Chapter 3

Finally done with my consultation, the client stood up from the chair, still looking nervous, but her smile told a different story....like I’d just handed her a puppy and a vibrator at the same time.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?” she asked, eyes flicking to my arm like she was debating asking for my number and my shirt.

I gave her my signature smile, just enough teeth to tease, not enough to promise. “Tomorrow it is. I’ll go easy on you.”

She bit her lip. “I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t.”

I chuckled and held the door open for her and she walked out, tossing me one last look like she was undressing me with her lashes.

The second the door clicked shut, Addy groaned dramatically from where she was sprawled across the couch. “Poor thing’s gonna be crushed when she finds out you don’t like your holes horizontal.”

I shook my head. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

“It means she wants to ride your face and you’d rather ride her brother’s... or dad's. Maybe both, knowing you. ” she said with a grin. “ You're definitely someone’s bisexual awakening, Xan.”

Layla, perched on the edge of the front counter, once again clutching that Arcadia Bloom ticket like it was her firstborn, snorted. “Seriously, though. You need to quit flirting with clients. You're gonna get one of them pregnant just by breathing on them.”

“I didn’t even flirt,” I said, leaning back. “I just smiled.”

She scoffed. “Please. That wasn’t a smile, that was foreplay. You know what your smile does, half your clients walk out of here needing fresh underwear.”

Addy cackled. “Facts. I’ve seen less seductive looks in pornos, Xan.”

I shook my head. “Y’all are dramatic.”

Layla pointed a finger at me. “ We all know half your clients just book sessions to moan your name under a needle.”

“Oh, please,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Don’t act innocent. You threw yourself at me when we met.”

Her mouth dropped. “I did not!”

“You did.”

She groaned, face in hands. “We agreed to never bring that up.”

“You did say that,” I said smugly.

“I was drunk!”

“You were sober,” Addy said.

Layla glared at her. “Whose side are you on?”

I leaned back in the chair, feeling more relaxed than I had all day.

Addy tilted her head, narrowed her eyes at me. “Wait...am I seriously the only one who didn’t try to nail you the moment we met?”

I shrugged. “Guess I just have that effect.”

They kept laughing, throwing more jabs, but the joke hit different in my chest.

Because the only face I could suddenly see wasn’t some flirty client biting her lip, it was Jax.

That look he gave me that morning. Possessive. Like he believed I already belonged to him or some fucked up shit.

As if on cue, my phone buzzed with a new text on the table, and the sound was so sharp it made me flinch. I looked down.

No name.

But I recognized the number. Burned into my brain now like an accidental branding.

My stomach dipped.

I didn’t say anything. Just swiveled in my seat, turning my back to Layla and Addy as they continued to bicker about god knows what.

My finger hovered over the screen.

What the hell did he want now? I checked the message.

"Both our lives would be a lot easier if we just fucked and got it over with."

I stared at it, the words bold and unapologetic. Like he wasn’t just thinking it... he meant it.

The goddamn nerve.

I was no stranger to dirty talk. I dished it out, I took it. Came with the territory. But this? This wasn’t someone throwing heat for fun.

It felt like a threat to my control. Like he knew something I didn’t. Like he already had the upper hand and was just waiting for me to notice. I locked my screen and tossed the phone on the counter.

“Jerk,” I muttered under my breath.

“What?” Layla asked, now sketching out a design with Addy over her shoulder.

“Nothing,” I said, a little too fast.

Then my phone started ringing. Same damn number. My stomach flipped, heart shot straight up into my throat. I wasn’t some shy virgin, but that call felt radioactive.

I could ignore it. Block him. Walk away and forget.

But I wasn’t wired like that.

I needed to handle it, and put a fucking end to whatever this was turning into. Logic. Boundaries. Sanity.

“I’m gonna grab some coffee,” I said, standing.

“That the client already calling for a private session?” Addy asked.

Layla grinned. “Get me a coffee too. And I wouldn't mind a treat either .”

“Yeah, yeah.” I was already halfway out the door.

The air outside hit cooler than I expected. I walked fast, phone in hand, as the call rang a second time. I answered, not stopping, needing the momentum.

“What the hell do you want?”

His voice came through, smooth and so annoyingly sure of himself. “It’s inevitable. You know it. I know it.”

I scoffed. “Leave me the fuck alone.”

“ I tried...didn't work.”

I kept walking. The shopfronts blurred. I reached the narrow alley between a salon and some cracked-out convenience store that smelled like expired air freshener, and ducked in. Needed privacy and space.

“How the hell did you know where I live?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just a beat of silence and then, “ Doesn't matter.”

I gritted my teeth. “Yeah, it fucking does.”

“You want me to woo you or something?” Jax’s voice dropped, mocking and syrup-thick.

“What I want is for you to quit fucking with me. I’ve got shit to do. I’ll block your number for real, you get that?”

Another pause.

Then he said, low and deliberate, “Are you scared?”

That one hit a nerve.

" Do I scare you...Xander?"

My pulse jumped, heat climbing my neck, but I shoved it down. “Quit playing your stupid games. You get that, asshole?”

“When I start playing with you,” he said, voice like dark velvet, “you’ll know.”

I stopped pacing, something electric crawling under my skin.

“And speaking of assholes…”

I hung up before I had to hear the rest.

Leaning against the cold brick wall, I exhaled hard, gripping my phone like it owed me an explanation.

Goddamn prick!

It wasn’t just the words. It was how they hit. How he said them like he knew I’d think about them all damn day. Like he’d already gotten under my skin and was making himself comfortable there. I seriously had to get a grip.