JAX (Breaking the Declan Brothers #1) (17 page)
Read JAX (Breaking the Declan Brothers #1) Online
Authors: Kelly Gendron
I take a step forward.
“We’ll meet you in the back,” Rayna says before her and a snickering Lurlene head through the door.
I slowly walk over to the gorgeous man standing behind the bar as I feel everyone in the room watching me. But my eyes never leave Jax’s. I drop my purse on the bar. “Well, it’s about time you said it,” I say, a smile tugging at my lips. “But really, Jax, did you have to tell the entire bar? I didn’t think you were one for an audience.”
He lifts his hands with a shrug. “I thought it’s what a princess would want,” he says, those dark eyes twinkling down at me.
“What,” I tilt my head, “to have her knight in shining armor profess his love for her in front of a bar full of people?”
“Hey now,” a sexy smile slithers across his delicious mouth, instantly melting my heart. “I’m not claiming to be a knight—”
“Oh, baby,” I lean across the bar, “you’re no knight, and you’re certainly no prince charming.” I latch my hand around his neck and pull him to me. “But what woman really wants any of those guys, when she has the best damn pie eater in Galveston County?” I kiss him as I hear the cheering and clapping behind me. I sway back from the kiss with a smile. “And, Jax Declan, I love you, too.” My cheeks flush when the clapping gets even louder. I have to admit, gazing into Jax’s affectionate eyes, the princess in me secretly loves his romantic gesture.
Rusty leans over and whispers something into Jax’s ear. His face goes from elated to anxious.
“What’s wrong,” I say the look on Jax’s face concerns me to the bone.
“Slate’s on tonight,” he says.
“I thought you said that he wasn’t fighting tonight.” I glance behind me, knowing Rayna’s probably going to have a hard time watching him fight.
“One of the fighters had to cancel so he decided to step in his place.”
“Shit,” I bite my bottom lip. “I need to get in there for Rayna, but Jax, I want you to know,” I tip up and kiss him, again. “We’ll work things out. I promise, we will.”
“Wait,” he grabs my arm, “before you go, there’s something that I need to tell you about Slate…”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
I push the door open. The music blares. I hear them announcing the fighters. Oh, God! I hope I’m not too late. I’m gonna kill Jax for not telling me sooner. I need to reach Rayna before she sees Slate. My heart slams against my chest as I push my way through the crowd. It feels like it takes forever to reach the front. I see her and Lurlene, and I look up at the ring. Shit! I’m too late.
I grab Rayna’s shoulder and spin her around. Dammit. Her eyes are bright red, tears stream down her pasty white face. Her body is shaking. “Emmie,” she gasps. “Oh my God!” She lifts a trembling hand over her mouth. “No,” she cries. I reach for her, but she pushes me away. “No!” She shakes her hands. “No! No! No!”
“Rayna,” I try to grab her. Hold her. Comfort her.
“No!” She clenches my shirt and pulls me against her. “Tell me, Emmie. You tell me right now, what happened to my Slate?”
COMING 2015
“When you’re dead inside, pain becomes your friend, a sort of dependable comfort. When you feel it, a small part of you is reminded that you’re still alive.”
~ Slate Declan
First loves, we all got them. Mine is Slate Declan. He was kind, gentle, and caring. Still, he managed to break my heart. So I put miles between us, and eventually, my heart healed.
I haven’t seen Slate in years, but a couple of friends and I are going back to the Bayou for the summer. And while I’m visiting my hometown, I’m going to look up Slate Declan. And I plan to break his heart, just as he did mine. It’ll be easy. After I remind him of what he has lost, all I will need then is to prove to him that I’ve moved on.
Slate, however, is not the guy I left behind, and there’s another problem. How do you break someone’s heart when they no longer have one?
Breaking
the Declan Brothers
PROLOGUE
My eyelids slowly descend, body tingles all over, muscles drop, and my skin starts to itch. Fucking finally, those damn hydros that I popped are kickin’ in. I settle into the chair in the doctor’s waiting room, rest my head against the wall, and just as I’m about to give into the high, I hear a sweet little voice.
“What happen?”
Lids heavy, as if someone’s holding them down, I struggle to open my eyes to find a blue-eyed, blonde haired girl wearing a t-shirt with a glittery butterfly on it. She’s five, maybe six. I stare at her unsure if she’s a drug induced figment of my imagination or if she’s real.
“What happened,” she asks again, pointing her tiny finger at me, “right there?”
Not needing to look at what she’s referring to, I smile. “That’s where I got kissed by the devil.”
“Huh.” She rests her small hands on her hips. “That devil, he must really like you. He sure did kiss you a lot.” Her face scrunches up as if she smelled something raunchy. “It’s ugly.”
Gotta love kids. They always speak the truth. “Yeah, it sure ain’t pretty,” I agree.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she waves a hand at me. “My momma says that no matter what, she’ll always love me.”
I gaze down at her through the thin slit of my eyes. “Well, kid, I ain’t got no momma.”
“What about a wife?” She tilts her head. “Got one of those, ‘cause they’re supposed to love you no matter what, too.”
“Nope, ain’t got one of those either.”
“Uh-oh, mister,” her eyes go wide, mouth dropping open, “what are you gonna do,” she says as though I’m just too damn ugly for anyone to love. Hell, not only is she honest, but the little shit’s smart, too.
I grin down at her. “Well, I guess I’m just gonna have to keep hanging out with that devil, now ain’t I.”
“I wouldn’t,” her tiny, perky nose wrinkles, “not if he’s gonna keep kissin’ ya like that.”
I laugh, hearing the girl’s mother calling after her. The girl shrugs, offers me a short wave then turns and runs on over to the mother who’s gonna love her no matter what. I chuckle, giving into the weight of my lids, and close my eyes. Finally, the effects of the hydros take over my wasted body.
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