Chapter 7 Protecting What's Mine

"No," Jaxon said, glancing at Remy, who was already looking worried. 

He promised he'd never let any harm come to Remy. If the news was scandalous like the last one, he hoped to quickly manage it and keep Remy's mental health just as it was before he got on this contract with him.

"Oh? Check the sport news. It's great," Mr. Hop patted their shoulders and walked away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Jaxon caught up with Remy, who was already walking past his car.

"We're done, aren't we?" Remy asked, not pausing. 

"Wait, hold on," Jaxon placed his hand on Remy's shoulder, taking it away the moment Remy stopped walking. 

"What is it, Jaxon? I would really love to go do something for myself," Remy said, his brows furrowed.

"I'll drive you," Jaxon said.

Remy shook his head. "No, thank you –"

"Did you even read through the contract?" Jaxon questioned, sighing.

Remy paused, biting his lip. 

He had only skimmed through it, taking note of the important parts. 

"I did," he lied.

Jaxon raised his brow. "Then you should know that your well-being is my top priority for eight months. We don't know for sure what's in that news, and I can't let you walk alone for those hungry sharks to sink their teeth into you..." he paused, looking into Remy's eyes.

"The contract states you move in with me, Remy. I was thinking we could wing it from our different locations but it's not safe. At least, if you're risking your profile for me, the least I could do is make sure you're safe... all the time," Jaxon said, pointing his finger over his shoulder.

"Let me drive you wherever you want to go, then we could head to your place to get your things?" he asked slowly.

Remy blinked slowly, staring at Jaxon's face for a while.

The short period in the studio had almost given him a nosebleed. What happens when he moves into Jaxon's space?

"No," he said and turned away.

"No?" Jaxon asked, not moving from his position. 

"It's in the contract, Remy. Are you defaulting –"

"I'm not defaulting, okay?" Remy snapped his head toward Jaxon, frowning. "Fine, I'll move in with you. But this plan of yours about driving me around... no. I refuse," he stated.

"We're only together for appearances, not for real. Send me your location, I'll be there in the evening." With that, Remy turned and left, not looking back. 

Jaxon stood there for a while and watched Remy disappear from his sight.

Stubborn.

He never knew Remy was stubborn.

College Remy was soft-spoken, almost shy, withdrawn, and would have never refused an offer to spend more time with him.

Remy had indeed changed, and he guessed it was time he adapted to this new Remy.

He got in his car and drove straight to his condo.

"Thank you, Jane," he said to his 19-year-old housekeeper as he took the glass of water from her.

Jane smiled, her youthful face blushing.

"What about him?" she asked, watching Jaxon sip his water.

"Who?" Jaxon asked, walking toward the kitchen.

"The guy... the one everyone is curious to know if he's your boyfriend... this one." She raised her phone in front of Jaxon, who wanted to take a fruit out from the fridge.

Jaxon paused, his eyes instantly locking on the image on Jane's phone. 

It was a picture from the evening dinner. 

He and Remy stood close to each other, eyes locked in a somewhat intense gaze, and those faint blushes on Remy's cheeks had him swallowing hard.

Did Remy look that beautiful last night?

"Come on, Jaxon. Where is he?" Jane asked curiously, lowering her phone. 

"Let me see that," Jaxon took the phone from her and realised he'd missed the write-up.

[Bruin's Golden Boy Seems To Have A New Toy]

He frowned, scrolling up for the comments.

What he saw was exactly what he expected. 

They were all positive comments of people either shipping them or claiming they were already in a relationship.

He smiled.

"Not bad," he handed the phone back to Jane. 

"And there's a lot more. Especially from Boston Bruins platform," Jane chatted excitedly behind him.

"Mm?" Jaxon hummed, leaning against his long sofa to listen to Jane's ranting.

"Yeah! They have your pictures everywhere, tagging you two as best dedicated partners. And I swear these big profiles are commenting on wanting to work with you two. He's like your good luck charm. Whoever twisted that fake photo would be rolling in sadness now–"

"Breathe..." Jaxon shushed her, gently patting her head. "You don't have to talk too much," he whispered, smirking as he walked away.

"Oh my, you have no idea how lucky I am to work for you. I'm the envy of every girl... even boys in college. And trust me when I say you've got tons of people crushing on you, different genders –"

"Prep the guest room for Remy. I'll be leaving shortly," Jaxon said, walking toward the short hallway to his room.

"Remy?" Jane blinked in confusion. "Who is Remy?" she questioned.

"You wanted my partner here, right? Then prep the room, damsel," Jaxon smirked before entering his room.

He could hear Jane squealing in excitement and blabbing something about making everyone doubly jealous in school.

He chuckled and pulled out his phone, checking the tweets. 

Truly, their pictures were everywhere. People were more invested in knowing their status than following the scandalous post from yesterday.

He found another picture of Remy alone, looking so captivating in his brown sweater. He was staring right at the camera, his amber eyes so clear and inviting.

But Jaxon could see past the beauty.

He saw the sadness Remy was trying to hide in front of the camera, the loneliness.

He had tried browsing about Remy last night but came up empty. It turned out Remy wasn't the media type. 

He wanted to at least learn a thing or two about his partner.

A call suddenly distracted his thoughts.

"Connor, what's up?" he asked, tapping the speaker as he threw his phone on his bed.

"Um, I think I have your partner with me. I'm driving him to the hospital –"

"What happened? Is he okay? What hospital?" Jaxon was storming out of his condo in a blur, his chest clenching and unclenching from anxiety.

"He got ambushed by some guys, but he's not in serious –"

"Send me the location. ASAP," Jaxon ended the call and strode quickly into the elevator. 

He shouldn't have let Remy out of his sight. 

He shouldn't have!