Slowly she moved towards the chair and Jax hesitated, stopping mid-conversation, to move to hold the plate for her so she could sit down.
Mary froze, meeting his gaze, only to see him turn back to Valkyrie.
“Yeah, not much has changed. Riley still has it out for Reaper, and a few of the guys are starting to realize it. Everyone really respects the man and how he’s handled everything,” Jax was saying.
Mary sat down slowly – and he didn’t even look at her, but simply extended the plate blindly. She accepted it, waiting… and waiting.
Something, somewhere, somehow was going to explode around her, because this couldn’t be this easy.
No, everything had been a fight in her life the last several years – from marriage, to divorce, to freedom… it was a battle, every week, in different ways.
Jax turned to her in that moment.
“The beer is terrible, and I can’t drink mine. Do you want a Coke instead?” he said softly, his voice low and gentle.
“Please,” she said, hating the way she sounded – meek.
“Sure thing,” he replied, getting up without question and walking past several of them towards the cooler off in the distance. She hesitated, waiting, then peeked at her burger to make sure there wasn’t anything out of the ordinary with it, as he walked back up.
“Here you go,” he said gently, taking a seat beside her.
“Thank you.”
“Of course. I assumed you were hungry and didn’t want someone to take the last burger,” he began, pointing at the plate. “If you aren’t hungry then…”
“I am.”
“Do you want some mustard or ketchup?”
“No, it’s fine.”
“Is it me?” he asked in a hushed voice that was exceedingly low. “I can go sit somewhere else if I’m going to bother you or ruin your evening.”
“No,” she hesitated, surprising herself as she picked up her burger, moving to take a bite. “Please stay.”
She listened to everyone chatting around them, feeling herself smile at a few moments where they were laughing about something that happened to someone that they knew… but without the reference or knowing the person, it was different.
She felt like an outsider looking in – despite them trying to make her feel welcome. As she swallowed the last bite, she didn’t even have time to wonder what to do with her plate… because Jax was just there, holding out his hand to take it.
Was he watching her without her realizing it?
He took the plates, smiling easily, and leaned forward to put them in the fire bin. The movement sent up little flickers of ash, making them look like fireflies against the evening sky.
It was beautiful out here, so calm and so soothing, that she felt herself starting to relax a bit. Maybe it was the full stomach, the big sip of beer, the atmosphere… but she was definitely feeling a little more at ease.
Then she saw Jax’s hand sitting there between them. His palm was upraised, waiting, without saying a word. Was he wanting to hold her hand? Did he normally sit like that, because that was strange. What would he say or do if she touched his hand?
Friends held hands… and maybe he was just genuinely trying to be nice. So far, this evening had been full of all sorts of unexpected reveals.
She couldn’t believe he was so upset and nervous that he’d thrown up – or that he was so insecure. What did he have to be insecure about? He was giving her space, letting her take the steps she needed to be comfortable, and while she kept waiting for something to go wrong… this felt strangely wonderful.
Silently, she laid her hand on his arm instead.
His hand turned over back to a normal resting position as he glanced at her, nodding, before joining back into the conversation. His arm was warm under her hand, and she was really glad he hadn’t said a thing.
She stayed there for a while, unmoving, listening and waiting… until she realized that it was getting late. A couple of the kids were getting cranky, and Karen yawned openly, causing her to do the same involuntarily.
“I’m really glad to have met you,” Jax said quietly, looking at her. “Would you like to get coffee tomorrow?”