Rivals 🌈 ✔

56 - Pick-up Lines

Juice's lips curled up as he looked at the picture. Little Sasha was sitting on Raine's lap, her cheeks and chin covered in ice cream. Mouse was sitting next to them on a picnic table, showing her shiny smile. Raine was smiling too—the sight of it still warmed him. The traces of his last fight weren't completely gone; there was still a green-yellowish shade surrounding his left eye. A reminder of the past weeks. 

But the misery was over now. 

Raine knew the whole truth. They were back together—really together this time. 

Juice heard footsteps close behind him. Quickly he wanted to shove his cellphone back in his pocket, but the thing slipped through his fingers and fell on the floor. 

He hadn't told his brothers that Raine and he were back together. 

It just seemed wiser. Now, they wouldn't make stupid comments; everyone seemed eager to forget that he had a boyfriend who was a Mayan. 

He however felt caught when he bent to pick up his phone. A low chuckle sounded as he stood up, undoubtedly with a light blush on his cheeks. 

"Were you secretly watchin' some hot pics of your new lover?"Jax flashed him a grin. "You're in a much better mood lately."

Juice grinned back stupidly, hoping Jax would leave.

His vice president however didn't; instead, he came to stand next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "Why don't you show me a pic, hm?"

Juice wondered if the man was really interested in his love life or that he simply wanted to rule out the possibility that it was Raine. Or had he just gotten a glimpse of the picture and was he testing his honesty now? 

"I don't have a new lover," Juice muttered eventually. 

Which wasn't a lie. 

Jax's eyes didn't leave his. 

Juice felt how he was beginning to sweat. He hated it. The fact that there was no one in this place who would be glad about him feeling finally happy again, sucked. He however refused to hide his relationship again. He just didn't want to start any drama, but he wasn't ashamed of who he loved. 

He looked his VP right in the eye. "Raine and I are back together."

Jax raised his eyebrows. He clearly didn't know how to respond, and Juice was happy he didn't start to talk trash about Raine immediately. 

"You serious? Wasn't he cheatin' on you?"

"No," Juice mumbled. "Esai drugged him and made him believe he cheated. Because he hates me."

"Wow." Jax raked a hand through his blond hair. "That's fucked up, man."

Juice felt relieved that his brother agreed with that. "Yeah."

An awkward silence fell. 

"So... does this mean you still wanna leave?"

Juice shrugged. A part of him still didn't want to disappoint Jax. He had been the one bringing him into the club. 

"We think it's for the best if we both quit. And well—the past weeks, when I was single, I wasn't of much help anyway."

Jax smirked. "Yeah, you were doin' pretty bad." He laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's not that I want to see you go, Juicy. But this is somethin' you really want, huh? Settlin' down?"

A blush spread across his cheeks. Jax would probably find him a pussy. "Yeah." Admitting that longing still felt like something that was forbidden. The club was supposed to be his highest priority. Deep down, Juice however knew his heart wasn't in it—it never had been. It were just the people he liked—and the feeling to belong. For a long time, the club had been the only thing he had, but his relationship with Raine had given him a completely different future perspective.