Page 46 of Triple Power Play 3
I inhale her warm, sweet scent, and my tense muscles relax. “Okay.”
She trails kisses along my jawline, as if we’re the only two in the room. “I won’t sleep without you.”
I remain quiet, tracing the delicate curve of her neck, unable to admit I won’t be sleeping either. “You have Ethan, baby.”
“Fine. I’ll sleep on the couch with you. I’m pretty sure there’s something in our vows about sleeping together. In sickness and in health. In beds and on couches.”
I can’t help but chuckle and shake my head in amusement. “You are not sleeping on the couch. Go to bed, babe. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
Her face falls. “Tell me you’ll be here in the morning.” Her eyes shine with unshed tears. “Say it, Jax.”
There’s a small part of me that wants to give up. It’s a fraction, a sliver, of what it used to be, a tiny voice that tells me living—at least living sober—is harder than the alternative.
It might be true, but nothing—not the whispered promise of peace in death or in getting high—is worth risking Aurora and the baby. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Ethan clasps the back of her neck. “Go get ready for bed. I need to talk to Jax.”
21
ETHAN
“Hey,” Reece says to Jax, nodding toward the bedroom. “Go. I got it.”
There’s turmoil in Jackson’s eyes and weariness on Reece’s face. Something happened.
They’re both being vague, which in itself is odd, but for them to be getting along, even the tiniest bit? Shit must have hit the fan.
Our life is chaotic. Jax could be upset about many things—Kyle, the case, Reece’s crush on Aurora…
Orhe’s still pissed at me and refuses to share a bed.
With a frustrated groan, Aurora goes to the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. We have at least fifteen minutes before she finishes her skincare routine, thirty if she braids her hair.
I cross my arms over my chest. “What’s going on with you?”
He lowers his head and drags his fingers through his disheveled hair. “I’m exhausted. It’s your date night. Go have fun. I don’t mind sleeping here.”
Who is this person? Jax doesn’t sleep without Aurora and is always first in line forfun. He’s also not afraid of confrontation.If he wanted to sleep apart because I was an ass, he’d be insistingIslept elsewhere.
This isn’t the Jackson I know. He’s a whirlwind of emotions, but he’s never this distant or flat. He’s a fighter to the core, but tonight, he seems to have lost the battle.
The water comes on in the bathroom. Aurora is on step one of her twenty-step nightly routine. We have time before she returns, but shewillreturn. She won’t abandon Jax.
I sit on the coffee table across from him and rest my elbows on my knees. “If this is about our argument or the bullshit I said, just get in the fucking bed. I didn’t mean it, and you know she won’t sleep without you.”
His knee bounces. “It’s not. Please drop it and go be with her. She’s wearing your jersey.”
Arms folded over his chest, Reece leans against the doorframe. “I’ll take watch. I’m used to it. Go to bed, Jax.”
Take watch?Warning bells ring in my head. I glance between them. “Someone tell me what’s going on.”
Jackson shoots him a lethal glare. “What happened tokeeping it between us?”
“Us.” Reece circles his hand to include the three of us. “He needs to know. You can’t hide this.”
Slumping back into the couch cushion, Jax shakes his head in frustration. “Whatever.”
I understand why Aurora is worried he might leave—or worse. His jaw is clenched and his chest heaves. He’s about to either bail or detonate.
