“Don’t start with me, smart-ass,” he muffled through the shirt. “You know how to fix this, and I’m not gonna be happy until you do what’s right.”
“What’s he muttering about?” Jax asked, having composed herself just enough to be letting out only the occasional snort of mirth.
I watched her reaction closely as I laid it all out there. “He wants me to marry you.”
She recoiled with shock. “Youwhat?Are you seriously high right now, Darren?”
“My words precisely,” I deadpanned.
“And what did you tell him?” Jax snapped at me, the weight of her gaze landing heavily on my soul.
“I said no.”
I saw it before she could hide it. The hurt. It sliced through her expression before falling carefully blank.
“Oh.”
That one word, barely audible, filled me with remorse.
The next quick sentence in Spanish was directed at Darren, and whatever she said stopped him in his tracks. He visibly paled as she stormed out the door and slammed it so hard the windows on either side shook.
Fuck. Me. Sideways, up, down, and backwards.
THIRTEEN
JAX
I couldn’t decide what hurt more: disgracing my own brother enough for him to attempt to marry me off, or that Jace had so easily dismissed the suggestion.
Even though I didn’t want to get married—and I sure as hell wasn’t going to beforcedinto it—Jace vehemently turning me down stung. There were far worse things than being married to that man. Being alone and pregnant fell into that category, but I wasn’t desperate enough to become a pity bride.
I left in a fury like no other. The idiots could clean up their own shit. The sight of them both made me want to crush some skulls.
Once I got home, the self-pityhit hard. Plus, I was unjustifiably annoyed at Lozza for not being home when she told me to expect her this morning. It wasn’t like she had to check in with me, and I was glad she was enjoying her time with Marc, but damned if I wasn’t jealous.
After replaying the conversation on repeat in my head, I could sum up exactly why I felt so betrayed: playing happy families with Jace didn’t scare me anywhere near as much as it used to.
Our barest of touches were loaded with apprehension and uncertainty yet charged with craving and bridled lust. I’d convinced myself I was overthinking our energy until I caught renewed glimpses of unmasked thirst in Jace’s gaze. It was only a matter of time before one of us caved to the mounting temptation. Until then, we were stuck in the god-awful place betweenfriend zoneandthe-night-after zone.And it sucked ass.
I ran a deep, warm bath, carefully ensuring it wasn’t too hot for the tiny fetus camped within me while working the added bubbles into a thick layer. As always, my phone destroyed the moment of relaxation. Cursing the interruption, I picked it up and viciously stabbed the ignore button. It immediately rang in my hand again.
“Ignore, motherfucker.” I cursed.
Only when it rang a third time did I answer with a shouted,“What?”
“Don’t hang up,” Jace blurted. “Let me in—I’m at the door.”
I sat back on my haunches with a heavy sigh. “I’m about to take a bath, then go to bed. Do we have to do this now?”
“Yes, we do. Let me in and we can talk after you’ve relaxed. Please.” His tone was level and polite but held no room for argument. Hell, I was surprised he used manners.
Regardless of niceties, I wanted to open the door just to slam it in his face, but was too exhausted to keep up the tirade. Letting out an exasperated huff, I disconnected the call and trudged to the front door.
“Hey,” he offered softly as the door swung open.
I gasped in shock at the state of him. “Oh my god!”
His low-pulled beanie failed to hide the deep bruising across the bridge of his nose that blackened under both eyes. I could actually make out knuckle marks on his eye socket where Darren’s fist had connected, and that eye was well and truly swollen shut. The skin on that eyebrow was slightly split, as was his lip, which was much fatter than usual.