Page 68 of Broken Bonds

He also, unfortunately, dons a T-shirt.

Boo.

“Jax stopped by again today,” he says.

There’s just… something in his tone that completely kills my chub. “Yeah?”

“A couple of complications have arisen.”

My blood chills. “What kind of complications?”

“I’m not at liberty to say. But it will likely delay your initiation.”

Heavy knots twist in my guts. “Is someone objecting to me?”

“No, nothing like that. It’s not because of you; it’s a separate but tangentially related issue.”

I’m not sure if I should relax or not. “Having to do with my father?”

“It’s a wider issue. There may be a little overlap with your personal situation, but this larger situation is not because of you.”

I take a long pull from my beer. “He’d better not fuck this up for me,” I grumble. “Then he’ll have to kill me, because I refuse to go back to the way things were.”

Todd looks like he wants to say something, but then gets up to check the food on the grill. A few minutes later, we’re sitting down to delicious grub.

He speaks. “I will not break my oath of silence to my friend, much less to my pack Alpha.” He’s picking his words carefully as he spears pieces of chopped, roasted carrot with his fork. “Things are on hold with you right now until Jax gets more information. And that’s nothing you’ve done wrong,” he quickly adds. “But combined with this other recent development, which I can’t talk about, he’s worried for everyone’s safety if he moves too quickly without gathering more intel first.”

Yes, I’m certain he was trying to put me at ease, help me relax, but…

Nope.

“Would it be easier on everyone if I leave?” I quietly ask.

“No!” he says, eyes wide before he composes himself. “Please, no. You’re safe here, at least for the immediate future. But do me a favor and don’t go into town without either clearing it with me first or asking me to go with you. There isn’t any obvious danger right now, but we need to initiate safety protocols so we don’t fuck up when there is danger. If there’s danger,” he adds.

It’s hard to keep my mind on the meal and the conversation between my stupid cock’s attraction to Todd and my mind mulling over what potential dangers are out there that have Jax slowing things down.

We spend over an hour eating and chatting, and I help him clean up the kitchen afterward.

“You all right?” he asks, the concern in his brown gaze nearly driving me to tears.

“I don’t want people to get hurt because of me,” I admit, then bitterly laugh. “I can’t even go get laid to distract me.”

He sucks his teeth. “When I talked to Jax, he gave me revised guidelines.”

“Guidelines?”

“He would prefer we don’t fuck-fuck, but nearly anything else is on the table. As long as you’re willing, obviously.”

His intense gaze burns into mine, and I watch him watching me lick my lips because now my mouth is dry. “Like what?” I ask, barely able to speak.

He smiles and, yes, that chubs me again. “Would you like to see the fun room?”

Chapter Thirty-One

Jax

Reality Check