I Want You Back (Want You #1)(31)

God. He was so pushy. So determined to dive beyond the surface layer with me. So freaking sexy because of all of that.

I locked my gaze to his. “The truth is all men cheat.”

That caught him off guard. “Some, yeah, but not all men.”

“Says you. A man,” I scoffed. “All men cheat is my truth, not my opinion. I’ve never been proven wrong.”

“Never?”

“Never. Needless to say, I have trust issues. I’ve considered that they might also be ‘daddy issues’ because my first male influence was a cheater, but none of the males since, whether they’ve been friends, acquaintances or lovers, have changed my truth.”

“You’ve been cheated on?”

“Every woman I know has been cheated on because men are incapable of monogamy.”

I watched his reaction closely. A narrowing of his eyes. The tightening of his jaw. The need to defend or explain the male species.

So what Jax actually said next shocked the crap out of me.

“You’re sure this is your truth, Lucy? And not a warning passed down from your mother that you’ve taken to believe is the gospel truth about love?”

“This has nothing to do with love. I believe in love. But I don’t believe love is a magical talisman that alters a man’s desire to cheat. A guy can proclaim his love for his woman to his family, friends and even god, and still be banging his assistant in the break room. But because he doesn’t ‘love her’”—I made air quotes—“then it doesn’t count. Men have all sorts of reasons and excuses that justify their cheating ways.”

“Like what?” he demanded.

“Like the example I just gave you. Like what happened to my sister. Her boyfriend of two years got caught cheating after my sister moved back in with me and Mom during her cancer treatment. Notice I didn’t say he ‘started cheating,’ because I fully believe that asswipe had been cheating on my sister all along. But he had an excuse that he truly believed: It could only be considered cheating if they were married. It didn’t ‘count’ if they hadn’t officially exchanged rings in front of friends, family and a preacher.” I paused to take a drink. “Never mind the fact he’d pledged his love to her and that should’ve been enough to keep his dick in his pants.”

“Jesus.”

“Not to mention the dozen or so examples I could share when guys’ significant others ‘don’t understand their needs’ so they troll ‘just for sex’ elsewhere—giving them the best of both worlds, a variety of sexual partners when they want to get kinky, and a companion to come home to who washes his fucking socks. Or they’re working away from home so they invoke the ‘what happens on the road, stays on the road’ cheaters clause. Or it’s not ‘cheating’ if it’s a one-night stand—even if the dude has a different woman / one-night stand every damn week. Or the ‘you don’t pay attention to me so I found someone else who did’ excuse, which conveniently puts the blame on the woman for his cheating behavior. Or there’s the—”

He pressed his thumb over my lips. “Enough. I get it. It’s depressing as hell because you’re not wrong.”

I waited, my heart racing, for what would come next.

Jax focused on my mouth, feathering his thumb across the swell of my lower lip. “I can’t explain away your fears or the idiocy of the male species. I can’t change how you’ve been treated in the past. I won’t discount your truth. But I can ask you to give me a chance to be the exception.”

“For how long? One night proves nothing.”

“Sweetheart, one night would never be enough with you.”

Desire unspooled in my core so fast I felt dizzy.

Which pissed me off, because we were having a conversation about cheating—sex should be the last thing on my mind.

“Whoa there, lady. Your fiery glare is starting to melt my manflesh.”

His use of manflesh made me snicker and provided some levity.

“That’s my clue to whisk you away to the second half of our date, where you can release some of that aggression in a productive way.” He dropped a fifty on the table and slid out of the booth, waiting while I did the same.

Jax didn’t give me space as we walked out. In fact, he draped his arm over my shoulder and tucked me close to his body.

When we reached his car, I finally said, “Where are we going?”

His dangerously sexy grin set off tiny warning bells. “Someplace where it’s all fun and games.”



* * *



? ? ?

Everyone started yelling, “Go, go, go!” bringing me back to the present.

I hopped up and squinted at the field, watching as Jensen Lund reached the end zone.

It was easy to get caught up in the Lund family’s excitement.

Confetti actually rained down from the ceiling inside the suite.

Had all members of the Lund family acted this excited during Jax’s hockey games when he played well? Archer and Edie had taken Mimi to several of Jax’s games the last two years he played, but they’d never invited me. Not that I would’ve gone if they had. Mimi was part of this family, not me.

The servers cracked open bottles of champagne. I watched as Jax shook his head at the waiter. Then Edie appeared with another waiter who poured glasses of sparkling cider for Jax and Mimi as well as Lennox.