Page 102 of Reputation
Joey’s eyes lit up as they went wide as saucers, her smile somehow growing bigger.“You do,” she whispered reverently.
Eavie turned an annoyed look at Jax.“Thanks for that,” she muttered to him, but there was no heat to it.She couldn’t complain about the comparison.Even though she’d told him not to call her that, secretly, she liked it.Cinderella had been one of the first princesses she had been introduced to.
“I told you, if the shoe fits,” Jax answered smugly.
Eavie shook her head, but as she turned back to face the rest of his family, Jax leaned in, kissing her cheek.
She blushed up to her hairline as she reached for her coffee again.Around the table, the men began talking about—shockingly—hockey.The subject, something she was well versed in, gave Eavie a moment to settle herself.They were debating the strength of teams to date in the league.
“Columbus is looking pretty sharp,” said Paul.“Same with a bunch of mid-west teams.The next couple of years should be interesting across the board.”
“Yes, but we don’t have to worry about those teams until playoffs.”
“Detroit too,” added Simon.“With all the picks they had to trade for the draft this year, they acquired a big line-up.I bet we see them in playoff range for a couple years.”
“Not necessarily,” Eavie piped in, taking a sip of her coffee.“I mean,obviouslyforwards are important, but if you ask me, Detroit overloaded.In two years, those contracts are going to give them cap issues and management will be after a bunch of rentals if they want to make the playoffs.”Her lips twisted as she shook her head.“It’ll jeopardize the strength of their defense this year too.Watch, around February when injuries start piling up, they’ll drop in the standings.I think Carolina is the team to watch this year in terms of the Royal’s division.”
Silence circled the table when she finished.Glancing up, Eavie looked around the dining room, wondering why she could suddenly hear a pin drop.Every set of eyes was turned toward her, causing nerves to jumble in her stomach.She swung her gaze to Jax.His annoyingly handsome face was split in the biggest, most satisfied grin she had ever seen.
“What?”Eavie asked.
“You’re incredible,” Jax said, his eyes taking on a gleam that had her heart racing.He cupped the back of her neck, pulling her mouth to his for a quick, hard kiss.
Heat flared up Eavie’s cheeks, but she smiled dopily at him when he pulled back.
Jax left his hand on the back of her neck, his fingers dancing up and down the tendon, as he turned back to his dad and brother, picking up the conversation.“She’s right,” he began, making something warm and gooey melt in her stomach.
That is, until she looked up and was met with three pairs of eyes staring at her.
As Jax continued talking, Eavie blinked across the table, where Andrea and Izzy were watching her with identical assessing looks while Lucy observed her from the end of the table, head cocked like she was trying to figure out an anomaly.
Unsure what to do, she sat there awkwardly.Lucy was the gentle one, as she had discovered.Izzy was fierce and fiery, a force to be reckoned with.
Then, there was his mother.She’d been nice, but the questions she’d asked Eavie as they cooked left her feeling like she was being judged on her answers.She couldn’t blame her for scrutinizing any woman in Jax’s life, especially after his break-up, but the knowledge only bolstered her determination to make a good impression.
She must have succeeded, or Andrea saw something about her that she liked because when they left, she heard her whisper in Jax’s ear, “I like her.She’s a good one.”
This was followed by Eavie overhearing Simon say to Jax, “You are so fucked,” when Joey was out of hearing range.Jax’s only response was a crooked smile.
That afternoon, as Eavie returned from the bathroom, she walked into the living room to see Jax sitting on the edge of the couch, eyes glued to the TV.His one hand covered his mouth as his shoulders tensed under his soft t-shirt.
Confused, she paused, noting the change in his demeanor from when she’d left him a few minutes ago.They had been lounging on the couch, Jax’s arms wrapped around her, watchingFriendsre-runs.They’d been perfectly happy, lazily touching each other as they talked and laughed.The stiff posture and rigid shoulders she could see now were a stark contrast to how he’d been all afternoon.
The voice of a sports broadcaster she recognized, Burt Alderson, crackled from the TV, drawing her gaze.
“With all the money they have tied up in him, you’d expect some results by now,” Burt said to the panel sitting around the half-moon desk.“This is his second year with the Royals, eleventh in the league.”Eavie’s back stiffened, her mind connecting the dots with the change in Jax’s behavior.Her eyes shot back to Jax as Burt continued talking.“At some point, you have to start to wonder if he’s the player he was hyped up to be or if he was a draft bust.”
“So does that mean he would be your pick?”another panelist asked.
“For sure.If I were to pick who I foresee as a bust this season, it would be Jax Morghan.Everyone expected him to pull Chicago out of its slump.He didn’t do it there, and I don’t know why the Royals thought he could do what he couldn’t for the Jazz.”
Anger, thick and burning, curdled in her stomach as Jax muted the TV.His head drooped as his eyes stared at the carpet.The harsh curve of his back made her want to rage at the reporter, who clearly didn’t know talent when he saw it.
Watching him, Eavie saw no sign of anger or even annoyance like he was rightfully entitled to.Looking at his posture, the only thing she saw was defeat.
In an instant, the puzzle pieces clicked into place.Understanding slammed into her with the force of a speeding train.
This…this was what he was hiding from the world.How much he cared and how much the external opinions hurt.How much the words of the media, of the reporters, weighed on him.His mask was designed to hide this from the world, to make them think he didn’t care.
