sweat in replying, “Yes, we’ll have to thank him for finding your luggage.”
It was all I needed to hear to stay put in this hotel suite for the rest of the weekend. After room service brought up a spread for breakfast, Jax and Caleb talked business for the rest of the morning.
“Once you win the Super Bowl, I’ll re-negotiate your contract for next season.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Depends on how long you want to play for Miami.”
“I’ll stay as long as it feels right.”
“Twenty million for three years feel alright to you?”
“You think they’ll go for that?”
“If they don’t, I’ll find a team that will.”
Unable to resist, I chimed in, “Caleb, are you always this arrogant?”
“Evie,” Jax chastised in a stern tone I ignored.
Caleb didn’t miss a beat, leaning back in his seat.
He simply stated, “I always get what I want.”
And for some reason…
I thought he was talking about me.
Caleb
The day flew by, and before I knew it, Evie was dragging me into a piercing shop at one in the morning.
“Come on, old man! A deal is a deal!”
I groaned, feeling the pain I was about to endure. On our way back to the hotel from the Super Bowl party, she saw the shop on the corner of the street, demanding we pull over immediately.
She spent most of the night by Jax’s side, being the only family who attended his game tonight. We barely said more than a couple words to one another the entire day. It was chaotic, exactly as I expected it to be. Being yanked in every direction for Jax kept her at arm’s length from me for most of the day.
After seeing the look in her eyes during the game and the party, I knew what she was envisioning.
A family.
The one she never had before.
The pride and admiration that was radiating off of her wasn’t something I could overlook. She genuinely loved him in every sense of the word. Only confirming what I already knew—I couldn’t come between them.
Even if I wanted to.
It was the cold, hard reality I needed to witness in order to return to our dynamic in the way it had been for over a year. I’d be hurting her way more than I was if I took Jax away from her too. He’d flip the fuck out if he knew we’d been lying to him for this long. There was no way I could tell him the truth.