Page 59 of Jealous God
Elodie turned, a look of bewildered surprise on her face. “Jax.”
She had barely said my name when I kissed her, but she kissed me back. Her arms slid straight up and tight around my neck. It didn’t matter to me that Dion still had his arms around her waist. It didn’t make me jealous; it was me she was kissing. Me who she wanted. I got that now.
“I love you,” I mumbled the words, tripping over them. Capturing her hand, I brought it between our bodies. I pressed a thick silver band into her palm and closed her fingers around it. Elodie let out a startled breath, her eyes darting to my face.
“Jax.” She tried to open her hand, to look at the ring I had pressed into her skin, but I kept my grip on her hand, keeping it closed. “Wha—”
“It's not a proposal, not yet. But I want you to wear it. It’s my promise to you.”
I waited for her to say something. The party was loud, so no one was really paying us any attention. No one but Dion, who was pressed against her back and Louis, who was smirking from the kitchen door.
“Promise...”
“That I’m going to do better? That I’m going to make you happy and then hopefully you will love me back. I swear it to you. With every fibre of the man I want to be for you.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Elodie
Jax Turner, lead guitarist of Dionysus Rising: the biggest rock band in the world, loved me. I had heard the words, seen his lips form them, but it still didn’t quite compute in my head. Not even the ring he slipped into my palm seemed real. Even when I could see it nestling there — a thick, hammered band of silver. I couldn’t help myself, I kept staring down at it. If I’d had a hand free, I would have pinched myself.
Jax fidgeted, moving from foot to foot awkwardly.
“I know it's not…” Wildly, he looked over my shoulder to Dion, who still for some reason had his arms wrapped around my waist. “It's not much, and not you. I can get you something else.” He lunged forward, his hands reaching out to pluck the jewellery out of my hand.
Closing my hand around it, I growled out a warning to him. “No.”
Behind me, Dion laughed, his chest vibrating against my back.
Jax arched one eyebrow. “No?”
I could see the confusion on his face. He didn’t need to ask the question I could see forming on his lips. Nodding firmly, I opened my hand and slipped the ring from my palm onto my thumb, which was the only place it had any hope of staying on considering its generous size. “No, I don’t want anything else.” I lifted my eyes to him. “This is perfect.”
His grin was electric. Not the shit-eating rockstar grin he gave his fans. This one was real. And it was all for me.
“So, that means…?” Again, Jax shuffled.
“I think that means she loves you back, dummy.” Dion’s booming laughter and words filled the air.
On the couch, my brother frowned. I ignored him. There was nothing Legacy could say that would make me change my mind. And I already knew what he was going to say. That I was a fool for taking Jax back, that I could do better. But then, wasn’t that what all big brothers were programmed to say?
“Well, do you fancy letting go of her?” Jax didn’t even look at his bandmate. His eyes were firmly on mine. “You know, so I can maybe kiss my woman?”
His woman? I felt heat blossom high on my cheekbones. Jax had called me that before. Back on tour. Back when we’d had an expiry date. The thought made the smile slip from my face. Did we have an expiry date now? Was this big romantic gesture real or something he had cooked up to get back in my bed? I wanted to know, but at the same time, I didn’t.
I desperately wanted to enjoy the moment.
“You best kiss her, she’s thinking again,” someone called out, and I turned around in shock to find Domino lounging by the window. Out of all the people to egg us on, he was the very last person I expected.
“I am not thinking again.” I gave him the finger, and the room erupted into laughter.
“Nothing good ever comes of you thinking, El,” he shouted right back.
And I had to agree with him. I did have a habit of overthinking everything. I wasn’t even sure when it had started. Maybe sometime after I had actually stopped doing things without any thought of the future. The day after my wreck. Every move I had made since I was fifteen had been carefully thought out. Until Erik had contacted the club.
Until I had started working for Dionysus Rising.
Until Jax.
