Page 36 of For the Promise (The Raider Brothers #2)

“I should have learned to pick a lock when my brothers offered to teach me.” ~ Jaxon

Jaxon

“A re you seriously asking what you did wrong?” Eli asks.

“Even I know what you did wrong,” Miles says.

I lift my glasses to massage the bridge of my nose. “Can we stop with the riddles? Just tell me what I did wrong.”

“Dude.” Miles shakes his head. “You hurt her.”

My heart squeezes. I don’t want Blossom to ever hurt. “It’s probably for the better.”

“Are you shitting me right now?” Rhett growls. “That woman loves you, and you love her. You need to fix this.”

“But she left the minute things got tough.” I shake my head. “She’ll never stay with me.”

Eli sighs. “I should have realized this.”

My brow furrows. “Realized what?”

“You’re afraid of being abandoned since Dad left us.”

I scowl. “I am not afraid. ”

“Which is why you’re sitting here discussing this with us instead of running after the woman you love.”

I bristle. “I don’t love Blossom.”

“If you don’t go after her now, she’s never going to forgive you. You’ll have lost her forever,” Rhett says and my stomach drops to the floor.

I can’t imagine a life without Blossom in it. Her smiles that light up a room, her goofy pranks, her ability to make friends with everyone she meets. She doesn’t care how much of a nerd I am. She teases me about it until I kiss her. And then she explodes with passion.

It’s a passion I want to experience every night for the rest of my life. While spending my days with her. Damn. Rhett’s right. I do love her. And Eli’s right, too. I was afraid she’d leave me.

So, I pushed her away. I ignored her for two days, knowing how much it hurt her. And then I declared my intention to get an annulment when what I actually want is to stay married to her until we’re old and gray.

Eli grins. “He’s getting it.”

“What do I do?” I ask. “I can’t lose her.”

Kai shoves me out of my seat. “Go after her. Chase her. Show her you chose her.”

I scan the bar. “Where did she go?”

I was asking my brothers, but practically everyone in the bar points to the rear hallway. I don’t hesitate. The crowd parts for me as I run to the hallway .

The restrooms, Harper’s office, and a storage room are here. I ignore the restrooms and the office. The storage room has a secret exit. I bet she’s there. When I place my ear against the door, I hear muffled voices. Found you.

I knock. “Blossom! Can we talk?”

I wait a few moments but when she doesn’t respond, I knock again. “Blossom. Can we talk, please?”

She still doesn’t respond, so I try the door. It’s locked. Should I ask one of my brothers to pick the lock? Before I can decide, I hear a shuffle. Shit. She’s escaping through the back door.

I phone her, knowing she can’t stand to ignore a call but I guess she can make an exception when it’s me, since she doesn’t answer.

I bang on the door. “Blossom!”

The door flies open but it’s not Blossom. Dakota and Paisley glare at me.

“Where did she go? I need to make this right.”

Dakota crosses her arms over her chest. “You hurt her. I don’t care if you’re my boyfriend’s brother. I’m going to hurt you in return.”

“I didn’t mean to.”

“Have you realized your mistakes?” Paisley asks, and I nod. “And you’re ready to fight for her? She needs someone to fight for her.”

“I’m ready.” And I am ready. I was a fool who treated her poorly because I was afraid. I should have spoken to her and explained my fears.

“She’s at Prohibition Beach. ”

“Prohibition Beach?” Shit. It’s the beach we had Eli’s sixteenth birthday party at before Dad left us. I never go there. I don’t want the reminder. But losing Blossom is not an option.

Paisley squeezes my shoulder. “Fight for her, Jaxon. Show me I made the right decision in telling you where she is. Because she’s going to give me a load of shit for it.”

“I will.” I motion to the secret exit. “Lock up after me?”

I don’t wait for her agreement before rushing to the whiskey bottle and pulling it forward. There’s a click before the fake wall moves out of the way to reveal the secret exit. I rush outside and down the alley.

People wave and greet me as I run to the boardwalk but I ignore them. I need to hurry. I have to get to Blossom.

When I reach Prohibition Beach, there’s a lone figure huddled on the sand near the shore. “Blossom,” I call as I approach.

She stands to face off with me. Her cheeks are stained with tears and her eyes are puffy and bloodshot from crying. Fuck. I did this to her. I hurt her.

“I’m sorry.”

She leans her head back and shouts to the sky. “Enough with the sorry. It didn’t mean anything when my parents died. It doesn’t mean anything now.”

“I shouldn’t have said we can get an annulment in front of my family.”

She scowls. “In front of your family?”

“I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You think you hurt me because you spoke in front of your family?” She shakes her head. “Leave. Just go. ”

“I’m not going anywhere until we figure this out.”

“What is there to figure out? I love you, but you want an annulment. There’s nothing to figure out.”

My heart stops beating. “You love me?”

She rolls her eyes. “Duh. I realized I loved you when you went along with my crazy idea to prank your brothers. Although.” Her nose wrinkles.

“I knew I was falling in love with you before then. Probably from the moment you rushed me to the courthouse to marry me to stop Alan from stealing my money.”

Warmth spreads through me at her words. All is not lost. I reach for her but she bats my hands away.

“Don’t touch me, Jaxon.”

I cringe at her use of my given name instead of her nickname for me.

“Petal—”

“Don’t call me Petal. I’m not your petal. I’m not your anything. You want an annulment, remember?”

“I’m an idiot.”

“If you expect me to disagree with you, you’re going to be waiting a long time.”

I’d smile at her sass, but I’m afraid she’ll throw me in the ocean if I do.

“I don’t expect you to agree with me. I expect you’ll disagree with me often in the future.”

She frowns. “Future. What future? We’re getting an annulment, remember? ”

“I don’t want an annulment. I love you. I want you to be my wife.”

Her mouth drops open. “You love me? You have a weird way of showing it.”

This time, when I reach for her, she allows me to take her hands. “I love you but I was afraid.”

“Of me?” She lifts her eyebrows. “I’ve never been accused of being scary before. Except for the time I dressed up as Jason, but it was Halloween and my friends dared me.”

“I’m not afraid of you. I was afraid you’d leave me.”

“Where was I…” She trails off and swears underneath her breath. “I’m an idiot. I should have realized.”

I squeeze her hands. “How were you supposed to realize when I didn’t?”

“Because I have more social skills than a sea cucumber.”

I frown. “I have social skills.”

“Jaxon, my nerd boy, I love you with all my heart, but social skills and personal awareness are not in your wheelhouse.”

“You love me with all your heart?”

“I do. And I know you. It all makes sense now. Why you’ve never invited me to your house. Why you ignored me for the past two days. Why you asked for an annulment. You were afraid to fall too deeply in love with me because you have abandonment issues.”

I clear my throat. “First of all, I never invited you to my house because I don’t care about my house. It’s a place I sleep. It’s not my home. ”

“Good. Because I’ve driven by a few times and I am not a lover of split levels.”

“And, secondly, I asked for an annulment because we agreed to get our marriage annulled after Alan dropped the lawsuit. We never discussed changing the agreement.”

“Except we had sex and started dating and fell in love.”

I frown. “I didn’t want to assume.”

“Let’s make a deal.”

“What kind of deal?” I ask with my heart in my throat. Is she going to break up with me? She said she loved me.

“Neither one of us will make assumptions about what the other is thinking or feeling from now on.”

“I will agree to this deal if you’ll put my ring back on your finger.”

“You don’t want an annulment?”

“Nope. I want you. I want to be married to the woman I love.”

“We did things backward. We got married and then we fell in love.”

I press a kiss to her lips. “I don’t care.”

She smiles and it warms my heart. I have her back, my Petal. She tugs her hand from mine and wiggles it at me.

“Ring, please. And then we can make out.”

“I’m not having sex on this beach.”

She smirks. “Famous last words.”