“What do you mean?”
“Dude, I’ve known you six years. I’ve seen you go through…I don’t even know how many women. You’ve never acted like this. You’ve never held back on me. It’s like you’re…I don’t know…embarrassed of her…or something. ”
“I’m not embarrassed of her. That’s stupid. ” He pushed up in his stirrups to relieve his ass and yelled to the lead cameraman, “Carl, are we doing this or not?”
“Hold your dick on,” Carl muttered.
“Is she married?” Ty asked, his voice rising in disbelief. When Jax shot him a scowl, Ty lifted his hand in a helpless gesture as he guessed again. “One of your friends’ girls?”
“Ty. ”
“I’m telling you, dude, you may as well just tell me, because you’re stuck with me for the next five, six days, and you know how relentless I can be. ”
Unfortunately, Jax did. It was the reason the kid was so successful at such a young age.
Jax tilted his head back and doused himself with his other water bottle. He shook his head like a dog, spraying Ty, who muttered profanities at him.
“This is the thanks I get for teaching you everything you know,” Jax said, wiping his face.
When he dropped his hand, Ty was waiting, elbow on the saddle, chin on his palm, dark blue eyes intensely focused on Jax’s face, mouth a serious line. Silently sending the message that he would wait Jax out and make his week hell on earth if he didn’t give Ty what he wanted.
The kid reminded Jax a lot of Wes with his dark blond good looks, though Ty was taller, leaner, and prettier without the scars Wes had picked up over the years. But Ty had the same maturity as Wes, one they’d both grasped in their very early twenties and one that most young men didn’t grab hold of until much later. One Jax certainly didn’t get a grasp on until about three years ago himself.
“That video could hit Facebook at any time,” Ty said.
“You bastard. ”
“You taught me everything I know. ”
Jax didn’t take Ty’s threat seriously, didn’t even give a shit if the video was on the Internet. He felt like a far bigger idiot saying, “She’s sweet, okay?”
His horse grew restless again, stepping forward, backward, forward. He called to a guy by the cooler, held up two fingers, and got two more ice-cold bottles of water tossed to him. He passed one on to Ty.
“I don’t know who she is. ” Jax poured half the other bottle of water over the stallion’s neck, rubbing it into his coat to keep himself busy while he talked. “She was on my flight here, texted me anonymously at the airport. We texted for like an hour. She was funny and sexy. The conversation got hot, suggestive, but she wouldn’t come sit with me. ”
A wary, suspicious sound came from Ty’s throat.
“I know, right?” Jax turned to pour the rest of the bottle on the horse’s hindquarters. “Anyway, I decided to take a chance, invited her to my room. She accepted at the last minute, when I was on my way out. ”
“That takes some balls. Guess you lucked out. Who knows what you could have gotten walking into your room. ” Ty shivered dramatically. “But don’t be surprised if Entertainment Tonight calls asking for an exclusive on your new YouTube sex video. ”
Jax’s skin chilled as if he’d poured a bottle of water over his own head. He hadn’t thought of that. “She didn’t seem to know who I was. And I lucked out all right. God, she’s…” His whole body lit up. “It’s crazy how much I like her. ”
Ty said nothing.
Jax glanced at him. “What?”
“Did she drug your drink?”
Jax sighed. “What does that mean?”
“Do you like getting fucked over, Chamberlin? Do you seriously think this chick doesn’t know who you are?”
“Yeah, I do. I’m not you, kid. ”
“No, asshole, you’re way bigger than me. ”
“Was,” Jax said. “You’ll learn once you’re out of the spotlight, they forget you fast. ”