Page 40 of Undeniable Love
Tyler held up a hand to stop her. “Luce, please. I do not want to hear about you and that doofus you went to the prom with or where you spent the weekend. I still want to strangle Doug every time I see him around town.”
Doug? Who the hell is Doug?
“Seriously?” she asked, laughing softly. “Doug’s harmless, and we broke up three months later. I barely even remember him.”
“And yet you remembered where you spent prom night…”
“Oh my God,” she groaned. “Why are you like this?”
“It’s my job as the big brother. On principle, I have to kick any guy’s ass who messes with you.”
I’m so screwed…
“Again, why are you like this? Charlie and Wyatt aren’t overprotective at all! You need to relax. I’m an adult and don’t need you threatening to beat anyone up, especially someone I dated in high school.”
“Fine. I’ll leave Doug alone. But you didn’t let me go after Blake either, and that guy deserved to have his ass kicked.” He paused and shook his head. “And trust me, Charlie and Wyatt were on board with doing it too.”
“I know they were, but it wasn’t worth it.”
“Who’s Blake?” Jax asked, noticing the look exchanged between the siblings.
“Um…” Lucy met his gaze in the rearview mirror and then looked away.
“Blake is Lucy’s ex-fiancé,” Ty answered. “And a total douche. She caught him cheating on her while they were in the middle of a pre-wedding photoshoot! I mean…who does that?”
“Jeez, Ty! You could have left it at ex-fiancé!” she hissed, and from his view of her in the mirror, he could tell she was mortified.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to overshare, but…it’s just Jax,” he reasoned. “He doesn’t care and it’s not like he’s going to repeat it or come back to South Creek and rough Blake up, right?”
That was now up for debate.
As much as he wanted to know more, now wasn’t the time. If anything, he felt like it was important for them to change the subject. Luckily, they were exiting the highway for the stadium.
“Did you know that our stadium seats seventy thousand? And that’s just the fans,” he explained. “Between the teams and their staffs, camera crews, cheerleaders, mascots, and stadium and concession crews, there’s room for eighty thousand people in there! Crazy, right?”
“Is that a standard size for a football stadium?” she asked, and Jax nearly sagged with relief because he had safely changed topics.
After that, he ran through a bunch of stadium stats that carried them through until they were parked. As they were climbing from his truck, Ty’s phone rang and he excused himself and walked several parking spots away for privacy.
Jax held out his hand to help Lucy out of the truck and held it for a moment longer. “You okay?” They were completely out of sight of Tyler, so at least they had a little bit of privacy.
She nodded. “I hate that he brings stuff like that up. I swear he thinks it’s endearing and proves that he’s looking out for me, but sometimes it’s just…it’s not helpful. I know he means well, but some stuff is private.”
“I get that.” Rubbing his thumb softly over her knuckles, he tugged her closer even as he monitored where her brother was at. “You know Ty is seriously my best friend and I enjoy hanging out with him, but right now I really wish he were anywhere else but here.” Ducking his head, he murmured, “And I wish you and I were back at my house alone.”
“Jax…”
“I know, I know. We said last night was last night and that’s it, but…” A quick glance showed Tyler coming their way. He quickly released Lucy’s hand and took a step back.
“Sorry about that!” he said when he joined them. “So? Ready to play tour guide?”
Grinning, Jax nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Let’s do this.”
It was after midnight when they all said goodnight.
“I am going to sleep hard tonight,” Ty said around a yawn. “I got hardly any sleep last night, if you know what I mean.”
Lucy groaned loudly. “Ugh…TMI, dude. TMI.”