Their New Beginning (Oh Captain, My Captain 5)

I roll my eyes. Man, he’s hard headed. “Tomorrow.”

“I’ll hold you to it.”

“Fine, I’m going to clean the kitchen. I’ll be back in a few.”

I walk out of the room and back to the kitchen. As I’m putting everything in the dishwasher, there’s a knock on the door. I figure it’s a teammate to check on Jax, but it’s Regina.

“Hey, what’s up?” I step aside as she walks in with my suitcase. “What are you doing?”

“Well, I’m kicking you out.”

“What?” I yelp in disbelief.

“Yep.” She drops the luggage in the middle of the floor. “See, I figured out something last night. Do you want to hear what?”

“Not–”

“Last night,” she cuts me off loudly. “I saw a wife very concerned for her husband. I also figured out that there might be one more round of fighting in you.”

I cross my arms at her. “There isn’t. Jax and I are done. He will figure it out.”

“So, let me see if I understand this: there’s this guy who you married in six weeks, who you called your ‘soul mate’, who got hurt last night and the first person he wanted to call was the wife who left him. Yeah, that sounds like a guy who wants divorce.”

“Stop, Genie. I mean it. He doesn’t understand that I’m not good for him. Do you know what he told me? He got hurt because he was thinking about me. Does that sound sane?”

“Completely, when the dumb hockey player is in love.”

“Genie–”

“Hey,” she grabs my shoulders. “I’m your smart, very beautiful, slightly older sister, and here is my advice: pull your head out of your ass and talk to your husband.” She kisses my cheek loudly and walks out. Well, I’m now able to relate to Dorothy when she fell out of the tornado into Oz. My sister has always been like that though.

I go upstairs and Jax is asleep. He looks peaceful. The black hair has fallen over his forehead, and his long eyelashes are flared on his cheeks. His full lips are shut tight and I want to kiss them so badly. I miss them. Damn it, I miss him.

I need a drink.

I grab the tray and head back to the kitchen. I grab a bottle of wine, a glass, and sit at the table. After four glasses, and still no closer to figuring out how to keep this divorce going, I go up to the bedroom.

Jax is still asleep, and I don’t want to disturb him. I grab one of his T-shirts and go across the hall to sleep.

~ ~ ~

I jerk awake to see Jax staring down at me.

“Are you okay? Do you need something?” I ask in a groggy voice, trying to wake up.

“What are you doing in here?” His voice is harsh.

“Sleeping. What time is it?” The bedroom is still dark.

“Tomorrow. Time to talk, Avery.”

“Jax, it’s the middle of the night.” I pull the covers up to my chin. “You need to rest. Go to bed. We’ll talk when the suns up.”

“I did rest. In our bedroom. Please? I’m not going to be able to fall asleep anyway.” He lightly tugs the blankets away.

“Do I really have a choice?” I groan.

“No,” he growls.