Page 62 of Reputation (Toronto Royals #1)

Jax had the audacity to laugh. She stopped mid-step, turning her head slowly to look at him. Daggers shot from her eyes at the fact he was finding this funny.

He walked over to her, sinking his fingers into her hair at the back of her neck. “Baby,” he soothed, using his fingers to massage the muscles. Eavie couldn’t stop the moan that sounded from her throat as her eyes closed against the sensation. “I promise they aren’t going to judge you.”

Her lids snapped open, remembering she was annoyed at him. “How do you know?” she asked, brows furrowing.

“Because I’ve mentioned you before.”

His sister’s comment came back to her then. She hadn’t thought about it earlier, too flustered from his family’s sudden appearance as she walked half-naked through his condo. “Thanksgiving,” she murmured again now. He nodded. “Wait, what did you tell them?”

He chuckled again, that crooked smile that made her knees weak appearing on his mouth. “That I thought you were amazing.”

Her mouth dropped open. She hadn’t been expecting that, but the answering swell in her chest made her lean into him slightly.

What does that mean?

Eavie wanted to ask, but there was a knock on the door just then. Jax placed a quick kiss on her lips before he went to answer it. Izzy passed him some folded clothes, eyes landing on Eavie again before he closed the door.

Jax handed them to Eavie, a soft look on his face. “Come on. Put these on and come have brunch with my family. Simon will be here soon with my niece. I promise it’ll be fun.”

She didn’t like this. The whole thing felt out of control, and she fought back her anxiety about the disastrous first impression, but she sighed, relenting. This was important to him, so Eavie would do her best to rectify the morning.

“Fine, but I should probably shower first.” She squeezed her legs together where she could feel a residual stickiness from their activities last night.

Jax’s eyes turned dark as he smiled like the Cheshire Cat.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t give me that look,” she snapped, stomping toward the bathroom.

He’d been right. After the worst possible introduction she could imagine, Eavie came out of his room dressed in a soft, cream-colored sweater and leggings his sister had lent her and done her best to redeem herself.

Thankfully, it hadn’t been too difficult.

His family seemed to get over the incident quickly, although she could still feel his mom observing them.

“So Eavie,” his dad, Paul, said as they finished their full plates of food.

Eavie, at ease in the kitchen and hoping it would redeem her, had helped his mom prepare a large brunch of pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, croissants and sliced bread, the remains of which were nearly gone. “Did you grow up in the city?”

Setting down her coffee cup, she was keenly aware of Jax’s hand on her leg as they sat beside each other. “No, I grew up on a farm about three and a half hours from here,” she answered, smiling at him.

“Really?” Izzy said from across the table. “You grew up in the country?”

Eavie had a feeling his sister was judging her, not that she was surprised. She did the same thing with all her brother’s girlfriends. Not that she was Jax’s girlfriend, she reminded herself.

“I can see it,” Jax answered, smirking. Eavie knew he was picturing her in cowboy boots and booty shorts. She kicked him swiftly under the table as she tried not to blush.

“What kind of farm does your family have?” Simon asked from two seats away. He looked identical to Jax. They were a perfect mix of both their parents. Honestly, talk about good genes.

Simon’s wife, Lucy, was sitting at the end. She was a little shorter than her, but where Eavie had light hair and fair skin, Lucy was the exact opposite. Their daughter, Joey, was between Simon and Eavie.

“Dairy, mostly, but we have a few crop fields. We also have a stable with five horses, some pigs, chickens, and a rescue goat named Geralt.”

“Geralt?” Jax asked. “Like from The Witcher ?”

“Yep. Growing up, my brother and I loved the books, and when we rescued him, we bestowed him with the name. He’s the funniest creature you’ve ever met, drives the chickens mad.”

“Wow,” Jax said with a huge smile on his face. “You’re such a nerd.”

She tossed her head back and laughed. “Yeah,” Eavie said, turning her head to look at Jax. “But since you got the reference right away, I believe that would make you one too.”

“Touché,” he said, smiling at her. Next to Eavie, she heard Simon smother a chuckle.

They continued their staring contest until Andrea, his mother, cleared her throat.

Eavie looked away quickly, but she could feel Jax still watching her.

When Eavie looked around the table, all eyes were focused on them, amusement glinting from the various colors, even his mother’s.

Eavie had expected to see judgment at their openly flirting in front of his family.

To her surprise, as Andrea’s eyes moved back and forth between them, she was smiling.

They lapsed back into polite conversation, but Eavie found it hard to concentrate as Jax’s fingers rubbed small circles on her inner thigh. She could feel the heat of his hand through the material, and it drove her mad.

Holding herself still, despite wanting to squirm every time his finger brushed too close to the center of her, she focused on his family.

They were genuinely warm people and reminded her of family dinners with her own. His sister was a ball of fire, and Eavie knew she would break men’s hearts left and right when she was a little older. His dad was so sweet, she could see where Jax got his kindness from.

“You look like a Barbie,” came the small voice from Eavie’s right.

Turning, she smiled down at Joey, a laugh resonating in her chest. “Why, thank you,” she answered, assuming the little girl had meant it as a compliment.

“I’m sorry,” said Lucy from the end of the table. “She just turned three and received her first Barbie. She’s a little obsessed.”

“It’s okay,” Eavie said with a slight shake of her head. Looking back down into Joey’s curious dark eyes, she asked, “Which Barbie do you think I look like?”

“The ballerina one,” she said, giving her a wide smile.

There were various laughs around the table as Eavie nodded, lips pursing thoughtfully. “That’s a good one, but I was never really a dancer.”

“I always thought she looked like Cinderella,” Jax offered helpfully, leaning behind her to look at his niece.

Joey’s eyes lit up as they went wide as saucers, her smile somehow growing bigger. “You do,” she whispered reverently.

Eavie turned an annoyed look at Jax. “Thanks for that,” she muttered to him, but there was no heat to it. She couldn’t complain about the comparison. Even though she’d told him not to call her that, secretly, she liked it. Cinderella had been one of the first princesses she had been introduced to.

“I told you, if the shoe fits,” Jax answered smugly.

Eavie shook her head, but as she turned back to face the rest of his family, Jax leaned in, kissing her cheek.

She blushed up to her hairline as she reached for her coffee again. Around the table, the men began talking about—shockingly—hockey. The subject, something she was well versed in, gave Eavie a moment to settle herself. They were debating the strength of teams to date in the league.

“Columbus is looking pretty sharp,” said Paul. “Same with a bunch of mid-west teams. The next couple of years should be interesting across the board.”

“Yes, but we don’t have to worry about those teams until playoffs.”

“Detroit too,” added Simon. “With all the picks they had to trade for the draft this year, they acquired a big line-up. I bet we see them in playoff range for a couple years.”

“Not necessarily,” Eavie piped in, taking a sip of her coffee.

“I mean, obviously forwards are important, but if you ask me, Detroit overloaded. In two years, those contracts are going to give them cap issues and management will be after a bunch of rentals if they want to make the playoffs.” Her lips twisted as she shook her head.

“It’ll jeopardize the strength of their defense this year too.

Watch, around February when injuries start piling up, they’ll drop in the standings.

I think Carolina is the team to watch this year in terms of the Royal’s division. ”

Silence circled the table when she finished.

Glancing up, Eavie looked around the dining room, wondering why she could suddenly hear a pin drop.

Every set of eyes was turned toward her, causing nerves to jumble in her stomach.

She swung her gaze to Jax. His annoyingly handsome face was split in the biggest, most satisfied grin she had ever seen.

“What?” Eavie asked.

“You’re incredible,” Jax said, his eyes taking on a gleam that had her heart racing. He cupped the back of her neck, pulling her mouth to his for a quick, hard kiss.

Heat flared up Eavie’s cheeks, but she smiled dopily at him when he pulled back.

Jax left his hand on the back of her neck, his fingers dancing up and down the tendon, as he turned back to his dad and brother, picking up the conversation. “She’s right,” he began, making something warm and gooey melt in her stomach.

That is, until she looked up and was met with three pairs of eyes staring at her.

As Jax continued talking, Eavie blinked across the table, where Andrea and Izzy were watching her with identical assessing looks while Lucy observed her from the end of the table, head cocked like she was trying to figure out an anomaly.

Unsure what to do, she sat there awkwardly. Lucy was the gentle one, as she had discovered. Izzy was fierce and fiery, a force to be reckoned with.