“Wow, it’s like a gift,” I remark, skimming over the drinks.

“What is?

“The way you charm people.”

A questioning look crosses his face. “Who did I just charm?”

I elevate my brows. “Are you joking right now?”

He shakes his head, looking utterly lost. “Nope.”

I scoot closer to him and lower my voice. “The hostess. She just about fainted just from you smiling at her.” I discretely point toward the front of the restaurant. “And she hasn’t been able to stop staring at us since.”

He gives a blasé glance at the front desk then locks his attention back on me. “Are you jealous?”

I shake my head. “No way.”

“Why not?” He juts out his bottom lip, pouting sexily.

“You really want me to be one of those girl’s that gets jealous simply because her boyfriend smiles at another girl…” My eyes widen as I realize what I just said. My gaze dashes back to the menu and I clear my throat, desperately seeking a subject change. “So, what’s good here?” I casually ask as I scan over the list of items on the menu.

A beat or two goes by. The sound of clinking glasses and chatter fill the uncomfortable silence between us. I wonder what he’s thinking. I wonder what the hell I was thinking dropping the b word like that. Boyfriend. Jax isn’t my boyfriend. Although it kind of seemed like he offered to play the role after I poured my heart and soul out to him.

“I’m not sure.” He breaks the silence but then pauses again. I peek at him from the corner of my eye. His head is tilted to the side, his eyes on the list of appetizers. “I’ve only eaten here once. On my ninth birthday.”

Relief washes over me at the subject change. “Who’d you come here with?”

“Avery.” He flips the page of the menu. “We had to ransack the house for change and ride the bus for an hour just to get to this place, but it was probably the best birthday I ever had while I was living here. She even bought me a slice of pie, which was the closest thing to a birthday cake I’ve ever had.” A trace of a smile appears on his lips. “Avery was always good with taking care of me. It’s why I’ve always been so happy to help her out with Mason.”

I tuck my leg under me and rotate sideways in the booth, facing him. “Is she going to be okay when you move out?”

“She has Tristan now.”

“That’s her boyfriend, right? The one who was in the hospital?” I’ve briefly met Avery, Tristan, and even Mason because I was on call when they came into the emergency room.

“Yeah, he was protecting her from her ex-husband.” He picks up his cup of ice water and takes a sip. “As bad as this is going to sound, I’m glad the fight happened between the two of them because it got her douche bag of an ex-husband into jail where he belongs.”

I didn’t know Jax very well back then, but he’s told me enough about his life that I know Avery’s ex-husband is in jail for assault and drug possession.

The story hits a halt as the waitress comes to take our orders, and collect our menus. When she leaves, Jax shakes his head.

“Wow, I’m turning into the worst date ever, sitting here telling you all my depressing stories,” he mutters. “I don’t know what my problem is, but I feel way off my game.”

“You’re fine.” I unroll the napkin that’s around the silverware. “And it has to be hard being here and remembering everything.”

“No, that’s not it. You’re making me nervous.”

“Why? What did I do?”

“You keep saying things that give me hope.”

“I’m sorry.” I have no idea what else to say.

“Don’t be sorry. I like it. I just need to get my swagger back.”

A giggle erupts from my lips and he grins along with me. But seconds later, the smile evaporates and a determined look emerges on his face.

He turns toward me and brings his knee up onto the booth so that it’s touching mine. “Tell me something happy.”

I’m thrown by the sudden demand. “Like what?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. How about a story about your childhood?”

I can’t help but smile. “There’s so many stories I don’t even know where to start.”

“Tell me about your ninth birthday,” he suggests, stirring his straw around in his water.

“My ninth birthday.” I pick at the corners of the napkin. “I think that was the birthday my father took me to the beach. We spent the entire day collecting seashells. We were supposed to stay until sundown, but we had to go home early after I decided I was going to run out into the ocean to catch the magic out of a wave and almost ended up drowning.”

“What? You almost drown because you wanted to catch the magic out of the wave?”

“Well, on top of having a ridiculously overactive imagination, I also couldn’t swim. But I was the kind of kid who didn’t show a lot of fear. In fact, I think for a while I actually believed I was immortal.”

“You were okay, though, right?” he asks then shakes his head. “Well, clearly you are since you’re here.”

“My father came in after me about two seconds after I barreled in there. He pulled me out, wrapped me in a towel, and yelled at me.” I softly laugh as I remember how angry he looked then how guilty he was ten seconds later. “By the time we made it to the car, he was apologizing left and right. He felt so bad for yelling at me, even though he had every right to.”