Page 24 of Study Games

Finally he broke his silence and maybe me along with it.

“I just wanted to give you this,” Jax spoke softly, not backing off or laughing, or any of a dozen options I might have expected him to take.

Instead, his fingers caught my wrist in a gentle grip, and he pressed something cool and heavy into the palm of my hand.

I looked down at the phone he brought back to me, undamaged, and the dam I barely managed to hold back all day–week, month–shattered. Tears cascaded down my cheeks at the simple kindness he displayed, especially when I just tried to rip him a new one. Clearly a fail right there. He displayed greater humility and class than I did in my abject fear and frustration.

Letting my hair hang over my face, I clutched my phone in one hand, his fingers still curled lightly around my wrist. My key dug into the palm of my other hand and I willed my feet to work.

They didn’t.

Fail one thousand and forty-three of the night.

“Can I walk you up to your room?” Jax gave my wrist a little squeeze, tracing the pad of his thumb against the smooth skin there in an intimate touch that kick-started my heart again.

“What?” I blinked at him, my mouth open. “No. No.” I backed away, flicking a glance to the door. “I have to– I need –” What I had to do and needed completely evaded me, though not him as I made my next mistake in looking up at him.

Despite my attempts to put distance between us, he stood way too close and the moment he saw my tears, his brow creased, and he shrank that space getting right into my personal space bubble like I never had one in the first damn place

Those magic thumbs brushed the base of my jaw, resting lightly over my pulse point. Not restrictive, just gentle. There. “Let me help you.”

“No.” I couldn't. Not after the things we’d said to each other, what he’d done. Trust. It wasn’t there. Not until…now.

Jax breathed slowly, gathering me against his body, cradling me to him like I was precious to him. “Whatever they’ve done, I can get you out of it.”

I stared at him and forgot all about my objections to his proximity. “You can’t make promises like that.”

“Yes, I can. I have resources. If they’re hurting you–”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about.” I snapped my mouth shut and swallowed, not bothering to brush the tears away. He’d already seen them, so what was the point? “Thank you for my phone.” I stepped back, out of his hold, and he let me, dropping his hands to his sides. Cold air kissed my cheeks, leaving a barrage of gooseflesh in its wake. “I’ll have to rearrange my hours with you this week.”

Jax prowled forward, refusing to give up. “Why? What are they making you do?”

More tears slipped down my cheeks. How much had he heard, what had he put together? This couldn't be happening. Not with my other enemy. Life got complicated fast and all I wanted to do was study bees, learn medicine and geek the fuck out. Was that so much to ask?”

“I can’t reconcile this you with the other you who has tormented me for the better part of a year,” I whispered my confession like he was my midnight priest and I knelt before him to receive my penance for sins committed.

The corner of his beautiful mouth crooked. “I’m complicated.”

“Bullshit.” My blunt outburst surprised us both. “That’s not fair to say. Everyone is complicated or deals with something outside their comfort zone. Just because they don’t share it with you doesn’t mean you suffer whatever you think you can’t deal with alone.”

Jax’s eyes narrowed, focusing directly on me. “Says the girl who’s avoiding an offer of help from a friend.”

My hollow laugh wrapped around us like an empty caress. “You’re not my friend.”

“That’s childish. Let me help you.” He eased another step closer.

“I can’t trust you. Whose fault is that, Jax?” I glared at him, or tried to, calling up the last fragment of my defiant shield I suspected I aimed at the wrong person.

“I brought back your phone.”

“You could have broken into it.”

“True.” His too easy admission gave me pause. “I told you I have resources, Waverly. The Twins are cu— dicks.” He coughed and watched me but I didn't flinch. He raked a hand behind his neck over the ink I’d seen briefly there when he took off his jacket once, though I didn't know what made up the design. “Let me do something to ease whatever it is you’re suffering from for them. Trust me, whatever it is, it’s not worth it.” His empty laugh matched mine of a moment before as those same knuckles he used so roughly on his own skin gently grazed the back of my arm.

I sniffled, and didn’t pull away. “God, I'm pathetic. For the second time, you can’t make promises like that. One day someone will take you up on one, and you’ll find you’re way out of your depth.”

Jax smiled, and my God, did I want to give into him. Just push everything away and believe. “Why don’t you take me up on it then, and find out?”

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