Page 37 of Jealous God
Which was where she was when Erik climbed on board, his hands full of take-out cups of coffee. “I got coffee and breakfast. Is everyone…?” He trailed off, his eyes landing on the empty and half empty beer bottles that were strewn across the table where we all sat. “Well, it looks like you got started early.” He handed one of the paper cups to Elodie, who promptly took the lid off and started to blow over the boiling surface. She took a sip, grimacing when the scalding liquid hit her tongue. I took it off of her before she could hurt herself anymore.
“I know you're tired after all your hard work this morning, love, but let it cool down a little.” Resting my head on her shoulder, I met Erik’s eyes. His were unreadable. Whatever thoughts he had of me and Elodie, he wasn’t going to say them in front of her. He could say whatever he wanted to me; it wasn’t going to change the fact that for the remainder of this tour she was my woman.
“Hard work?” he asked instead.
“Eli has been putting her driving skills to the test,” Louis laughed.
Erik’s eyebrows slammed down. “You let her drive the damn bus? Do you know how dangerous that is? We aren’t insured for that shit!”
“Leave her alone. It’s not like she got to celebrate her birthday,” I snapped back and, in my arms, Elodie stiffened. “Letting her live out a childish fantasy seemed the least we could do.” Of course, it hadn’t even been my idea to let her drive. I had still been asleep when that particular little treat had happened. Erik didn’t know that, though.
“It’s her birthday?” Tate leant forward.
“Why weren't we told? We should celebrate,” Louis added, clapping his hands. “Do something special to mark the day.”
“Why didn’t you tell any of us?” Dion joined in.
“I…” Elodie stammered. “It’s not today, it was…”
“We should definitely celebrate, though. Spoil you.” Dion waggled his eyebrows. “Although I’m sure Jax has been spoiling you in his own way. Or at least I hope he has been. I’m going to be so disappointed in him if he was some five-minute wonder. All women should—”
I threw him a warning look, begging him with my eyes to shut the fuck up.
“Jax does just fine.” She fidgeted in my lap, making my cock hard as rock.
The others erupted into peels of rambunctious laughter, so loud that it almost drowned out her next words.
“I don’t celebrate my birthday.”
Erik turned away. No one else noticed, but I did. There was a story there, Erik knew why she didn’t celebrate. He knew more about her than the rest of us. Even me and I was sharing her bed. And it wasn’t the things on her resume, it was things like the little admission she had made before she’d kissed me after her attack. She hadn’t wanted anyone to know it was her birthday for a reason, but I’d been so distracted by her lips on me that I’d left it alone.
“Why don’t you celebrate?” Dion asked quietly. “The day you are born is important.”
Elodie paused. Her body trembled on mine and the arms I had wrapped around her waist tightened.
“You don’t have to tell us.” Gazing down at her face, my heart lurched. Unshed tears made her eyes glisten. They didn’t fall, but they were there, as clear as day for anyone to see.
“No, it's ok, you all deserve to know.” She took a deep breath, her shoulders heaving. “My brother died on my birthday.”
TWENTY-TWO
Elodie
What the hell had I been thinking, blurting that out? It was private. My own private grief that had shaped pretty much my entire life. I was the way I was because of my brother’s death. And nothing could change that. I knew Jax had his own preconceptions as to my personality, so maybe I said it for his benefit? Maybe him knowing just a sliver of my past might make him understand me a little better. I sure as hell hadn't said it to inform the others. Dionysus Rising, whether it was the band, management or their crew, they all seemed to accept me for who I was.
But Jax?
I could feel his eyes on the back of my head. But I didn’t turn. That made me the biggest coward in the world. I didn’t care. I couldn’t stand to see the pity in his eyes.
The strong arms round my waist slipped away and his hands closed around my hips instead. He squeezed. “Up.”
Turning before I could stop myself, I searched his face.
“Get up, Elodie.” There was a note of anger in his voice, one that I didn’t understand. Why was he suddenly angry with me because my brother had died? If anyone should be angry, it was me. I was the one who had lost someone, and now I had to deal with people treating me differently. Jax Turner really was an asshole. My eyebrows pinched together, and I climbed to my feet. I was hyper aware of everyone’s silent stares. They had all heard what I had said, just like they had heard what he had said. And it was clear they all wanted to know what the hell was going on as well.
“Jax,” Erik warned, his face troubled. Out of all of them, he knew my history. And it was pretty obvious that he thought I had made a mistake in telling Jax. Just how big a mistake it was I was going to find out.
Jax’s hand closed around mine. “Excuse us for a minute,” he said, pulling me after him.
