Breathe with Me (With Me in Seattle, #7)(41)



“I like looking at you,” I whisper.

“Good. I like looking at you too.” He chuckles and kisses my hair then rubs my back soothingly. “Is Jax here?”

“I don’t know. I never heard him come home.” I cross to the bed and check my phone. “There aren’t any messages from him.”

Mark and I have just finished pulling on our clothes when I hear the front door burst open.

“My bags are ready!” Jax calls out on his way past my bedroom to his.

“He’s home now,” I say and laugh as I jog out into the hallway. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Logan and I… uh… overslept.”

“Right.”

“Shut up.”

“I like him.” I lean my shoulder on his doorjam and cross my arms over my chest as he gathers his toiletries and throws them in a bag. “He’s nice. And he’s hot.”

“I heard that!” Mark calls from my bedroom, making me laugh.

“He’s not as hot as you!” I call back.

“We’re gonna be late,” Jax mumbles and stops in the middle of the room, looking stressed and rushed, with his hair standing on end, stubble still on his cheeks and the clothes that I’m sure he was wearing yesterday.

“No we’re not. You have time to at least change your clothes. You’re in a relationship with the man, Jax, no need to be doing the whole walk of shame thing.”

“I’ll shower and change when we get to the hotel.”

I roll my eyes and walk back to my room. “Thank God it’s only a two hour flight!”

“I don’t smell!” I hear him loudly sniff his armpit and then mumble under his breath about finding a clean T-shirt.

Mark is sitting on the edge of my bed checking his phone. He’s also wearing the same clothes from yesterday.

“Looks like Jax isn’t the only one doing the walk of shame today,” I say with a chuckle. “You should just bring some extra things here for when you stay with me.”

“You should just move in with me and we won’t have this issue,” he says, still staring down at his phone.

“I’ll make room for you in my closet,” I reply without acknowledging his suggestion because frankly, I don’t know how in the hell to respond to that.

“I’ll make room for you in my closet,” he says, still typing furiously on his phone.

“I’m ready!” Jax says as he hustles past my room, then backtracks and pokes his head around the doorjam. “Hello? Flight? LA? Job? Are you coming?”

“Yes. Ready, babe?”

“I’m ready.”

The drive to the airport is quiet as all three of us are lost in our own thoughts. It’s early enough that traffic isn’t too thick yet and we make it to the airport with plenty of time.

“You don’t have to pay to park, M. Just pull up at the drop off area.”

“I’ll go in with you,” he says.

“It’s a waste of money,” I insist, but he takes my hand in his and kisses my knuckles gently, making me go all gooey inside.

“No it’s not. I’m not going to be able to touch you for more than forty-eight hours, Meredith. I’ll take every minute I can now.”

“Damn, you have it bad, man,” Jax says with a laugh from the back seat earning a grin from Mark.

“And you don’t?” Mark challenges him.

Jax shrugs. “I said all my mushy stuff in private this morning.”

“Aww, you’re mushy?” I squeal and bounce in my seat. “I’ve never seen you be mushy before.”

“And you won’t see it now,” he replies dryly. Mark parks the Jeep and the guys pull our suitcases out of the back and pull them behind us as we walk into the terminal.

We print our boarding passes, check our bags, and Jax shakes Mark’s hand. “Thanks for the ride, man. I’ll meet you at the gate, tootsie roll. I don’t want to witness any more of the mush.” He winks and walks away, leaving Mark and me alone.

“I’ll text you when we get in.”

“Good. I’ll worry.” He links our fingers on both hands and loops them around my back then leans in and kisses me, not giving a shit who might be watching. Finally he releases one of my hands and cups my neck, his thumb making little circles on my cheek as his lips nibble and make me forget where I am.

With one kiss, he can completely disarm me.

“Be safe,” he whispers against my lips.

“You too,” I reply and brush my fingers through his hair. “I’ll see you soon.”

He nods and frowns slightly, but then smiles widely, in that naughty way and winks down at me. “I love you, Meredith Agatha.”

“I love you too. But Jax is gonna die.”

***

“Christ on a cracker, Jax, you’re trying to f*cking kill me.” Starla growls before guzzling half a water bottle. I raise my brows at Jax and plant my hands on my hips.

“I told you.”

He glares at me and shakes his head. “Trust me, you’ll get it.”

“Oh, I’ll get it alright,” she agrees. “But it doesn’t change the fact that you’re a sadistic *.”

“I’ve missed you,” I say and wrap my arms around Starla’s shoulders. “I love that you can tell Jax he’s an *.”

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