Jax(5)

I’m going to go to bed—tomorrow’s the big day, and I need to look my best.





Jax





Fuck.

My head is throbbing like a train smashed into my face at a hundred miles an hour. I groan and roll away from the bright light streaming in through the hotel room window. Fumble for my phone to see what time it is.

Well, at least I didn’t oversleep. I have time to get my shit together, shower, shave, and take about a hundred ibuprofen before meeting my brothers for a late lunch pre-ceremony. I sit up, the sheet falling down to my waist, and realize the bed is empty. Just as well—Patty or Patsy or Pinky or whatever her name is had to go do pampering girl shit with Aubrey this morning to prepare for the wedding.

I stand and stretch. Yawn. Grab a handful of pills and down them with water from the sink. Scratch my ass and turn on the shower, then hop in. Fuck yeah, the hot water beating down on me feels amazing and helps restore some of my humanity.

After soaping up and scrubbing most of the hangover away, I set about making myself look presentable. Shave and dress and run my fingers through my hair. I glance at my phone. Only running five minutes behind—that’s good for me. Smith will be proud.

I laugh and slip into my shoes, then click the door closed behind me. No sign of anyone else in the hall, including…what was her name? The brown-haired chick with the hostile green eyes. Brooklyn.

Something about her spurred me into wanting to tease her, prod her, see how she would react. She screams virgin, from her uptight stance to her shock at seeing me in just my jeans last night. I can’t really bust her balls too much though—to be fair, she did take over decorating the car, a task I find on the same entertainment level as going to the dentist or renewing my driver’s license.

No thanks.

I head to the hotel restaurant and see my two brothers in the corner, leaning toward each other and talking. Smith’s tension practically radiates off him, and Asher is trying to calm him down.

I meander over and grab a seat across them, plopping in the chair. “’Sup, bitches.”

Smith gives a deliberate slow look to his phone and says, “Thanks for showing up, wanker. It’s only the most important day of my life. No big deal.”

I roll my eyes. “When did you become so dramatic?” When Smith opens his mouth to say something no doubt hostile, I laugh and say, “Kidding, kidding. I know how important today is for you. I promise I’m not going to fuck it up.”

The waitress comes over, an older woman with a tight bun and stress lines around her eyes. She looks at me. “What can I get ya?”

I give her a crooked grin. “Coffee, as strong as you can make it, if you don’t mind. I have no regrets…except some of the shit I did last night.”

That draws a small chuckle out of her. She shakes her head. “You look like you need at least two coffees, sweetness. Coming right up.”

I clutch my heart and dramatically say, “I’m wounded.”

When she walks away, her step is a little lighter.

“Is there literally no one you will not flirt with?” Asher asks.

I wink at him. “Everyone wants to feel beautiful for a moment. I feel like I was put on earth to help women with that.”

“Your arrogance is astounding,” Smith says in a droll tone. “I don’t know why this shit surprises me by now.” He sips his own coffee and eyes the menu. “Anyway. Aubrey’s been working hard at the wedding, so please help make sure nothing bad happens today, okay? She’s stressed about making it all perfect.”

I salute. “You got it, boss.”

Asher nods. “No problem.”

I get my coffee, we order, then spend the meal bullshitting about everything and anything to help keep Smith from flipping his shit—how the Tigers fare for this upcoming baseball season based on the games to date, how Asher’s semester is going, and Smith’s concern about closing the bar this weekend for the wedding—to which Asher and I both tell him to shut up.

Aubrey still has some work to do on him, I can see. But I have noticed he’s relaxed over the last few months, not the control freak he was before. He’s even entrusted me to do more tasks around the bar.

I toss down money to pay for the bill, and we stand. I stare at my oldest brother, who’s about to give up bachelorhood in just a few hours. My chest tightens, and I fight back the response. Just because he’s married doesn’t mean everything is going to change that drastically, I tell myself. But I know that’s not true.

Everything is going to be different.

We’ve always been a tight unit, despite our fights over the years, especially as he took over the parenting role when our dad passed and we were essentially orphaned. And now Aubrey is the most important person in his life, and I can’t help but feel…weird.