Page 15 of Furious
“Better.” Tristan showed off, pumping it a few times. “How’s your…whatever you were in PT for?”
“It’s kind of a long-term back thing.” Weird, he never talked about his back unless it was absolutely necessary. When most people learned about his chronic pain, they always made a big deal about getting him a chair but most of them didn’t work. And sometimes he got an awful chairandadvice about what worked for their mom, or their cousin, or their best friend’s brother’s girlfriend.
But those remedies weren’t for Jax because if he’d learned one thing from his attempts and failures to heal, it was that backs were individual, and right now Jax was too tired from changing his life to try another round of “getting better.”
At this point, he wondered if therewasa better for him.
“Do you have a pain specialist?”
“I do.” Jax had tried three of them, and they’d all wanted to shoot him full of cortisone or give him narcotics, but those options sucked. There were others, but a lot of them cost money he didn’t have or were too close to quackery for his liking.
“Well, if he’s not working, try this guy. He has a good bedside manner.” Tristan dug through his wallet, holding out a business card.
“Thanks.” Jax took it, trying not to jolt again when their fingers brushed, especially when he looked up and saw that Tristan’s cheekbones were tinted pink. Was Tristannotheterosexual? Interesting…
But hewaswith somebody, so Jax should stop flirting. Besides, dating him wasn’t a good idea; not only did they work together, but Tristan was Rain’s stepdad, and he shouldn’t be hunting too close to home.
“It was good seeing you again.” Jax backed up toward the kitchen.
“Same here.” Tristan gave him a blinding smile, and Jax almost tripped over his own feet when he turned to catch up with the others.
Dazed, Jax had to keep reminding himself to pay attention as his training began in earnest. He had big responsibilities now, and he needed to learn the ins and outs of this place.
Thankfully, his years of experience in kitchens had him naturally sliding into place, and as the weeks passed, he learned a lot from Angelo, Carson, and Winter. Of course, he made mistakes, but his life had been going suspiciously well, so he was less irritated all around, taking things in stride.
It helped that his back continued to behave, leaving him in minimal pain, and it also helped that he got to see Tristan every day. Jax had no issues communicating with him in the kitchen, because keeping things running was more important than a crush. However, outside of that, when Tristan seemed to go out of his way to give Jax a greeting in the mornings or a nod in the hallway, Jax would have to spend a few minutes getting his blush under control.
And Tristan wasn’t the only familiar face at The Pointe. Rain was still serving part-time between photography shoots, and Jax was glad that he’d been keeping his distance from Tristan, because it had truly sunk in thatRain was his stepson. According to Ollie, Tristan had been with Rain’s mom for too long but they’d never gotten married, and Rain considered Tristan to be the better parent by far.
That only made Tristan hotter. Too bad he was unavailable.
Was he, though? Jax had eavesdropped on one side of a phone conversation months ago. Things might have changed since then.
Ollie probably had all the information, but Jax would expose himself the minute he asked, and he certainly couldn’t find out at work. Marci had just stopped giving him knowing looks over Tristan, and he’d managed to stay out of the daily kitchen drama. Being front-page news would only annoy him, so it wasn’t a good idea to date someone from work. It didn’t matter that Tristan’s presence made Jax’s pulse race, his cheeks flush, and his mind spin, telling him to risk it. The ripples it would cause kept Jax at bay, and he managed to stay strong until right before the hall reopened.
Stumbling out to his car after a long day of prep and meetings, Jax could still hear Angelo’s voice saying the Golden Rule over and over - no more flaming desserts, not after that fire. Too tired to remember where he parked, Jax pressed the button on his key fob, walking toward the beep and almost colliding with someone as he reached his car.
Not wanting to be bumped too hard or fall down, he stopped and so did his heart, because Tristan was standing right in front of him. All Jax could smell was pine; was that Tristan’s body wash or his natural scent?
“Sorry.” Tristan rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, so gorgeous that it made Jax a little angry.Whohad snatched up this man and did they know how to fight?
“No, it’s on me,” Jax bit his lip, trying to calm down. “I forgot where I parked.”
“Me too.” Tristan chuckled, deep and throaty, and Jax wanted to climb him right now, but his back wouldn’t allow it. Instead, he glanced at the Subaru beside them. Its rear window was dotted with outdoor stickers. “Is this your car? Are you an athlete?”
“Yes to both.” Tristan tapped a decal on his trunk that looked like a black arrow pointing up on a green background. “I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail.”
“I don’t know what that means," Jax said with a laugh, and Tristanjoined in.
“Not a lot of people do.” Tristan’s eyes filled with excitement. “There are three major long-distance hiking trails in this country: The Appalachian Trail, The Pacific Crest Trail, and The Continental Divide.”
“How long are you talking?” Jax tilted his head, strangely invested, the cadence of Tristan’s voice lulling him.
“The AT is twenty-two hundred miles. The PCT is around twenty-six fifty, and the CDT is thirty-one hundred.”
“Wait,” Jax blinked. “You walkedtwo thousandmiles?”
Tristan nodded. “Up the east coast.”
