Free Protecting His Assets by Cari Quinn Page B

at a rate of speed that would impress a linebacker. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I didn’t sleep with your sister, man. We go way back. For fuck’s sake, she blackened my eye when we were kids.”
    Chase had to laugh. “You’re the dumbass who dared her to punch you in the face on the count of three.”
    “Yeah, well, I thought she’d hesitate. Not so much.” Jax shook his head, smiling. No, not smiling. Full-on grinning like it was Christmas or something.
    Chase’s amusement dimmed. It was a good memory, even a great one. But something smelled off at their table, and it wasn’t the insta-ready meatloaf with chunky sauce. “So then what? What happened with you and her?”
    Jax finished off his soda, then leaned back and threw an elbow over the back of the booth. It barely accommodated the two of them, especially considering the volume of food they were inhaling. “Last summer, my mama got sick.”
    “Yeah, I heard.”
    He’d meant to come back and see Mrs. Wilder, a woman who’d been closer to him than his own ma growing up. But he’d balked, grateful for the routine of ball and babes that gave him an excuse. It wasn’t easy crossing back over a threshold you’d walked over willingly, sure you’d never want—or need—to come back. At the root of it, he’d been ashamed. And maybe even a little afraid. He didn’t want to unintentionally bring up the past and make things worse for her.
    Or himself.
    She’d tried to talk to Chase after he and Jax had fallen out, but Chase hadn’t wanted to listen. Still didn’t, truth be told. He’d loved being a part of the Wilder family and missed her something fierce. That didn’t mean he wanted to meander down memory lane and tumble into the potholes.
    Coward .
    “She’s better now?” he asked when Jax fell silent. He already knew the answer. He’d kept tabs on Jax’s mom from afar. The quadruple bypass had done its job, though things had been touch and go for a while. She was okay. One of these days—sooner rather than later—he’d go see that for himself.
    “Yeah. She is. Thank God.” Jax’s smile flared to life for an instant before disappearing again. “But anyway, I was home a lot last summer and I stopped by the ice cream place. I didn’t even remember it was hers at first. Then she came out of the back and I did a fucking double take. She grew up nice, huh?” Before Chase could fumble out a reply, Jax continued. “She came right over to me and acted happy to see me. At first I thought it was just her being polite to a customer. We got talking and I knew it wasn’t. No matter what happened with you and me, she was still Cass.”
    The back of Chase’s neck burned. With regret or shame, he didn’t know. To shake off the feeling, he dug into his meatloaf and put a serious dent in it before he spoke again. “She was always the best of us.”
    “Hell yeah. No argument there.”
    “So then what? You had a great reunion. What happened after that?”
    Jax’s mouth curled into a scowl. “You know about Russ?”
    “Russ who?” Chase leaned over the table. “Not Russ Jackson. What does he have to do with my sister?” Nice to realize Jax knew more about what was going on with his own family than he did. So much for burying his head under the pitcher’s mound. By the time he’d pulled it out of his own ass enough to look around, everything had changed.
    His hometown. Summer. Hell, even him.
    “You don’t know?”
    “Would I be asking you if I knew?”
    “True enough. Guess they’d been seeing each other. Which I discovered when she started gushing about him.” Jax pinched his nose. “I burst her little happy bubble by telling her I’d seen him kissing some chick at a restaurant the night before, and she damn near punched me in the eye again. Then she shut down and refused to talk to me.” He jerked a shoulder. “At least she broke up with the egotistical fuck.”
    “Hockey players,” Chase muttered, earning Jax’s grunt of