Page 22 of When Our Stars Aligned

“I have the best news!” I announce loudly, pretending not to notice the busty blonde next to him. “I found a local pharmacy that carries that special cream the doctor recommended.”

“Umm…what?” Jax says, confused.

“You know”—I dramatically look down at his crotch and back up again—“for that situation.”

Jax’s mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. I whip out my phone and pull up a random app, making sure no one around me can see my screen.

“It says here the redness and swelling may take a while to go away, but you should receive itch relief instantly.”

“Aly,” Jax says slowly like he’s giving me a warning, but the lift in the corners of his mouth gives him away.

I feign complete ignorance and stare at my phone intently, trying to keep a straight face. “There are some side effects listed, but they don’t seem so bad… What does chafing mean?”

I hear a thumping noise and look up to see that the busty blonde is nowhere to be found. Then I turn to Jax. His face is a magnificent shade of crimson, his eyes are the size of saucers, and his jaw is about ready to hit the floor.

“Well, my work here is done! Guess I’ll head back to my lesbian lover now.” I boop his nose and leave before he has a chance to respond. As I walk past the bar towards the booth Gabby and I are sharing, Alex and Carter come up to me laughing.

“Good one, Aly.” Carter puts his hand up for a high five and I reciprocate.

“That was awesome, Legs,” Alex says, pulling me into a side hug. “Seeing Jax’s face was the best birthday gift of the night.”

“Glad I could make your day.” We all head over to the booth where Gabby and Michelle are enjoying a smorgasbord of bar food.

“This looks amaz—” I start but feel a tug on the back of my arm. I stumble backward into what feels like a brick wall. A warm brick wall that smells like Jax. Oh, shit.

He holds me in place but looks around me to speak to the rest of the table. “Gabby, can Carter and Alex get a ride back home with you? Carter, can I have your keys? I think Aly and I need to go for a ride and have a little talk.”

Gabby nods in agreement but gives a confused look.

“Umm…okay?” Carter says hesitantly. “Have you been drinking?”

“Only had one sip of beer. I’m completely sober.” He lets go of my arm and places his hand gently on my hip.

“Are you okay going with Jax, Aly?” Carter slowly pulls out the keys to his Jeep and I realize he’s holding them hostage until I give my answer. I have no idea what is going on in Jax’s head, but the thought of being alone with him doesn’t scare me in the least. If anything, I’m kind of excited and definitely intrigued.

“Yeah, I’m okay with that.” I turn towards Jax and try to get a read on him, but his face is stoic as usual.

Carter tosses the keys to Jax, who leans down and whispers in my ear, “Let’s go.” He places his hand on the small of myback and guides me towards the parking lot and away from my friends, who looked just as utterly baffled as I feel.

17

Jax

“Where are we going?” Aly asks as she straps on her seat belt. I’m surprised she agreed to go with me so willingly. It’s not like I would’ve forced her to go if she didn’t want to, but she did respond quicker than I expected.

“To the pharmacy to get that cream I apparently need,” I say flatly.

Aly throws her head back against the seat in a full-on belly laugh. I bite my tongue, trying to keep a straight face, but dammit, her laughter is contagious. And really, the shit she pulled was funny.

“You should’ve seen your face!”

“Did you really have to give me some nasty disease?” I try to hide my grin.

“Ididn’t give you anything.” She smirks. “And I never said it was a disease. I just said you had a rash with itching and—”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main highway. I actually have no idea where I’m going. I didn’t get that far into this plan of mine. All I knew was that I wanted Aly to myself.

“Well, I never would’ve done that if you hadn’t told those guys that Gabby and I are lovers.”

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