“Simon is one of the good ones,” Jax said.
“What?” I asked. “How could you possibly know that?”
“His aura is white. He’s good. For whatever that’s worth.”
“No one asked you,” Trent said, glaring at him in the rearview mirror.
I swatted Trent, then twisted in my seat to look at Jax, even though he was the last person I wanted to deal with. “I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse, but thank you for saying that,” I said.
He winked, smiling faintly, and my face flushed. I turned back around, heart fluttering. What on earth was that? Why did I react that way to Jax? To the guy who’d lied to me, conned me, made me trust him only to find out it was all some big game?
As soon as I had a second alone with Trent, he had some explaining to do.
“It’s going to be a long trip if you don’t get that heart of yours under control, Chloe. The sound of your blood rushing through your body is very distracting.” There wasn’t a hint of humor in Jax’s tone.
“Jax!” Trent slammed on the brakes, causing Jax to lurch off the seat and onto the floor.
My seat belt tightened, nearly cutting off my circulation.
Jax punched Trent’s arm.
“Will you two knock it off,” I snapped. My nerves were already on edge, and my emotions were too high to deal with their juvenile behavior.
Jax laughed and repositioned himself on the backseat.
I settled into the seat, rested my head on the window, and closed my eyes. Thankfully, the ride was quiet, and I fell into a semi-peaceful sleep.
I AWOKE WITH A jolt. Where was I?
“Morning, sleeping beauty.” Jax grinned at me from the driver’s seat.
I gasped with surprise and straightened. “Don’t talk to me.”
Slowly, things came into focus. I was on a road trip back to Keene Valley with Trent and his brother. Wait… Where was Trent? I glanced behind me. He was sleeping in the backseat.
“Do you need to stop for anything? There’s a rest area just ahead,” Jax said.
“Yes.” My bladder was seconds away from exploding, and my stomach grumbled loudly. I hadn’t eaten anything today, and I was starved.
Silently, Jax pulled off the highway and into the rest area. As soon as he parked, I was out of the car and rushing toward the building. A second later, I heard the beep of the automatic locks. I turned to see Jax following me.
“Um, I’m pretty sure I can use the bathroom on my own,” I said.
“I’m sure you can, too. But until we know what’s going on, you’re not leaving our sight.”
I scowled.
“Besides, I’m hungry.” He shrugged one shoulder like it was no big deal.
“Hungry? Or hungry hungry?” I whispered and glanced around, afraid someone would hear me and know what I meant.
Jax laughed. “Is there a difference?”
“Yeah.”
“Relax. I’m getting the same kind of food you eat.” He strolled by me and motioned for me to hurry up.
“Wait.” I jogged to catch up. A slight breeze picked up, and I rubbed the chill from my arms. “What about Trent? Are we just going to leave him in the car?”
“Why?” Jax faced me, one corner of his mouth lifted in the most devious smile I’d ever seen. “Would you prefer to leave him somewhere else? Because I’m totally on board with that plan.”
I hated—no, loathed—how he could so easily make me forget how angry I was with him.
“I mean, what if he wakes up and we’re gone. He’s going to worry. Shouldn’t we tell him what we’re doing?” I wasn’t sure if I was more worried about Trent freaking out or me being alone with Jax. I didn’t exactly trust Jax all that much anymore.
“I’m sure if he wakes up and sees we’re at a rest stop, he can figure it out.” Jax resumed walking. “Besides,” he called over his shoulder, “he’s not going to wake up.”
I once again jogged to catch up to him. “How do you know that?”
“Because he’s exhausted. He hasn’t slept in days.” Jax held open the door for me, and my steps faltered.
This whole being nice to me thing was really throwing me off, especially when I’d threatened to kill him. Twice. I liked it better when he constantly scowled and didn’t speak to me, like he’d done back when I knew him the first time.
I stepped inside and was greeted with a blast of cool air. “He hasn’t slept in days?” I asked.
Jax shook his head. “He’s been too worried about you. C’mon. Bathrooms are this way.”
Guilt stabbed at me. Trent hadn’t been sleeping because he’d been too worried about me, but if I just told him the truth… I shook my head. I’d only just found out. I couldn’t do anything about what had happened prior to that.
After using the bathroom, I walked out to find Jax leaning against the wall, hands tucked in his pockets. His gaze met mine, and he smiled.
My breath caught at the sight of him like that. He looked so much like Trent, and I hated myself for even thinking it, but… Jax was hot when he smiled. I shook excess water from my hands and approached, my heart in my throat.
“Where do you want to eat?” He pushed off the wall.
“I don’t care.” Why was my voice suddenly so squeaky?
“Burgers and fries it is.” He nodded for me to walk with him, and I fell into step beside him.
I still couldn’t make sense of Jax’s sudden change in attitude toward me. Was it possible he felt guilty for what he’d done—contacting my dad, splitting up me and Trent? Or was he simply being nice because he had to, because he was stuck babysitting me?
Or maybe he was trying to make amends for spending the past several weeks lying to me. Though, I doubted that’s what was going on here. Jax didn’t seem like the type to do something without first thinking it through. He’d known what he was doing, and he hadn’t cared about
