Tex (Hell's Ankhor #5) - Aiden Bates Page 0,78

a private moment, just for us.

20

Jazz

The next day, I lingered in the clubhouse until mid-morning. I hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep—I’d been on watch duty overnight, ending my shift around four. I’d grabbed a few hours of shut-eye, but didn’t want to sleep away the day, especially with Crave unaccounted for. So I’d gotten up at the same time as Tex—I’d crashed in his bed, still addicted to the closeness—and followed him downstairs.

He had the early shift, patrolling the clubhouse perimeter. Before he’d left, though, he’d taken his Stetson off and given me an easy goodbye kiss in front of most of the inner circle. The openness of the gesture had warmed me, and settled something anxious that still rattled in my chest.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and joined the guys on the back porch. There wasn’t a lot on the schedule today. Maverick and Jonah were in the shop, but the rest of the inner circle who weren’t on shift were still kicking around the clubhouse. Even Rebel had crashed in one of the upstairs rooms, unwilling to return to the police station until we had a better idea of where Crave was.

Blade, Logan, and Gunnar were on the back porch with coffee in hand. It was a clear day, and the sunlight took some of the edge of my sleepiness off.

“Heya, Jazz.” Gunnar nodded at the chair next to him. “You send Tex off for his patrol?”

I nodded. “He got a little more sleep than me.”

Logan grinned. “I’m happy you two worked things out.”

I felt my cheeks warm up, but I ducked my chin gratefully. “Me, too.”

“So what are you thinking?” Blade asked.

“About what?” I deflected.

“About Tex,” Blade said. He narrowed his eyes. “It seems new for him. Doesn’t seem new to you.”

In hindsight, I was sure it had been obvious to the other members of the club since we’d shown up in their territory. I’d never had a relationship during the five years I was a member before I got locked up. I picked guys up here and there, sure, but nothing ever lasted more than a night. And Tex was straight, but we were attached at the hip. It didn’t take a genius to notice that I might’ve been carrying a torch.

I sighed, set my coffee at my feet, and carded my fingers through my hair. “It’s not.”

“How long?” Logan asked.

“Nearly as long as I’ve known him,” I admitted. “Ten years? At least.”

Blade whistled low. “Yeah, that’s a little bit of a discrepancy.”

My chest twisted. “I know. But he doesn’t know. I’m worried I’ll scare him off, you know? I’ve wanted this for so long, and he’s only just now figuring it out. What if I push too hard, or come on too strong? I don’t know how much space he needs.”

Gunnar shrugged. “He doesn’t seem like a guy running scared to me.”

I glanced up. “What do you mean?”

Gunnar sighed and ran the flat of his hand over his short blond hair. “Just because it took him some time to figure things out doesn’t mean he feels it any less strongly than you do. He wasn’t himself when you were gone, Jazz.”

Blade nodded in agreement. “It was like he was in a fog. He was distracted all the time—couldn’t connect with anybody. I hardly saw him flirt with any women the whole time.”

“Me neither,” Gunnar agreed. “And it’s not like girls didn’t try.”

“His brain might not have fully wrapped around what he’s feeling,” Logan said, “but I think his heart has. I can see it in the way he looks at you.”

I blinked hard and stared out at the dartboard hanging on the tree in the backyard so they wouldn’t see the redness in my eyes. “So then why’d you place your bet on such a late date, Logan?” I asked, half-joking.

Gunnar barked a laugh. “That’s what I said! The moon-eyes you and Tex were giving each other, I swear I thought it was going to play out way earlier than it did.”

“Because,” Logan answered primly, as if Gunnar hadn’t interrupted, “Some of the guys in this club have a tendency to be a little bullheaded.”

“If I remember correctly, you were the bullheaded one when we got together,” Blade noted casually.

“I wasn’t being bullheaded,” Logan said, “I was being smart.”

“All right, all right,” Gunnar said through a laugh. “We’re all just happy you worked it out. You two have acted like a married couple for as long as I’ve known you, anyway.”

I couldn’t