I Want You Back (Want You #1)(50)

Since I’d always been a morning person, I got up early and made myself presentable. Then I tidied up my bedroom before I ventured into the living room.

Jax was still asleep. He dwarfed the couch, keeping one leg bent at the knee and resting it against the back cushion. He’d draped one arm across his eyes and the other arm dangled to the floor. In cataloguing his position, I also realized that Jax had stripped down to his boxer briefs as he lounged beneath the afghan my mother had made. An afghan too small to cover his muscular legs, and it barely reached the lower curve of his powerful chest.

Holy crap, I’d forgotten what a work of art his body was. Beautiful, deep-cut musculature everywhere. Wide shoulders, beefy biceps. Even his forearms were corded with muscle. And those hands. Mercy. Big and dotted with calluses. A ridiculously strong grip that could soften into a lover’s gentle caress. Pity he’d hidden half of his face, but that square jaw covered in dark stubble jutted out at me. Even in sleep his sexy lips curved into a knowing smirk.

I must’ve been standing there gawking long enough that Jax sensed me perving on him. He drawled, “Our rule has always been the first one up makes coffee, babe. So, chop-chop.”

Stunned, and embarrassed he’d caught me eyeballing his half-naked body, I said, “Chop-chop . . . ? Really, Lund?”

“Yep. I’m a guest. You’re not being very hospitable, Lucy Q.”

“I was being very hospitable by letting you sleep in for the past hour and not rattling around in the kitchen making coffee!”

“But I’m up now.”

“Doesn’t look like it.”

He grinned. “And she still stands here indignantly, arguing, instead of hotfooting that cute butt into the kitchen and—”

He yelped when I ripped the afghan away.

“New rule, buddy. I—”

Words left me when nothing blocked my view of his pelvis and the thick ridge bulging against his too-tight boxer briefs.

“Gimme that,” he said, and snatched the afghan back to cover himself. “It’s just morning wood, Luce. Don’t take it personal.”

What? He did not just say that.

“It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”

“It’s been a long damn time. And I had no idea that these days thinking about a cup of coffee is what gets you hot and hard first thing in the morning.”

Silence.

That sounded way less suggestive in my head.

In the awkward quiet, the bang of the front door opening into the catchall table was as loud as a gunshot. Then, “Sorry, sis, it’s just me, but I know you’re up.”

My gaze landed on Jax for a split second before my sister wheeled around the corner.

“Hey, good morning. I— Jesus Christ! There’s a naked man on your couch!” Lindsey gasped. Then, realizing it was Jax, she said, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Good to see you again, Lindsey,” Jax said with a cheeky grin.

Lindsey’s wide-eyed gaze winged between us. “I thought you had a date with Damon last night?”

“She did. There was a ‘datus interruptus’ incident with Mimi—”

“Speaking of interrupting . . . how about you let me explain what happened to my sister while you go put some clothes on.”

“My clothes are right here. I’ll get dressed when you’re in the kitchen starting the coffee.”

“You are such a pain in my ass.” Before I headed to the kitchen I said, “I left a toothbrush in the guest bathroom for you.”

“Thanks, my teeth are as fuzzy as my head. How much Diet Mountain Dew did we drink last night?”

“You drank a two-liter bottle by yourself.”

“Better that than a two-liter bottle of whiskey, huh?”

“Word.”

In the kitchen I held Lindsey off until I started the coffee. Then I gave her an abbreviated version of events, including the surprise he’d sprung that we were about to become neighbors.

Oddly she didn’t jump in and voice her opinion, which freaked me out a little.

“What?”

“So all is well between you and Jax?” she finally asked.

“Better than it has been. Why?”

“Because you two are back to doing the bicker and flirt thing that served as foreplay.”

“It’s not foreplay.” Was it?

“Don’t you think it’ll be weird having him living so close? I mean, say Mimi is staying with him upstairs and she forgets her pajamas. Instead of sending Mimi down to retrieve them, Jax grabs the key and pops in here unannounced. What if you’re doing the nasty with your date on the couch? Talk about the ultimate ‘coitus interruptus’ courtesy of your ex.”

“Lindsey!”

“It could happen.” She cocked her head. “I was kinda hoping to show up and see that Damon had spent the night.”

“Why would you say that? You don’t even like Damon.”

“What I don’t like is the fact you’re ignoring your sexual needs. Now that Jax has Mimi on the weekends, you should be reconnecting with your inner slut—”

“Enough. Speak for yourself, ho-bag.” I held my hand out. “And give me my key back. Right now.”

Lindsey grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a hug. “Fine. I’ll shut it.”