Page 59 of Indescribable Love

“Hey, buddy!” Jax said, shaking his hand and then pulling him in for a hug. “Surprise!”

“This is amazing!” Then he turned to his older brother. “Noah! I can’t believe you’re both here!”

Noah did the handshake and hug thing too, with a big grin. “We thought it might be cool to be here for opening night.”

“Is Lily with you? Mom?”

“Nope,” Jax replied. “Just us!” He looked around the dressing room. “So? How’s it all going with the documentary people? We spotted some of them out in the halls just taking B-roll stuff, I guess. Do we need to let them interview us while we’re here?”

Laughing softly, Simon shook his head. “That’s completely up to you. I’m sure they’ll love that, but you’re under no obligation, I swear.”

“Could be fun,” Jax said. “My team’s having a good season, so I can talk about that whenever they ask about you.” He grinned. “Think they’ll like that?”

“Feel free to talk about yourself as much as you want. You know I’m more than happy to share the spotlight.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you need to stop that,” Noah said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. “You’re a big deal, Simon. It’s okay to admit that.”

And the thing was, he knew that and was fine with it. He just also believed in letting others around him shine as well.

“Look, there’s no doubt that once the film crew knows you’re here that they’re going to want to talk to you. I’m just saying you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Do we need to set that up with Juliette?” Noah asked with a small smile. “Nikki introduced us outside, and she seemed like she was guarding the door and making sure no one came in.”

Just picturing that made him smile. She knew he wanted some privacy here in the dressing room—especially tonight—so it pleased him that she was keeping people away and giving him the time he needed.

He’d felt bad asking her to give him some time back at the hotel, but as much as he loved spending time with her, he was a creature of habit on a concert night. Maybe he’d break that habit down the line—he’d never had a girlfriend with him on tour. There was a part of him that felt certain that he could, especially for Juliette. But today he’d just needed that quietness to get ready for tonight.

“By the way,” Noah said quietly, only for his ears, “she’s great.”

Simon looked at him oddly. “What do you…?”

“Jax told me you had a rough start with her. But we were out there with her for at least twenty minutes and she just genuinely seems nice,” he said with a shrug. “And it’s obvious she’s looking out for you, so for that point alone, I’m going to like her.”

“Oh.”

“Why? You look like you were expecting me to say something else.”

Shaking his head, he was about to try to come up with something to say, but that’s when Jax joined the conversation.

“Juliette’s cool,” he stated. “I was prepared not to like her and to give her shit because of the way things were the last time we talked, but it seems like the two of you have worked things out.”

Nodding, he let himself relax. “We did. Things are good. Really good. You know…like…better. Good.”

His brothers exchanged glances and smirks, and that’s when Simon knew he was basically screwed. Fortunately, no one was in the dressing room with them. Apparently Nikki had let herself out.

With a loud sigh, Simon walked over to the black leather sofa and sat down. “So, um…”

“You’re sleeping with her,” Jax said flatly. “I didn’t think you’d go to that extreme just to get her to back off.”

And if his brother wasn’t six inches taller than him and fifty pounds or more of pure muscle, Simon would have gotten up and punched him right in the face.

“That’s not how it is!” he snapped. “Jesus, what do you take me for? When have I ever done anything like that?”

“Okay, okay, we all need to calm down,” Noah said, slowly coming to stand in a position to block either one of them. He looked at Jax. “That was really kind of a dick thing to say. Simon’s right. When have you ever known him to use a woman like that?”

Shrugging, Jax seemed unfazed by the conversation. “The timing seems a little odd, that’s all. One minute he’s calling and bitching about this woman and now everything’s great and he’s acting awkward. What was I supposed to think?”

“Um, maybe that we’re adults! Or that we’re colleagues who learned how to work together! I mean, there are dozens of explanations, but your mind immediately went to the gutter!”