point of pain as he gazed at me in desperation.
“I have to say it. And I need you to hear it,” he said, darkness unfolding within his bright blue eye which was pinned on me. “You can give her what she always wanted. She needs a home. This is it.”
“And what about Fox?” I whispered. “Where does he factor in? Because the last time I checked, he was willing to kill to keep anyone else’s hands off of her. Maybe you were right before, Ace, maybe what I did is gonna destroy us. Or maybe we’re gonna forget we were ever together and she’ll end up in Fox’s arms and he’ll never let go.”
“Bullshit. She looks at you like you’re breaking her heart. So stop breaking it and just work it out. Find a way, JJ,” he growled. “And make Fox understand.”
“He’ll shoot me,” I scoffed.
“He didn’t shoot me,” he tossed back.
“That’s different,” I murmured, my temple pulsing at the memory of seeing my brother on his knees.
“Well tell me this, J, are you gonna just let her go? Give her up and forget you ever loved her?” he asked with a razor sharp edge to his tone.
I was already shaking my head. “You know I can’t forget her.”
“So take it from someone who knows what regret is, if you love her then find a way to keep her. And if you love Fox, then find a way to keep him too. Clearly I don’t have advice on how to achieve any of that. But I suggest you start by doing the exact opposite of anything I’d do.”
“Ace…” I sighed, but then the door pushed open and Rogue appeared with a tray of coffees and Mutt bounding along behind her.
Chase gave me a look that told me to talk to her as she placed the coffees down on the nightstand.
“I got you a gift,” she said, biting her lip as she looked at Chase and reached into her denim shorts’ pocket. She produced a black eyepatch, dangling it on her finger enticingly.
“No,” Chase said dismissively as he stared at it and I snorted a laugh.
“Oh come on, it’ll suit you, Ace, and you can only keep that dressing on like another day anyway,” she insisted. “Ooh unless you wanna go all Scarface on the world?” Her eyes lit up at that idea, biting her bottom lip as if she liked it. He thought on her words before snatching the eyepatch from her and staring at it in his palm with a dark frown.
My chest tugged at his expression and I hated how he looked so disgusted by it. Then he shoved it under his pillow and looked away from her. She grabbed a glass of milk from her tray along with two pills, moving onto the bed beside him and pushing them between his lips. He didn’t look at her as she poured the milk into his mouth and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. But then she leaned in, pressing her mouth to his cheek and his good eye slid onto her, staring, fucking captivated and shattered at once. Then he looked at me with an expression that told me to fix my shit with her and I couldn’t deny him anything in that moment.
I took her hand as she leaned back and Mutt jumped up, settling himself in beside Chase and shutting his eyes, not quite touching him as he stacked his little front paws on top of one another.
“We need to talk,” I told Rogue, tugging her to her feet and she looked about to protest but I just towed her out of the room and didn’t give her the choice.
“Sorry I’m all out of cash, JJ, I can’t afford a fuck this morning,” she said bitterly as I walked her straight into her room and kicked the door shut behind us.
I let her go and strode away to my room, returning a beat later with the cash she’d given me to pay the bill I’d handed her. Fuck, I felt like a cunt for that. I had to try and fix it.
“Here.” I strode up to her and she folded her arms and glared at me.
“No thanks,” she said lightly as I held it out to her.
“It’s yours. I’m not keeping it. I was a fucking piece of shit to you, and I wish I’d never handed you that bill. It was a shitty thing to do.”
“Yup, it was,” she said and I waved the cash