flashback;
I kept my eyes on Will's mom as I pretended to listen to one of Adam's friends, his words boring while her curves were very entertaining instead. If only I could touch. Unfortunately I knew that a barbecue with my family wasn't the right time to hit on her. Maybe. I tried to eavesdrop on whatever Lila and Travis were telling her...and they were talking about me. Bingo, that was my opening.
Trav nodded to me and I turned to Colbie, smiling and walking closer to them. "She doesn't know me but I know her." I cut into the conversation, grinning wide as I looked her up and down obviously. "I saw you so many times at the games."
"Careful sis, he's famous for his lines." Lila teased me.
I kept my eyes on Will's mom as I pretended to listen to one of Adam's friends, his words boring while her curves were very entertaining instead. If only I could touch. Unfortunately I knew that a barbecue with my family wasn't the right time to hit on her. Maybe. I tried to eavesdrop on whatever Lila and Travis were telling her...and they were talking about me. Bingo, that was my opening.
Trav nodded to me and I turned to Colbie, smiling and walking closer to them. "She doesn't know me but I know her." I cut into the conversation, grinning wide as I looked her up and down obviously. "I saw you so many times at the games."
"Careful sis, he's famous for his lines." Lila teased me.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I said back, blinking at Lil innocently, "I'm the perfect gentleman, I swear I'd never use one of those lame lines just to win a girls heart."
"Gentleman my ass." Trav and Lila laughed before he dragged her away to the makeshift bar. "Let's go grab a beer. I could drink a pool, I'm so damn thirsty."
"You're Will's mom." I said, nodding towards her son who was teaching Poppy how to throw a football even though it didn't seem to be working.
"I am." She agreed.
"He's a great kid." I turned to her. "Must have been taught well by his gorgeous mother."
She rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't need lines." She teased back.
"That wasn't a line." I took a step closer to her and she bit her lip. "A line would be that you look hot as hell in that dress and I can't wait to see what's underneath it."
She smirked and blushed at the same time. "That might just get you slapped." She teased.
I rose a brow at her. "Something about the way you're blushing right now tells me you might have liked it instead."
She put her hands to her cheeks. "It's just hot." She replied though it sounded like a lame excuse.
"Your dress is. You are." I said nonchalantly and grinned as I kept my eyes on her. I could see the resemblance with Lila but they were really different. I loved how her dress hugged her generous curves but it was too bad that I couldn't peek into her cleavage though.
"Are you usually this blunt with every girl?" She asked, biting down on her lip.
I shrugged, "It depends on how much I want the said girl." I replied honestly.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not that kind of girl." She said back.
I grinned at her, "That's perfect because I'm not that kind of man either!" I teased her.
That made her chuckle, which was an exquisite sound. "You just met me Jax." She pointed out.
"That's right but I've heard so much about you and I've seen you every Sunday for almost a year now." I retorted.
She blushed again and that was a very good sign usually. She recovered quickly. "Why didn't you ever come to say hi?" She asked.
"I'm shy." I winked at her and she laughed again. "What do you think about dinner?" I asked since I knew I had to work a little to get her under me.
"I love dinner." She paused as she faked a straight face. "What about you?"
This time it was my turn to laugh. "Oh what a smarta.ss." I grinned at her, "I love that too so why don't we go out together one of these nights?" I asked, not missing a beat.
"Sure. If you want to grab me a hot dog we can do it right here." She replied, nodding over towards the grill.
"Tricky girl." I grinned.
"I'm not going to date you." She said back, laughing for no reason. "But thanks for boosting her ego by asking."
I rose a brow at her. "Why not?"
She stared at me again, and shook her head. "Because men like you and women like me don't work." She replied.
"Oh? What sort of woman are you? Better yet what sort of man do you think I am?" I asked, amused.
She took a step closer to me so that her breasts were almost touching my chest. "You're the sort of man who looks at a woman like he's hoping to see her naked."
I rose my brows for a moment at her bluntness and then shrugged. "Most men do that." I replied.
"Sure. But most men don't have that look on their face that tells her you'd know exactly what to do with me when I was." She said, flirting shamelessly.
"And what kind of woman are you that you wouldn't want that?"
She licked her lips, "I'm complicated." She said finally.
"So what?" I asked back, shrugging. I wasn't going to take a no as answer, I never did.
She shot me a long stare. "I have a son too." She added, as if that explained everything.
I blinked. "Really? Let me guess. Tall, handsome, well mannered and with big eyes that are just like yours?" I said before breaking into a grin.
She chuckled, "Yes. His name is Will."
"Ah...Will. I think I know him already." I kept teasing, "So you have a son and I already knew that. Tell me another reason why you shouldn't go on a date with me."
"I think you're hitting on me just because you know you can't have me." She said more seriously this time. "Like I'm a challenge."
"But I'm not hitting on you." I retorted, grin still in place.
"No? Mhm weird I thought you did." She teased. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to go find some girl with no son that can't wait to jump into your bed?"
"Yes it would." I admitted nonchalantly. "But still."
"See? You go for easy and I'm complicated." She said back stubbornly.
"Just one date. I promise I'll be good." I ignored her words, because I could be just as stubborn if not more.
"See the last time a guy asked me for just one date? I ended up married with a kid." Colbie said all too seriously.
I widened my eyes and then laughed. "I promise that won't happen with me." I replied.
"Okay. So what will happen?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Good food, great wine, you in another dress I can't keep her eyes off of....some conversation." I shrugged.
"Hmmm. Do all your dates get such excellent treatment?" She asked.
"I'm a gentleman." I grinned wickedly and she almost shivered. I noticed that. Good sign.
"I'm glad there's some left." She laughed.
"Unca Jax!" Poppy tugged on my pants and I looked down at her with adoration as she lifted her tiny arms up and I scooped her up in mine. I kissed her cheek and she scrunched her face up before she looked at Colbie.
"You're pretty." She smiled and reached out to touch her hair.
Colbie reached out to her to poke the bow in her hair. "So are you." She said seriously.
"I'm the luckiest guy here to be with the two prettiest girls in the room." Jax grinned.
"I want Travis." Poppy pouted and I sighed as I put her down and she ran over to where Trav and Lil were sitting. "She likes him better." I shrugged and ran my hand through my hair.
"I'm sure that's not true." She laughed. "What is it you do exactly? Besides being a epic gentleman of course."
"That's it." I kept smirking at her.
She laughed again, "I didn't even know that was a job. Does it pay well?"
I thought about how amazing was ending up naked with a sexy woman. Now, I wanted that woman to be Colbie. "Oh yes." I said slowly, my voice low and she had to guess where my thoughts were because she blushed a little. "Do you want to know what my other job is?" I asked next.
She nodded her head, "Yes, I'm curious." She said honestly.
"Go out with me and I'll tell you." I retorted simply which made her chuckle.
"You never give up, do you?" She asked, looking genuinely amused.
I stared at her, my grin only getting wider. "Never."
present;
I stared at the wall I had just smashed, more like the rests of it. It was the thin one that separated what was supposed to be the nursery for Ruby from another tiny room and my opinion was the my daughter was going to need a big room so I had made from two little ones a big one. Also I loved working alone, on Sunday's, when I was frustrated and I needed some peace.
"Jax?" Came Colbie's voice from the hallway and for a moment I thought I was allucinating.
Then I saw her. "What are you doing here Colbie?" I groaned.
She shrugged, walking over me, "You didn't come to Adams barbecue." She said as if that explained everything.
"You can't be here." I shook my head.
"But-" She started and I cut her off.
"It's not safe here, so you think I'm wearing this just because I like it?" I asked pointing at my helmet.
She blinked, taken aback, "Oh." She paused then smiled, "Give me one and I'll have an hamburger back."
I sighed because this was unexpected and kind of ruined my plans, but I wasn't this heartless to say no. Hers was a nice gesture. "Deal." I told her quietly, even offering a small smile.
"Or even better, we go downstairs where it's not as bad and eat together."
I looked at her because I was almost getting tired of her attempts to win me back. "Okay." I sighed and followed her into the kitchen which was basically the only room that wasn't a disaster luckily.
She prepared the food she'd brought over and when she turned around I was using my tee to wipe my forhead. "Oh my god stop."
I blinked at her. "What?"
"You're just teasing me with all of that!" She said pointing to the expance of my abs showing.
"What?" I said again and she set her hands on her hips.
"Unless your planning to take off the rest of your clothes and touch me? Which I am 100% for by the way. Then you don't get to tease me with glimpses of your perfect body." She grumbled.
"Colbie." I shook my head as she shoved the hamburger at me.
"I'm so serious Jackson." She replied, not really flirting anymore.
"I get it." I shook my head.
"Good." We ate in companionable silence for a few moments. "I noticed the backyard is done." She said with a smile.
"Almost. We still need to fill the pool and paint the fence." I explained as she nodded. "You can't let Ruby near the pool unsupervised." I mentioned.
She widened her eyes in mock shock. "Wait....are you saying that infants don't understand the dangers of water?" She asked.
I cracked a smile but still I shrugged. "I"m just saying."
"You better not be reading a shit ton of parenting books and telling me how to do things. I've already done this, if anything I should be teaching you." She reminded me.
"Okay." I smirked as I shook my head because of course I was reading parenting books. "What can you teach me now?"
"Did you learn to change a diaper?" She smirked and I made a face.
"I've done that with Poppy before."
She widened her eyes. "Oh? How did that go?"
"Messy." I admitted, scrunching up my face. "I thought girls were suppossed to smell nice."
She bust out laughing. "Now that is a gender stereotype Jax. We don't want to teach our daughter she has to be a certain way just because she's a girl." She teased.
"You're a smartass today." I commented, shaking my head again but this time I was grinning a little. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to the last checkup with the doctor." She waved me off. "That's fine, there was nothing new and sometimes a girl wants to discuss her uterus with her doctor without the man she has a crush on in the same room."
"A crush Colbie? Seriously?"
She shrugged. "You get all weird when I talk about love." She replied casually.
I turned my head as I swallowed my last bite, looking at her face while she sipped her water. "I love you Colbs." I said honestly and my heart ached a little. She made eye contact again, her eyes widening a little. Okay maybe it was better if I avoided telling her I loved her, but what could I do, I did really love her. "Just like I love Will and this little girl." I added as I set my hand on her belly.
She glanced down at my hand and eventually set her own hand on top of mine. "We love you too." She said and there was a hint of sadness in her tone that killed me a little. Then she recovered. "We're in love with you." She added with a smirk.
I let out a sigh, shaking my head as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I know." I said simply.
She leaned into my touch and for a few seconds we enjoyed the silence. "Jax, do you remember the first day we met?" She asked.
"Of course I do." I answered, wondering what she was thinking about the day had changed my life even if I hadn't known back then.
"I said the last time I had dated I had ended up married with a kid and you promised it wouldn't happen." She said quietly.
"I don't remember that." I said back as I unwrapped my arm from around her, knowing I couldn't stay this close to her.
"You didn't keep your promise." She looked up at me with those big eyes. F.uck.
"I did because you're going to have two kids, not one, and we're not married." I teased to make the moment lighter even if it still hurt me that I couldn't have that. I was getting over it though.
She, somehow, managed to chuckle. "No we're not...yet." She winked at me.
And I groaned. "Oh god Colbie."
"Mm...you saying that was better when we were naked." Colbie grinned and I just glared at her.
"We couldn't get married while you were already married anyways." I replied, ignoring her sexy talk completely.
"Well lucky for us I'm not married." She replied happily, leaning back on the folding chairs the construction crew had been using in the kitchen.
I glanced at her. "You got a divorce?"
"I did." I nodded.
"And what about parental rights?"
"I basically told Nick to shove it. If I wants to see Will I has to prove he's a father first." She shrugged.
I looked impressed for a moment and grinned. "Good for you."
She smiled back at me. "More like about time." She sighed. "I guess I'd always been worried if I pushed back at Nick I would end up being the loser but the only think I ever did wrong was marry him in the first place." She admitted.
"True." I agreed. "Though maybe agreeing to date him at all was a mistake."
She laughed. "Okay maybe, but he did give me Will, so it wasn't all bad."
I nodded. "Good point."
"Lucky this time the right guy knocked me up." She teased and I blinked back at her.
"You think so?"
She nodded. "There's no way you'll ever abandon our daughter. Hell you haven't even ended your relationship with Will. Not many men would do that with the son of the woman who dumped them."
"I don't love Will because he's your son." I shrugged. "I mean, kind of, because you're a lot of the reason that he's so great. But I love him for him."
She smiled, her eyes getting glossy. "He's pretty easy to love." She replied. "So are you."
"Ha." I shook my head and I was thinking of all the times she'd tried to push me away instead.
"I didn't get scared because you were wrong for me. I got scared because I fell hard and fast and knew that you could be my forever. I didn't want to screw that up."
"Good job." I replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'm really brilliant at making my own fears come true." She sighed. "I think every day what it would be like now if I had just kept it together in that hospital. If I had let you take care of me the way you'd always promised to, not even with your words, but with your actions."
"It's useless to wonder what could have been." I replied.
"Yeah. I guess it is." She agreed. "Anyways. I'll leave you to your work."
"I wanted to ask you about the bathroom tiles in your new master. I'd like to get some aqua glass subway tiles but they're a little pricey...."
"I don't care about the money. Whatever you think to do to make the house perfect, I trust you."
"The tiles...they match your eyes." I admitted lamely.
She licked her lips. "Unless you want me to kiss you again you should stop looking at me like that." She almost whispered.
I shook my head because no matter how bad I wanted to kiss her I knew it couldn't happen. "Do you remember the first time we kissed?" I asked her instead.
"I do..." She trailed off and smirked, "Are we walking down memory lane?" She teased me.
"Do you remember how you ran away too?" I ignored her.
She ran her hand through her hair and shrugged. "I was embarrassed because I basically jumped you."
"I didn't complain, did I?" I asked even if it was rethorical. "Do you remember the first time I made you come?" I went on.
She rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to turn me on? Because I'm telling you, I'm already super h.orny so careful with what you say."
I ignored her because that wasn't what I wanted to do. "After you came you thanked me and told me you thought you were broken. Then you went on talking about you and your ex." I said slowly.
"Yeah." She said slowly, raising one eyebrow at me.
"And after the first time we made love? You basically ran away too." I went on, remembering all that like it was yesterday.
She licked her lips slowly. "What's your point Jax?"
I shook my head. "There were so many signals Colbs. But I never noticed, I always ignored the, because I thought they meant nothing." I explained as I stared in front of me, "But now? They all make sense."
"Jax no!" She widened her eyes.
"Colbie yes." I retorted calmly since I had no intention to fight. "I was a fool, I should've paid more attention."
"Are you trying to say you're regretting all of that?" She almost snapped.
"No, I'd do it all over again because you're giving me a daughter and that's what I've always wanted. Even if it's not how I imagined it would've happened." I answered simply, meaning it.
She almost seemed relieved as she processed my words. "I can give you so much more, I'm not going to run away anymore." She said slowly.
"You better." I smirked, making the moment easier. Even if we weren't together I knew our lives now we're bonded forever. "I'd come after you and find you even on the other side of the world."
"But not if I wasn't carrying your child." Colbie said sadly.
"Colbie.."
"There was a time when I knew you'd cross the world just for me." She admitted.
"You're right." I agreed.
"I just want to get some things straight okay?" She started. I nodded and she took a deep breath. "I ran when I kissed you because I was embarrassed. It was in front of my sister and an entire club and it wasn't like me. And the first time you made me come? I wasn't going to say anything at all. You pushed me to talk about what I was feeling and I did because I trusted you and I didn't think you would use it against me later. I felt comfortable with you telling you things I never told anyone. And when we made love?" She took a deep breath. "I didn't think we were serious Jax. I didn't want to be the girl who got clingy because we'd slept together. I was trying to not lose you before we even started.....I just. I'm still learning how to have a relationship that works."
"I get it Colbie...I'm not trying to use these things against you..."
"No. You are. You're using my small mistakes as a reason to stay on your high horse and acting like a martyr. I get it. I'm the bad guy in our story." She sighed again and ran her hands through her hair. "I love you Jax. But I don't want to be the bad guy anymore. I'm trying to get my life back together and I thought getting you back would help. But maybe it's just turning me into a pathetic ex girlfriend stalker." She laughed.
I stared at her and part of me really wanted to get mad because she was making it all about herself again. But the other part just hated to see her upset and felt the need to protect her. "First of all? You're not pathetic. I know it's going to take time for us to built a stable relationship and both of us need to adjust still." I started. "And I don't think you're the bad one." I added.
"No?" She asked back.
"I made mistakes too, I know that. I was too clingy and didn't give you the time and space you needed when you needed it. I don't meant to use anything against you, I just need to find the reasons why we didn't work." I admitted quietly.
"Yeah." She replied weakly.
I couldn't resist and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her against my side as I cuddled her. Even if we weren't a couple she was still my Colbie. I was far from immune to her. "Come on I hate seeing you like this." I told her softly.
She seemed hesitant, then relaxed into my hold, a small pout on her lips. "I can't help it but I'll get over it."
"I'd still fight against the world for you even if we weren't going to have a baby. I mean it when I say I'm going to be always here for you, you can come to me anytime you need...the love I have for you doesn't go away just because we're not together anymore." I told her quietly then kissed the top of her head. "I promise."
"You're confusing me." Colbie admitted, but still leaned into my touch.
"I-"
"I just don't get it Jax." She sighed. "Do you need me to get you some coffee or something?"
I shook my head. "It's late Colbs you should get some sleep."
She laughed as she packed up her things. "I have work to do when I get home, I'll be stopping for coffee either way."
"I'll be fine."
"Okay." She reached up to kiss my cheek gently and grabbed her bag, but when she turned to go I grabbed her hand.
"Thanks for bringing her dinner."
She smiled and nodded. "Thanks for making my house a beautiful home."
I smirked. "You're paying me to do that." I laughed and she chuckled too before She shrugged.
"Still. I know you're not treating in like just any job." She replied. "I saw how you worked with your team earlier. Besides how sexy it is watching you easily control 15 burly men?" She grinned and I just rolled my eyes.
"Colbie." I shook my head with a smile.
"I'm just....I'm practically bursting with how proud and happy I am for you."
I scratched the back of my neck and felt a little embarassed. "Thanks." I said with a shrug.
"Thanks?" She said through a chuckle. "That's all? Where's my cocky Jax? He'd say something like. "If you think I'm good at restoring houses you should see what else I can do with her hands." She said in a mock imitaion of my voice.
"Maybe....but you already know what I can do with my hands." I said, my eyes getting darker for just a moment.
She swallowed and licked her lips. "We were only together for 6 months..." She trailed off. "I'm sure I don't know everything..." She replied, biting down on her lip as she tilted her head to the side. "I should get going."
"Yes you should..." I trailed off, my eyes on her lips as I lifted my hand to free her bottom lip from her teeth.
"Yeah." She said quietly but didn't move. Damn. How we were going to survive a whole life like this? I had no idea. Maybe the beginning was the hardest and then things would get easier.
I forced myself to pull away and slid my hands into the pockets of my dirty jeans, thinking that they'd be safe there. "Is it okay if Will spends Saturday night with me?" I asked, changing the topic.
She blinked at me, "What?" She asked as if she wasn't ever hearing me.
"I was thinking that Will could have dinner with me Saturday night at the cabin, if you don't mind." I repeated, temporarily distracted from how sexy she looked by more pure thoughts.
"Oh. Yes, sure." She seemed to recover. "Are you living there already?"
I nodded, "Yeah, my house sold pretty quickly."
She nodded too. "That's good." She commented a little awkwardly.
I led her to the front door, knowing we couldn't survive in a room together much longer. "I'll call you as soon as the nursery is done so that you can come see if you like it." I told her with a smile, brushing my hand just so slightly on the small of her back.
"I'm sure I will." She shivered as I opened the door. Maybe it was just the wind.
"Drive safe, you have a precious cargo." I said in a softer tone, bending over to kiss her belly. "Night Colbie."
"Gentleman my ass." Trav and Lila laughed before he dragged her away to the makeshift bar. "Let's go grab a beer. I could drink a pool, I'm so damn thirsty."
"You're Will's mom." I said, nodding towards her son who was teaching Poppy how to throw a football even though it didn't seem to be working.
"I am." She agreed.
"He's a great kid." I turned to her. "Must have been taught well by his gorgeous mother."
She rolled her eyes. "I thought you didn't need lines." She teased back.
"That wasn't a line." I took a step closer to her and she bit her lip. "A line would be that you look hot as hell in that dress and I can't wait to see what's underneath it."
She smirked and blushed at the same time. "That might just get you slapped." She teased.
I rose a brow at her. "Something about the way you're blushing right now tells me you might have liked it instead."
She put her hands to her cheeks. "It's just hot." She replied though it sounded like a lame excuse.
"Your dress is. You are." I said nonchalantly and grinned as I kept my eyes on her. I could see the resemblance with Lila but they were really different. I loved how her dress hugged her generous curves but it was too bad that I couldn't peek into her cleavage though.
"Are you usually this blunt with every girl?" She asked, biting down on her lip.
I shrugged, "It depends on how much I want the said girl." I replied honestly.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm not that kind of girl." She said back.
I grinned at her, "That's perfect because I'm not that kind of man either!" I teased her.
That made her chuckle, which was an exquisite sound. "You just met me Jax." She pointed out.
"That's right but I've heard so much about you and I've seen you every Sunday for almost a year now." I retorted.
She blushed again and that was a very good sign usually. She recovered quickly. "Why didn't you ever come to say hi?" She asked.
"I'm shy." I winked at her and she laughed again. "What do you think about dinner?" I asked since I knew I had to work a little to get her under me.
"I love dinner." She paused as she faked a straight face. "What about you?"
This time it was my turn to laugh. "Oh what a smarta.ss." I grinned at her, "I love that too so why don't we go out together one of these nights?" I asked, not missing a beat.
"Sure. If you want to grab me a hot dog we can do it right here." She replied, nodding over towards the grill.
"Tricky girl." I grinned.
"I'm not going to date you." She said back, laughing for no reason. "But thanks for boosting her ego by asking."
I rose a brow at her. "Why not?"
She stared at me again, and shook her head. "Because men like you and women like me don't work." She replied.
"Oh? What sort of woman are you? Better yet what sort of man do you think I am?" I asked, amused.
She took a step closer to me so that her breasts were almost touching my chest. "You're the sort of man who looks at a woman like he's hoping to see her naked."
I rose my brows for a moment at her bluntness and then shrugged. "Most men do that." I replied.
"Sure. But most men don't have that look on their face that tells her you'd know exactly what to do with me when I was." She said, flirting shamelessly.
"And what kind of woman are you that you wouldn't want that?"
She licked her lips, "I'm complicated." She said finally.
"So what?" I asked back, shrugging. I wasn't going to take a no as answer, I never did.
She shot me a long stare. "I have a son too." She added, as if that explained everything.
I blinked. "Really? Let me guess. Tall, handsome, well mannered and with big eyes that are just like yours?" I said before breaking into a grin.
She chuckled, "Yes. His name is Will."
"Ah...Will. I think I know him already." I kept teasing, "So you have a son and I already knew that. Tell me another reason why you shouldn't go on a date with me."
"I think you're hitting on me just because you know you can't have me." She said more seriously this time. "Like I'm a challenge."
"But I'm not hitting on you." I retorted, grin still in place.
"No? Mhm weird I thought you did." She teased. "Wouldn't it be easier for you to go find some girl with no son that can't wait to jump into your bed?"
"Yes it would." I admitted nonchalantly. "But still."
"See? You go for easy and I'm complicated." She said back stubbornly.
"Just one date. I promise I'll be good." I ignored her words, because I could be just as stubborn if not more.
"See the last time a guy asked me for just one date? I ended up married with a kid." Colbie said all too seriously.
I widened my eyes and then laughed. "I promise that won't happen with me." I replied.
"Okay. So what will happen?" She asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Good food, great wine, you in another dress I can't keep her eyes off of....some conversation." I shrugged.
"Hmmm. Do all your dates get such excellent treatment?" She asked.
"I'm a gentleman." I grinned wickedly and she almost shivered. I noticed that. Good sign.
"I'm glad there's some left." She laughed.
"Unca Jax!" Poppy tugged on my pants and I looked down at her with adoration as she lifted her tiny arms up and I scooped her up in mine. I kissed her cheek and she scrunched her face up before she looked at Colbie.
"You're pretty." She smiled and reached out to touch her hair.
Colbie reached out to her to poke the bow in her hair. "So are you." She said seriously.
"I'm the luckiest guy here to be with the two prettiest girls in the room." Jax grinned.
"I want Travis." Poppy pouted and I sighed as I put her down and she ran over to where Trav and Lil were sitting. "She likes him better." I shrugged and ran my hand through my hair.
"I'm sure that's not true." She laughed. "What is it you do exactly? Besides being a epic gentleman of course."
"That's it." I kept smirking at her.
She laughed again, "I didn't even know that was a job. Does it pay well?"
I thought about how amazing was ending up naked with a sexy woman. Now, I wanted that woman to be Colbie. "Oh yes." I said slowly, my voice low and she had to guess where my thoughts were because she blushed a little. "Do you want to know what my other job is?" I asked next.
She nodded her head, "Yes, I'm curious." She said honestly.
"Go out with me and I'll tell you." I retorted simply which made her chuckle.
"You never give up, do you?" She asked, looking genuinely amused.
I stared at her, my grin only getting wider. "Never."
present;
I stared at the wall I had just smashed, more like the rests of it. It was the thin one that separated what was supposed to be the nursery for Ruby from another tiny room and my opinion was the my daughter was going to need a big room so I had made from two little ones a big one. Also I loved working alone, on Sunday's, when I was frustrated and I needed some peace.
"Jax?" Came Colbie's voice from the hallway and for a moment I thought I was allucinating.
Then I saw her. "What are you doing here Colbie?" I groaned.
She shrugged, walking over me, "You didn't come to Adams barbecue." She said as if that explained everything.
"You can't be here." I shook my head.
"But-" She started and I cut her off.
"It's not safe here, so you think I'm wearing this just because I like it?" I asked pointing at my helmet.
She blinked, taken aback, "Oh." She paused then smiled, "Give me one and I'll have an hamburger back."
I sighed because this was unexpected and kind of ruined my plans, but I wasn't this heartless to say no. Hers was a nice gesture. "Deal." I told her quietly, even offering a small smile.
"Or even better, we go downstairs where it's not as bad and eat together."
I looked at her because I was almost getting tired of her attempts to win me back. "Okay." I sighed and followed her into the kitchen which was basically the only room that wasn't a disaster luckily.
She prepared the food she'd brought over and when she turned around I was using my tee to wipe my forhead. "Oh my god stop."
I blinked at her. "What?"
"You're just teasing me with all of that!" She said pointing to the expance of my abs showing.
"What?" I said again and she set her hands on her hips.
"Unless your planning to take off the rest of your clothes and touch me? Which I am 100% for by the way. Then you don't get to tease me with glimpses of your perfect body." She grumbled.
"Colbie." I shook my head as she shoved the hamburger at me.
"I'm so serious Jackson." She replied, not really flirting anymore.
"I get it." I shook my head.
"Good." We ate in companionable silence for a few moments. "I noticed the backyard is done." She said with a smile.
"Almost. We still need to fill the pool and paint the fence." I explained as she nodded. "You can't let Ruby near the pool unsupervised." I mentioned.
She widened her eyes in mock shock. "Wait....are you saying that infants don't understand the dangers of water?" She asked.
I cracked a smile but still I shrugged. "I"m just saying."
"You better not be reading a shit ton of parenting books and telling me how to do things. I've already done this, if anything I should be teaching you." She reminded me.
"Okay." I smirked as I shook my head because of course I was reading parenting books. "What can you teach me now?"
"Did you learn to change a diaper?" She smirked and I made a face.
"I've done that with Poppy before."
She widened her eyes. "Oh? How did that go?"
"Messy." I admitted, scrunching up my face. "I thought girls were suppossed to smell nice."
She bust out laughing. "Now that is a gender stereotype Jax. We don't want to teach our daughter she has to be a certain way just because she's a girl." She teased.
"You're a smartass today." I commented, shaking my head again but this time I was grinning a little. "I'm sorry I couldn't come to the last checkup with the doctor." She waved me off. "That's fine, there was nothing new and sometimes a girl wants to discuss her uterus with her doctor without the man she has a crush on in the same room."
"A crush Colbie? Seriously?"
She shrugged. "You get all weird when I talk about love." She replied casually.
I turned my head as I swallowed my last bite, looking at her face while she sipped her water. "I love you Colbs." I said honestly and my heart ached a little. She made eye contact again, her eyes widening a little. Okay maybe it was better if I avoided telling her I loved her, but what could I do, I did really love her. "Just like I love Will and this little girl." I added as I set my hand on her belly.
She glanced down at my hand and eventually set her own hand on top of mine. "We love you too." She said and there was a hint of sadness in her tone that killed me a little. Then she recovered. "We're in love with you." She added with a smirk.
I let out a sigh, shaking my head as I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I know." I said simply.
She leaned into my touch and for a few seconds we enjoyed the silence. "Jax, do you remember the first day we met?" She asked.
"Of course I do." I answered, wondering what she was thinking about the day had changed my life even if I hadn't known back then.
"I said the last time I had dated I had ended up married with a kid and you promised it wouldn't happen." She said quietly.
"I don't remember that." I said back as I unwrapped my arm from around her, knowing I couldn't stay this close to her.
"You didn't keep your promise." She looked up at me with those big eyes. F.uck.
"I did because you're going to have two kids, not one, and we're not married." I teased to make the moment lighter even if it still hurt me that I couldn't have that. I was getting over it though.
She, somehow, managed to chuckle. "No we're not...yet." She winked at me.
And I groaned. "Oh god Colbie."
"Mm...you saying that was better when we were naked." Colbie grinned and I just glared at her.
"We couldn't get married while you were already married anyways." I replied, ignoring her sexy talk completely.
"Well lucky for us I'm not married." She replied happily, leaning back on the folding chairs the construction crew had been using in the kitchen.
I glanced at her. "You got a divorce?"
"I did." I nodded.
"And what about parental rights?"
"I basically told Nick to shove it. If I wants to see Will I has to prove he's a father first." She shrugged.
I looked impressed for a moment and grinned. "Good for you."
She smiled back at me. "More like about time." She sighed. "I guess I'd always been worried if I pushed back at Nick I would end up being the loser but the only think I ever did wrong was marry him in the first place." She admitted.
"True." I agreed. "Though maybe agreeing to date him at all was a mistake."
She laughed. "Okay maybe, but he did give me Will, so it wasn't all bad."
I nodded. "Good point."
"Lucky this time the right guy knocked me up." She teased and I blinked back at her.
"You think so?"
She nodded. "There's no way you'll ever abandon our daughter. Hell you haven't even ended your relationship with Will. Not many men would do that with the son of the woman who dumped them."
"I don't love Will because he's your son." I shrugged. "I mean, kind of, because you're a lot of the reason that he's so great. But I love him for him."
She smiled, her eyes getting glossy. "He's pretty easy to love." She replied. "So are you."
"Ha." I shook my head and I was thinking of all the times she'd tried to push me away instead.
"I didn't get scared because you were wrong for me. I got scared because I fell hard and fast and knew that you could be my forever. I didn't want to screw that up."
"Good job." I replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, I'm really brilliant at making my own fears come true." She sighed. "I think every day what it would be like now if I had just kept it together in that hospital. If I had let you take care of me the way you'd always promised to, not even with your words, but with your actions."
"It's useless to wonder what could have been." I replied.
"Yeah. I guess it is." She agreed. "Anyways. I'll leave you to your work."
"I wanted to ask you about the bathroom tiles in your new master. I'd like to get some aqua glass subway tiles but they're a little pricey...."
"I don't care about the money. Whatever you think to do to make the house perfect, I trust you."
"The tiles...they match your eyes." I admitted lamely.
She licked her lips. "Unless you want me to kiss you again you should stop looking at me like that." She almost whispered.
I shook my head because no matter how bad I wanted to kiss her I knew it couldn't happen. "Do you remember the first time we kissed?" I asked her instead.
"I do..." She trailed off and smirked, "Are we walking down memory lane?" She teased me.
"Do you remember how you ran away too?" I ignored her.
She ran her hand through her hair and shrugged. "I was embarrassed because I basically jumped you."
"I didn't complain, did I?" I asked even if it was rethorical. "Do you remember the first time I made you come?" I went on.
She rolled her eyes. "Are you trying to turn me on? Because I'm telling you, I'm already super h.orny so careful with what you say."
I ignored her because that wasn't what I wanted to do. "After you came you thanked me and told me you thought you were broken. Then you went on talking about you and your ex." I said slowly.
"Yeah." She said slowly, raising one eyebrow at me.
"And after the first time we made love? You basically ran away too." I went on, remembering all that like it was yesterday.
She licked her lips slowly. "What's your point Jax?"
I shook my head. "There were so many signals Colbs. But I never noticed, I always ignored the, because I thought they meant nothing." I explained as I stared in front of me, "But now? They all make sense."
"Jax no!" She widened her eyes.
"Colbie yes." I retorted calmly since I had no intention to fight. "I was a fool, I should've paid more attention."
"Are you trying to say you're regretting all of that?" She almost snapped.
"No, I'd do it all over again because you're giving me a daughter and that's what I've always wanted. Even if it's not how I imagined it would've happened." I answered simply, meaning it.
She almost seemed relieved as she processed my words. "I can give you so much more, I'm not going to run away anymore." She said slowly.
"You better." I smirked, making the moment easier. Even if we weren't together I knew our lives now we're bonded forever. "I'd come after you and find you even on the other side of the world."
"But not if I wasn't carrying your child." Colbie said sadly.
"Colbie.."
"There was a time when I knew you'd cross the world just for me." She admitted.
"You're right." I agreed.
"I just want to get some things straight okay?" She started. I nodded and she took a deep breath. "I ran when I kissed you because I was embarrassed. It was in front of my sister and an entire club and it wasn't like me. And the first time you made me come? I wasn't going to say anything at all. You pushed me to talk about what I was feeling and I did because I trusted you and I didn't think you would use it against me later. I felt comfortable with you telling you things I never told anyone. And when we made love?" She took a deep breath. "I didn't think we were serious Jax. I didn't want to be the girl who got clingy because we'd slept together. I was trying to not lose you before we even started.....I just. I'm still learning how to have a relationship that works."
"I get it Colbie...I'm not trying to use these things against you..."
"No. You are. You're using my small mistakes as a reason to stay on your high horse and acting like a martyr. I get it. I'm the bad guy in our story." She sighed again and ran her hands through her hair. "I love you Jax. But I don't want to be the bad guy anymore. I'm trying to get my life back together and I thought getting you back would help. But maybe it's just turning me into a pathetic ex girlfriend stalker." She laughed.
I stared at her and part of me really wanted to get mad because she was making it all about herself again. But the other part just hated to see her upset and felt the need to protect her. "First of all? You're not pathetic. I know it's going to take time for us to built a stable relationship and both of us need to adjust still." I started. "And I don't think you're the bad one." I added.
"No?" She asked back.
"I made mistakes too, I know that. I was too clingy and didn't give you the time and space you needed when you needed it. I don't meant to use anything against you, I just need to find the reasons why we didn't work." I admitted quietly.
"Yeah." She replied weakly.
I couldn't resist and wrapped my arm around her, pulling her against my side as I cuddled her. Even if we weren't a couple she was still my Colbie. I was far from immune to her. "Come on I hate seeing you like this." I told her softly.
She seemed hesitant, then relaxed into my hold, a small pout on her lips. "I can't help it but I'll get over it."
"I'd still fight against the world for you even if we weren't going to have a baby. I mean it when I say I'm going to be always here for you, you can come to me anytime you need...the love I have for you doesn't go away just because we're not together anymore." I told her quietly then kissed the top of her head. "I promise."
"You're confusing me." Colbie admitted, but still leaned into my touch.
"I-"
"I just don't get it Jax." She sighed. "Do you need me to get you some coffee or something?"
I shook my head. "It's late Colbs you should get some sleep."
She laughed as she packed up her things. "I have work to do when I get home, I'll be stopping for coffee either way."
"I'll be fine."
"Okay." She reached up to kiss my cheek gently and grabbed her bag, but when she turned to go I grabbed her hand.
"Thanks for bringing her dinner."
She smiled and nodded. "Thanks for making my house a beautiful home."
I smirked. "You're paying me to do that." I laughed and she chuckled too before She shrugged.
"Still. I know you're not treating in like just any job." She replied. "I saw how you worked with your team earlier. Besides how sexy it is watching you easily control 15 burly men?" She grinned and I just rolled my eyes.
"Colbie." I shook my head with a smile.
"I'm just....I'm practically bursting with how proud and happy I am for you."
I scratched the back of my neck and felt a little embarassed. "Thanks." I said with a shrug.
"Thanks?" She said through a chuckle. "That's all? Where's my cocky Jax? He'd say something like. "If you think I'm good at restoring houses you should see what else I can do with her hands." She said in a mock imitaion of my voice.
"Maybe....but you already know what I can do with my hands." I said, my eyes getting darker for just a moment.
She swallowed and licked her lips. "We were only together for 6 months..." She trailed off. "I'm sure I don't know everything..." She replied, biting down on her lip as she tilted her head to the side. "I should get going."
"Yes you should..." I trailed off, my eyes on her lips as I lifted my hand to free her bottom lip from her teeth.
"Yeah." She said quietly but didn't move. Damn. How we were going to survive a whole life like this? I had no idea. Maybe the beginning was the hardest and then things would get easier.
I forced myself to pull away and slid my hands into the pockets of my dirty jeans, thinking that they'd be safe there. "Is it okay if Will spends Saturday night with me?" I asked, changing the topic.
She blinked at me, "What?" She asked as if she wasn't ever hearing me.
"I was thinking that Will could have dinner with me Saturday night at the cabin, if you don't mind." I repeated, temporarily distracted from how sexy she looked by more pure thoughts.
"Oh. Yes, sure." She seemed to recover. "Are you living there already?"
I nodded, "Yeah, my house sold pretty quickly."
She nodded too. "That's good." She commented a little awkwardly.
I led her to the front door, knowing we couldn't survive in a room together much longer. "I'll call you as soon as the nursery is done so that you can come see if you like it." I told her with a smile, brushing my hand just so slightly on the small of her back.
"I'm sure I will." She shivered as I opened the door. Maybe it was just the wind.
"Drive safe, you have a precious cargo." I said in a softer tone, bending over to kiss her belly. "Night Colbie."
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