Page 49 of Somewhere Only We Know (Healing in Cincy #4)

NATE

T he music gets turned up and soon the girls are swallowed by the crowd. I turn my focus back to the table and see them all with raised eyebrows and barely contained smiles.

“What?” I ask.

“It’s weird seeing you smile so much.” Chance says and takes a pull of his drink.

My brows furrow and I look at him. “I smile.”

“No. You brood. You’re broody. Or at least you were until you married Jax. Now you just look like a lost puppy when she’s not next to you.” Bryce says while he bounces to the music.

Mason, Adam, and Riley all snort at Bryce’s comparison of me. Jax and I have done a poor job in integrating ourselves with them and I make a mental note to change that. They’re with women that Jax adores and looks up to. By proxy that means the guys should become my friends as well.

“I think they all bring our gooey side out,” Riley chimes in from across the table .

“From what I heard, you were already gooey.” Mason pipes up and Riley shrugs agreeingly while looking at Mason with stars in his eyes.

I can’t blame him. Even though Mason retired due to a career-ending injury, he’s still a legend in the sports world.

Hell, I even look up to him and he’s my brother-in-law.

Our attention turns back to the dance floor, which has gotten exceedingly more crowded. I don’t know why, but something seems off.

“I’m gonna go dance with my wife.” I say and push off from the table.

“Right behind you.” I hear.

I weave through dancing couples and dodge grabbing hands.

The lights in here are dark enough that whoever you’re dancing with won’t scare you off.

But, unfortunately, also dark enough that anything can happen without you seeing.

I keep walking until I see Jax and my body relaxes.

Until I see some guy holding onto her arm.

“Shit.” Riley says when he comes up behind me.

“Who is that?”

“Her ex.”

My steps get more determined. Brushing past everyone to get to my wife, I look over what I can see of him. From his scuffed shoes to the black jeans that have seen better days with the T-shirt that has the club's logo covering the back and ‘STAFF’ printed on the bottom.

“Let me go.” I faintly hear Jax say over the music.

I’m not sure what he says to her but her face goes ghostly white and I see Jax try to break free from his hold.

“Get your hands off of my wife.” I say when I reach them. My hands form a fist as I hold them at my side. My first inclination is to hit first, talk second. But his grip on Jax is strong and the last thing I want is to hurt her .

Jax swallows and when he turns, my eyes go to their point of contact and I see red.

“Who the hell are you?” Her ex sneers.

“Her husband. Now get your fucking hands off my wife.”

In my anger, I note that the sound in the room has dulled and my body heats from eyes on us. I’m usually a fly under the radar type of guy. But in this instance, I’m not.

“You married him?” Her slime ball ex asks with a sneer.

I step closer, angling my body between them so I’m slightly in front of Jax. “I won’t tell you again. Get. Your. Fucking. Hands. Off. My. Wife.”

“Do I need to hit you again?” Riley asks as he steps up.

Jax lets out a gasp of pain and I feel her body tense. I look down to see the death grip tighten on her arm.

I smile, but it doesn’t reach my eyes. My hand reaches out to her ex’s other arm and I squeeze. His eyes meet mine, wide and terrified. “You now have five seconds to let go of my wife or I will not hesitate to lay you out on this floor.”

I start my countdown. The crowd around us has their eyes and phones pointed at us. It’s a good thing my publicist is here.

“...2.”

His grip tightens on Jax and she whimpers.

“...1.”

I don’t even have a chance to raise a fist before he’s sprawled on the floor. Looking over I see Bryce shaking out his hand. Security barrels through the crowd and picks her ex up off the floor and carts him out. I still want to know how he got in.

“What the hell?” I question my teammate.

“He should’ve taken his hands off your wife when you first told him to.” Bryce looks at me and then to Jax all the while flexing his hand. In a breath he pushes through the crowd and Sophie and Chance follow him.

What was that? I ask myself.

“Nate, can we go?” Jax asks from next to me.

I gently place my hands on her shoulder and look her over. Then I take her arm into my hand and note the fingerprints that have already left a mark and I know it’ll bruise. We’ll ice it when we get home.

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” I murmur.

“Don’t.” Jax says and steps closer. “I just wanna go home. Or maybe find Bryce?”

I wrap my arm around her shoulders and kiss her on the top of the head. Her arm goes around my waist and I make sure the others are in range and ready to go. We push through the crowd and head to the coat check.

“Hi, I’m Donovan, the manager. I want to express my deepest apologies for what happened. Trent has been let go effective immediately.”

“Thank you.” I tell him and help Jax get in her coat.

He hands me his card. “If you ever come back, it’s on the house.”

“Thank you.” I tell him again and pocket his card, doubtful that we’ll ever come back because if they can hire my wife’s ex, then who knows who they’ll hire. Are background checks not a thing anymore? I pull out my phone on a whim and see a text from Chance.

Chance: Turn right and we’re at the end of the block.

With my arm wrapped around Jax’s shoulder, we head outside and turn to the right.

The line to get in is long and I don’t miss all of the whispers about seeing us out and about.

It’s not unusual to see athletes around town.

But we do tend to hibernate when it gets closer to getting ready for spring training.

And when we’re all in season, you won’t catch any of us dead out on the town.

“Chance,” I call out when we reach the corner.

He untangles himself from Sophie and heads our way. Behind him I can see Bryce shaking out his hand and Sophie trying to talk him down.

“I don’t–” Chance begins, but loses his words.

“Can I talk to him?” Jax pipes up. She’s not said more than a handful of words since we zoomed out.

“Are you sure?”

Jax nods and pulls herself away from me.

I watch them with furrowed brows as she approaches him.

Bryce stops pacing, his face relaxes, and whatever Jax says to him has my friend blinking back tears.

He tells her something that has her head tilting in what looks like understanding.

Everything in me wants to join her. Join them.

To also tell him that his actions were justified.

When his head drops, my wife steps forward and wraps her small arms around him.

Jax has always been a master at comforting people, it’s just who she is.

They must still be talking in their embrace because I see each of their heads nodding.

Her presence and the way she is with her words has people opening up to her.

It’s what makes Jax so special. It’s what makes her, her.

Later that night, Jax and I are laying in bed.

The OC is playing on a loop and the light from the TV bathes her in a blue light.

After the incident at the club, we all decided that it was time to call it.

I haven’t wanted to push her for what she talked about with Bryce, but the not knowing is killing me.

I’ve never been a nosy person. But seeing my wife and friend bond in a way I didn’t think they would, has me wanting to know everything.

“I know you wanna ask,” Jax says. Her fingers have been tracing over my tattoos, focusing mainly on the bees.

“Is Bryce okay?”

She lets out a deep sigh, pausing her tracing before starting up again. “Yes and no. He has a twin sister.”

“He does?” I ask completely surprised.

“Bub, how well do you know Bryce?”

I rub my hand up and down her back and mindlessly watch what’s happening on the screen. “Apparently not well enough. I’ve played with the guy for years and as open as he is, he’s never opened up.”

“Well, how open were you?” Jax turns that around on me and I groan.

“Exactly. Baby, even the happiest people can have the darkest memories. They can be the cheerleader, the class clown, the go-to guy, and they can be an All-Star. But you never know what people are hiding behind that. What they’re hiding behind the jokes and the smiles. That’s Bryce.”

I blink and swallow hard. “Was it like that with you?” I don’t have to clarify when I meant. Jax knows.

“No. I never made it a secret to those who knew me. My parents saw the aftermath of you. And surprisingly, so did Kamryn. Even in my sister’s worst period of fighting with Liam and then losing him, she saw me.”

I kiss the top of her head. I’ve apologized more times than I can count. I’ve made sure my actions backed up my words so that Jax knew that I was hers, that I’m staying. But no matter how much time passes, the guilt will still be there.

“Bryce’s twin sister was in an abusive relationship with his best friend. They were in high school when it started.” Jax lets out an aggrieved sigh. “He beats himself up for not helping his sister. For listening to his friend when he mentioned how clumsy she was.”

“What?”

“I know. I think that’s why he’s so lively all the time. He wants that joy. He wants to see the good instead of the bad. So tonight was a trigger for him.”

“I’ve been a terrible friend,” I say.

Jax sits up and straddles my lap but not in a way that could lead to more. “Don’t do that. Don’t beat yourself up for not knowing Bryce’s past.”

“But if I would’ve asked–”

“Then what, baby? Would you have tried to change it?”

I look at Jax. Her silhouette is framed by the TV light and she looks like an angel. Not the best thought to have while talking about this. But hey, she’s in sleepwear and on my lap.

“No. I guess you’re right.”

“I know I am.” Jax says and slides off my lap. “Maybe now you can just be a better friend to Bryce. He’s all alone out here. I won’t be opposed to you hanging out with him more.”

I tickle her sides. “Thank you for the permission.”

“Anytime.” She says with a yawn.

“Sleep, Bee.” I tell her and kiss her on the lips before turning off the television.

With the room bathed in darkness, Sully in the corner on her bed snoring, my mind runs a marathon.

I think back to every instance and interaction with Bryce.

He’s always been my goofy friend. But then I think back to celebrities who hid behind humor because the darkness was threatening to take over.

I don’t want that for my friend. We leave for spring training in two weeks and I promise to myself to do what I can to be the best friend that Bryce can have.