Page 25 of Jax

Sometimes, I hate the fact that the first thing I think about is survival. But it’s all I know. It’s all I’ve ever known.

“I know,” I whisper.

He doesn’t say another word. When the bus comes, we take it all the way back into the Heights. We get off at the stop closest to their house, and we walk the couple of blocks to his front door. With one hand on the doorknob, Jax says, “If your boy comes to the fight tonight, things will end very differently.”

With that, he opens the door, and we trek right back into the house. Jax stomps up the stairs, but Leenie darts into the living room from the kitchen, the dog hot on her heels. “Oh good. You’re alive.”

I can’t tell if she’s being serious or not, so I don’t say anything in response.

“I made breakfast but that’s gone bad by now but we have toast or oatmeal. I also have this,” she says, shaking a container of pain reliever in her palms that she grabs from a small table in what used to be the dining room.

“God, I could use one of those.”

“You know what else we have? Frozen waffles. Do you like them? I’ll throw some in the toaster for you. They’re contraband. Jax always looks at me like I’m an alien when I eat them.”

I smirk. Sounds like him. I follow her into the empty kitchen and look around. “Where’s Finn?”

“He had something to do at the gym this morning.”

Now I’m wondering what kind of talk Leenie had with Jax to get him to find me and if Finn was there to witness it or not. A dull ache splinters through my temple. “Jax said something about fights tonight?”

“Every weekend,” Leenie states. She pops the waffles down in the toaster. “Your friends won’t be showing up again, will they? Because we already have that covered with more security.”

“I don’t know what they’re doing,” I lie. Now that I’m here, they’ll be going back to what they always do. Bare knuckle fighting, fucking, and drinking. I highly doubt they’ll show up at the Ring but if they do, I guess I’ll know the situation has changed. More than likely, however, Psycho will give me a lot of leeway before checking in. This is a big job worth a lot of money, so he’ll let me “work my magic”. The next time he sniffs around, though, I’m in trouble. The art of all this is not pushing his limits and beating him to check in. If I do that, and hand over what he wants, then I’ll be fine. If not, then I don’t know what Psycho will cook up.

The waffles pop, and Leenie grabs some tongs to pick them up and put them on a plate. She gestures toward the small table in the corner, and I sit. She places a glass of orange juice next to me along with the pain reliever.

When I’ve thrust the last of the waffle into my mouth, the doorbell rings. She pulls out her phone and hits the lower left of her screen. “Oh, it’s Cole.” She smiles at me. “My brother. Be right back.”

She flits from the room as I place a few pills on my tongue and drink them down with the orange juice. Footsteps approach, and I glance up to find a dude dressed in a black t-shirt with a tattoo poking out of the collar of his shirt and winding up his neck. He has an aura of darkness about him. He nods in my direction. “This her? The girl who’s got Jax all up in knots?”

I scoff. “If you mean wants to strangle, then yes.”

He holds his hand out, and when I grip it, he moves in until he’s speaking directly in my ear, voice low and dangerous. “If your lowlife friends fuck with my sister, I’ll end them.”

My heart skips into my throat. Despite just meeting this guy, I’m pretty sure he means it.

“Cole,” Leenie warns.

Cole steps back and smiles. “Just introducing myself.”

I take a peek at his tattoo more clearly and see the telltale flicker of black flames behind his ear. He’s a Dragon.

Well, I did not see that coming. Jax hates gangs, so this is really freaking interesting.

“What he means to say is that he’s going to help make sure that asshole doesn’t hurt you again.”

Cole shrugs, and I have to chuckle. Typical Heights attitude, clearly. He was probably in the Crew and went Dragon when K was murdered. Smart move, actually, I just can’t believe Jax is letting anyone with a gang affiliation in this house.

Speak of the devil, Jax walks into the room, takes one look at Cole, and rolls his eyes.

“Hey, Cupcake,” Cole greets him.

“Fuck off.”

I press my lips together to keep from laughing. At least I’m not the only one in this house who Jax can’t stand.

12

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