Page 21 of Undeniable Love
Groaning, Jax had to mentally tell himself violence wasn’t the answer.
Even though right now he wanted to strangle Lucy.
“Yeah. I know,” he said with as much heat as she was giving him. “I’m not going to keep defending myself to you. I’m just not. I’m looking to do something good with this camp and Ty said that you were awesome at your job. Personally, I’d love to have people I know and can trust working on it with me. There was a time when we were all like family—and earlier today, it felt like it was still that way—so if you’d like to sign on as a consultant while we work out the business plan and then stay on as a therapist, I’d really like that.”
There. He’d said it. He put it all out there, so the ball was in her court.
For a brief moment, he thought she relaxed, like maybe something he said got through to her and changed her mind.
“Thanks for the offer, but…no. Maybe my family is willing to forgive and forget all the pain you caused, but I can’t.”
Jax thought she’d maybe add a token apology at the end, but she didn’t.
“If you don’t want to be a part of the camp project because you’re genuinely not interested, then fine. But if you’re doing it—saying no and turning us down—just to be spiteful to me, then that makes you a crappy person. There are a lot of deserving kids who could really use your help. Think about that when you get back up on your high and mighty pedestal.” Taking a step back, he let out a long breath before adding, “Have a good night.”
Then, mimicking her little wave from earlier, he turned and walked away.
There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that she wasn’t standing there fuming, but he fought the urge to turn around and look. She wanted to believe the worst, then fine. He wasn’t going to beg her and he wasn’t going to go back inside and ask her brothers to do it either. Having Lucy on board would have been a tremendous help, but she wasn’t the only pediatric physical therapist in the world. When he got back to Wichita, he’d talk to the team PTs and ask for some referrals.
Problem solved.
When he stepped back into the pub, people smiled and waved him over and he was thankful for the distraction. Maybe a few minutes talking to some fans or old friends was just what he needed before sitting back down with Tyler and Wyatt.
“That game against the Jets…”
“You’ve got one hell of an arm!”
“Looks like this could be the Warriors' year for the playoffs!”
“That suspension was bullshit!”
“Can I get a picture of you to show my kids?”
It took almost fifteen minutes to get back to the table, and he felt a little guilty about it. “Sorry, guys,” he said, taking his seat. “I hope you ordered appetizers. I’m starving!”
The brothers looked at each other before looking at him with matching smirks.
“She turned you down, right?” Wyatt asked.
“Um…”
“Dammit,” Ty hissed. “I’m going to call her right now and…”
“Ty, don’t,” he insisted. “It’s not going to change anything. She’s entitled to how she feels and I’m not going to force her to do this.” Leaning back in his chair, Jax raked both hands through his hair. “I’m not gonna lie, it would have been awesome for all of us to do this together, but…” Pausing, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Your sister has some strong feelings about me, and they’re all negative, so…”
“I’m definitely going to talk to her about this,” Ty continued. “This is a great opportunity for her and I know if she stopped being stubborn for like five seconds, she’d realize that.”
“Seriously, Ty, don’t. It’s better that it happened like this now rather than when we were further into the project. This is going to be a huge undertaking, and if Lucy hates me that much, I couldn’t trust her with any of this. I’m sorry.”
“Dude, what are you sorry for?” Wyatt asked. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Jax looked at him in disbelief. “Really? I think we all know what I did wrong, and it doesn’t matter what’s happened since then or that it was twelve years ago, my actions caused a lot of grief for your family. I guess I never really thought about how it affected Lucy.”
“I never did either. At least…not in the beginning,” Ty admitted. “Lucy and I have had a lot of conversations about the accident and I knew she held a grudge against you, but I didn’t really take it seriously. I just thought it was something she was saying. In my mind, I thought if she ever saw you again, she’d be over it, or at least be civil.”
It would be wrong to complain about her to her own brothers…
“Like I said, she’s got some strong feelings and I’m the last person in the world she wants anything to do with. I have to admire her honesty.”