Page 36 of Furious
They repeated it a few more times, Tristan joining in, and by the end, Jax seemed much more relaxed.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, cringing. “The pain is a lot today, but that isn’t an excuse. I should’ve been nicer.” His deep-brown eyes stared up at Tristan, filled with regret.
“It’s fine.” Tristan gave him a peck on the lips. He could see that underneath that misery was a genuine, sweet soul. Thinking back on his first years with Eve, before things had started to fray, he’d convinced himself that there’d been a connection. But what he felt toward Jax couldn’t be compared. The pull between them was practically tangible. “Is there anything I can do to help with the pain?”
“Get me a new spine?” Jax snorted, shivering in the cold.
“It wasn’t the date, was it?”
“It was everything.” Letting out a sigh, Jax cracked his neck. “I’ve been pushing my luck, working a lot and moving twice. I was kind of waiting for this.”
“Tristan, where are you?” Marci asked over the headset, her voice sweet but deadly. “Canoodling with Jax?”
“Oops!” Tristan exclaimed, turning his microphone on. “Be right there, Marci. And Jax says hello.”
Jax’s eyebrows shot up in shock, and he barked out a laugh. “Go. And thanks.” This time, Jax gave Tristan a quick kiss, but before he could turn, Tristan grabbed his hand.
“Let me know if you need help withanything. Okay?” His chest squeezed; it didn’t sit well with him that Jax was hurting so badly, and if he could somehow alleviate it, he would.
“Okay.” Jax gave him one of those soft, private smiles before they left the walk-in.
While it was part of Tristan’s job to interact and work with the kitchen, they were at capacity that night. So, he didn’t have a chance to talk to Jax about anything other than work until the last hour of the reception, when he took advantage of the lull after dessert to slip away.
He found Jax cleaning one of the stations, his head down and jaw set, moving slowly, as if every motion hurt, and Tristan hurried over.
“Are you okay?” Taking the cloth from Jax’s hand, Tristan finished wiping things down.
“N-Not really.” His voice came out weak, the words soaked in pain, and when he finally looked up, his eyes were shadowed and intense, his breathing heavy.
“Can you leave?” Tristan looked for Angelo, and his gaze landed on one of the line cooks from earlier, who’d been watching as Jax searched for the celery. Now, he stared with a grin on his face, and sharp anger spiked through Tristan, surprising him, because he wanted to get up in Derrick’s face and ask him what part of this he found amusing.
But before Tristan could open his mouth, the line cook quickly walked away, texting on his phone.
“Almost. I still have some things to do,” Jax bit out, hunched over, and Tristan immediately calmed.
“Can Winter do them?”
“Sure can!” Winter ran over. “Gohome, Jax.”
“Ditto!” Angelo called out from a few stations away. “Take a day if you need it. Just one event tomorrow.”
“Thanks!” Jax ground out. “I reallyAAH!” His cry echoed through the kitchen, bringing it to a halt as he grabbed his back, falling to one knee.
“Jax!” Tristan’s voice was just as loud, and he dropped beside him while Angelo, Winter, and Emma rushed over.
“I-It’s a s-spasm,” Jax spat through gritted teeth, his face crumpling, and Tristan shifted, shielding Jax from too many prying eyes. As he got closer, Jax jerked, crying out again. “Shit.Shit, shit, shit.” There were tears in his voice but not in his gaze. “I’m sor-”
“If you apologize for this, I’m going to fire you,” Angelo stated, his forehead wrinkled in concern as he crouched down beside them. “Should we call an ambulan-”
“N-No,” Jax insisted with a slight shake of his head.
“Then what can we do? What do you need?” Tristan reached for Jax’s hand, letting him squeeze it. After using trekking poles for six months, Tristan’s grip strength was exceptional, and Jax seemed to be taking full advantage of that. His grasp had Tristan’s heart squeezing just as hard, and for the hundredth time, he wished that he could take on Jax’s suffering, carry some of the burden.
“I…” Jax huffed a long breath through his nose. “I n-need to lie down some-where.” His eyes took in the scuffed tiles around him with distaste.
Even though they’d only known each other for a short time, their strange familiarity made it feel like centuries; that’s how Tristan knew that Jax was terrified for himself and his job. He could feel it like the worry was running through his own veins, chased by raw vulnerability and shame.
“Okay,” Tristan declared, taking off his headset and placing it on top of the station. “Can you stand?”
