Page 30 of Jax

Leenie peeks at me then back to her boyfriend. “He’s moody again.”

“You have no idea.” Finn sets a bag down on the floor and starts to rummage through it. “Clive never showed up at the gym, and we have that strict ‘no show’ rule.” He stands, guzzling some water. After he replaces the cap, he says, “He’s on the card for tonight.”

“Shit,” Leenie grumbles. “What the hell?”

“No idea. I tried calling him. Straight to voicemail.”

“So, he’s out.” Leenie shrugs like it’s that easy. “Who else do we have?”

Finn plops down in a chair in the corner, running his hand through his short dark blond hair. “That’s the thing. No one’s ready in that weight class.”

Leenie’s face pinches. “Fuck.”

“Yeah…” Finn peers between the two of us. “So, you’re not going to like this. Jax is doing it.”

“What?” I shriek along with Leenie.

Finn smiles, and since I can read him, I know he’s pleased he’s caught us off guard. “Totally talked him into it. He didn’t want to but we can’t pull the fight from the card. Everyone else we have isn’t ready.”

Leenie blinks. “Jax is going to fight.”

She’s still trying to wrap her head around it but I’ve already moved past it and am thinking about the consequences. “If he—”

“Loses?” Finn asks, knowing where I’m going with this. “Yeah, right.”

“But if he does?”

“It’ll look bad, but Clive’s out and we need a body. The guy he’s fighting is being looked at by a higher circuit so we can’t send in someone who’s not ready. That’s not good for us or him.”

Leenie stands from the chair. “Well, is Jax okay? Does he need anything?”

“He’s sitting in the corner of the locker room quietly. Well, more like brooding in the corner of the locker room. Basically, he’s sitting and brooding.” Finn grins at his girlfriend. “Come on. It’s not like he hasn’t fought before. He’ll be fine.”

My stomach twists. I’ve seen Jax fight. Many times. Some on the streets and some in the underground clubs the Heights used to have. Kind of like what Psycho has going on now. Every time he was on the card, it felt as if I would die. A mix of apprehension and excitement bottlenecked inside. It was the adrenaline that my body didn’t know what to do with.

“He’s older now...” I offer as worry creeps over me.

“He’s still got it in him,” Finn says assuredly.

I rub my temples, and Finn flicks his gaze to me. He leans over, whispering in Leenie’s ear. She nods and then smiles at me. “If you want to head out there, we’re good in here. I’ll be right out. There’s a set of seats in the front row that are reserved for us if you want them.”

I nod, standing on shaky legs before moving in a daze out of the office that opens up into the locker room. Finn quickly gets up and shouts, “Lady coming through. Tuck it away or flaunt it. It’s up to you.”

I roll my eyes and slip through the open doorway, keeping my gaze straight ahead. I don’t want to accidentally look at Jax right now. Instead, on my way out the door, I’m met with a bare chest that slides into view. I look up a few inches to find one of the guys who was in the gym earlier. “I’m Foster. Nice to meet you.”

He holds out his hand, and I shake it.

“You a friend of Leenie’s?”

“Not really.”

“Don’t touch her,” Jax’s gruff voice calls out from the back. “She’ll more than likely give you gonorrhea.”

The locker room quiets while my face flames. I pull my hand from Foster’s and find Jax’s cruel gaze in the corner. I lift my hand to flip him off and sidestep Foster to get the hell out of there. He keeps throwing the fact that people have used me in my face, and I’m at my wit’s end. I get it. He’s pissed. His little man ego took a big hit, and I did it to him, but I swear I’m not going to sit back and take anymore sexual innuendos.

I walk past the two empty chairs in the front and head toward a bar manned by one of the guys Leenie gave instructions to earlier. I con a beer off him, using the fact that I’m friends with the owners, which is most definitely a lie but I need something to calm my nerves.

Watching Jax fight was both heartbreaking and exhilarating. I loved it when he won. But to watch him get hurt frayed my nerves like nothing else.

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