Page 40 of When Our Stars Aligned

“Umm…what happened to the cookies?”

“What do you mean? They’re where you left them, on the plate next to the toaster,” Michelle answers.

“Not anymore!” I hold up the empty plate.

“Freaking Alex!” Gabby tsks. “I saw him eating a few while he was doing the dishes. He either ate them all or stole them.”

25

Jax

Sitting on my couch, I shove another one of Aly’s oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookies into my mouth. I stole the rest. I couldn’t help it; they are my favorite type of cookie. Not that she knew that, of course.

From the moment I took a bite of a cookie, I was transported back in time to when I was seven again, running up the porch steps of Gram and Pop’s house following the delectable smell of Gram’s baking.

Emma and I visited Gram and Pop often, and without fail, Gram would have warm batches of our favorite cookies waiting for us in her kitchen. Gram always made Emma oatmeal raisin because that was her favorite. Seriously, who would want an oatmeal raisin cookie when you can have an oatmeal walnut chocolate chip cookie? And let me tell you, there’s nothingbut disappointment thinking you’re about to eat an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, only to discover it’s an oatmeal raisin one instead. Thankfully, Gram always made plenty to go around. After all, I was her favorite.

I’m so grateful it was a little chilly today because I wore my hoodie with the large pocket in the front. I was grabbing two at a time and shoving them in my pocket while Alex, Carter, and I cleaned up from dinner. Alex kept eating some while he worked, so I’m hoping the girls will blame him for it. Now, here I am staring at my loot and wondering if I should savor these over the next few days or get rid of the evidence as fast as possible.

Screw it, I’m eating them all now.

At some point, I fall asleep on my couch, overly full from my pilfered dessert, and wake up to a commotion outside my door.

“What’s going on?” I peer out into the hallway. The door to the girls’ condo is wide open and I walk in to see Carter moving the living room furniture around while Michelle and Gabby have boxes in their hands.

“Oh, Jax,” Carter says. “I didn’t realize you were home. Quick—grab something from Gabby’s or Aly’s room and bring it out here.”

“What happened?” I ask.

“The place above us flooded. The ceiling above my room, Aly’s room, and our shared bathroom is totally destroyed,” Gabby answers.

I walk in and holy crap is this a mess! What were the people upstairs doing? Trying to create their own Roman bath? I know I can offer to fix the place, but I’m not on the list of approved contractors from our condo association. As a licensed contractor, I could’ve requested my name to be put on the list, but I much prefer working on empty houses and not dealing with insurance companies. Judging from the damage I can see, this will definitely need to be assessed by an insurance adjuster.

“It’s going to take at least a few days to get this repaired,” Michelle states. “Everything needs to be removed and thoroughly dried before we can replace it.”

“We can’t stay in our rooms until everything is fixed. Alex is at the firehouse for the next few days, so I’m going to stay in his room,” Gabby says.

“Okay.” I nod. “That works out. Wait—what about Aly?”

The girls look at each other and then back at me.

“Gabby, Michelle,” I say slowly. “Where is Aly going to stay?”

“Well, about that,” Michelle starts. “We were hoping you would…”

“Hey, roomie,” I hear from behind me.

“Oh, no! No! No! No!” I shake my head.

“Oh, come on, Jax! You’re the only one who has a spare bedroom. Otherwise, she’ll have to sleep with one of us, in our bed. Or are you going to make her go pay for a hotel room for a few days?” Michelle whines.

No way will I have Aly go to some sleazy hotel until her room is fixed. I can’t bear the thought of her being far away. Out of the group, I am the one with a spare room. It’s rarely ever used, but I keep it in case my family stops by. Occasionally, my dad and I take fishing trips and he stays with me instead of making the drive home after a long day.

“Told you he wouldn’t go for it,” Aly says as she brushes past me to grab more stuff from her room. It’s not that I don’t want Aly to stay with me. I’m afraid of what could happen if she does. I don’t have much self-control when it comes to her as it is.

“Aly! You can’t go to a hotel. It will get too expensive. You can sleep in Alex’s bed with me. It’s a king size, so there will be enough room. Although, I’m not sure what you will do when Alex comes back from the firehouse. We’ll be on opposite shifts, but you work normal days,” Gabby says.

Oh, no! There is no way Aly is going to share a bed with Alex.

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