Fight Song (Rocky River Fighters 3)

His eyebrow cocked, and she was grateful for the cover of night that hopefully meant her blush wasn’t noticeable. She knew what was going through his mind over her last comment, because it was going through hers, as well. Dirty, dirty minds. The two of them were still alike in that way.

Cursing herself for letting him get under her skin, she summoned her inner Boss Bitch again. No more blushing like a schoolgirl, when she never blushed. No more thinking they were alike in any way. They weren’t, and she couldn’t let herself forget that.

“I just didn’t want to run you out of Pete’s. It looked like you were having fun back there with Kelly.”

“I’m leaving because I want to leave. It has nothing to do with you, and you flatter yourself to think it does.”

He gave a half-smile and raised his hands. “Okay, okay. I get it.” His eyes slid behind her, and when he looked at her again, they held warmth and pride. “You went out and bought yourself a ’69 Mustang. I’m proud of you for chasing that dream. It’s even green, like you wanted.”

Keeping her stony expression, she searched his eyes. The look in them and the sincerity in his voice threw her off balance. “It wasn’t when I bought it. I had it restored and painted this color. And you don’t get to feel proud of me for anything. You gave up that right eight years ago.”

Inwardly wincing over the last sentence, she nevertheless held her glare steady. She hadn’t meant to bring up the past, or to sound so bitter about it. That time didn’t affect her any longer. He didn’t affect her any longer.

At least, that’s how she wanted it to be. But she was never into lying to herself, not any longer. Lying to herself was how she got into that whole mess with Scott. Brutal honesty from then on out, so she had to admit to herself—Jax still had the power to affect her. But there was absolutely no reason to let him know he did.

“You’re right,” he said softly, stepping closer to her. “But it doesn’t stop me from feeling it. And I don’t deserve it, but I want to earn that right again, Pippy.”

For a sliver of time, her heart stopped and then soared sky high at his words, but she clamped down on it. “Get the fuck out of here with that shit. You’ve turned delusional if you think I’d ever let you back in. How’s that saying go? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. And don’t call me Pippy again, or I’ll rip your nut sack from your body and feed your balls to you, one by one,” she bit out, turning around and getting in her car.

The engine rumbled loudly as she pulled out of the parking spot, and she couldn’t stop herself from glancing in the rearview mirror before turning out of the lot. He was staring after her, hands on his hips, huge and imposing in the darkness of the parking lot. Blowing out a breath, she tightened her hands on the steering wheel, trying to get control of the tremors.

She shouldn’t have gotten so aggressive, shouldn’t have threatened him like that. That was the opposite of calm, impassive, and in control. If she kept saying shit like that, she was going to make it more than obvious that she never got over what he did. That she hadn’t ever truly gotten over him. The admission was painful to admit to herself, but she couldn’t deny the truth of it.

If she’d truly gotten over him and moved on, she wouldn’t lose control of herself and her temper. She’d be able to just walk away without saying shit like that. Fucking hell, this wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.

How the hell was she going to survive a month in the same town as Jax? She had to avoid him. She’d become a hermit, only leaving the house if she needed to go to the bakery or the grocery store, and get everything wrapped up as fast as possible. She needed to get the hell out of this town.

Jax stood still, watching as Piper’s taillights faded in the distance. That had gone about as well as he expected, but at least he stated his intentions. He was going full throttle forward now, despite the threat to his balls.

Lips quirking, he turned to go back inside, stopping short when he saw Cammie leaning against the wall of the bar. “I like her already,” she called, pushing herself upright.

Shaking his head, he walked toward her. “She’s got a mouth on her now,” he muttered.

“But you’re not letting it stop you, are you,” she stated.

“Nope.”

“Just don’t call her Pippy again,” she said with grin. “You’ll lose your ability to produce little eaglets.”

“Haha.”

Her grin faded as she studied him. “So that’s Piper. Your mate.”

He nodded shortly, not saying anything.

“Why didn’t you ever tell us you had a mate, Jax?”

“Wouldn’t have made a difference. Besides, talking about her made it worse.”

“What happened? Why did you break things off?”

“Because I had to,” he answered simply.

“Chatty as ever,” she said with a smirk. “I hope you put in more of an effort to speak when you pursue her.” She quieted for a moment, smile fading as she turned pensive. “I can’t imagine having Alex for years, and then being forced to give him up. I’m not sure I’d be able to.”

“You’re a dragon who can fight fire with fire. I was a scared eagle shifter, barely more than a kid. And they were threatening her, not me. I didn’t think I could protect her from them.”

Eyebrows high, she looked at him in surprise. “Four whole sentences. Wow, I’m impressed. Okay, okay,” she said as he glared. “I guess I can see why you had to walk away. Who is ‘they’?”