R + J - 7

••• Jaxon’s POV ••• I kept glancing at Rosa from the corner of my eyes throughout the meeting. I wanted to speak to her. I wanted to feel her in my arms, which I did the moment I laid my eyes on her. I wanted us to be the same way we were before, with all our bantering and me teasing her. Would it be impossible to do anymore? I had tried to reject Lillian, but who would’ve thought it nearly caused my death?! For that, I resented the matebond. To make matters worse, even if I hated my matebond, I still felt attracted to Lillian and couldn’t stop being gentle with her. I even cursed myself and Rhun for pulling the chair for Lillian to sit on. Even though Rosa acted distant and polite, I could still see the hurt flashing through her eyes when I was gentle to Lillian. Now I knew how Max felt when he wanted Ari to show her vulnerabilities and depend on him. I wanted Rosa to be like that in front of me instead of pretending to be strong, and me being gentle to Lillian didn’t matter to her. I