Page 52 of When Our Stars Aligned

Alex mutters a “damn” under his breath.

“Alex! What are you doing?” I throw a packet of soy sauce at his head and miss.

“Come on, Aly, don’t you want to know if this guy did some super-secret shit? Jax’s guard is completely down right now. It’s like he’s been given truth serum. It would be such a wasted opportunity.”

“Alex!” I reprimand. “That is so wrong. You can’t take advantage of him like that.” Am I curious? Sure, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing that I did something so morally wrong.

Everyone sits around Jax’s coffee table to eat. Jax remains quiet but manages to eat a decent amount of orange chicken without spilling too much rice or sauce all over himself. In hindsight, it probably would’ve been better to order a pizza.

“Why do you even want to know if he was in Intelligence?” I ask, twirling some lo mein with my fork.

“Because I want to know if aliens are real.”

“You can’t be serious.” My fork falls from my hand. These guys are even worse jokers than me.

“Oh, trust me, he is dead serious.” Carter shakes his head. “He’s convinced if there is ever an alien invasion, he will be on the first wave to get beamed up or whatever.”

“Everyone knows they take the good-looking ones first!” Alex explains.

“Funny, I thought they always took the lone farmer in a cornfield.”

“That’s what I tell him,” Carter says in agreement.

“Whatever. You don’t have to worry about anything ’cause your ugly mug will be one of the last to get beamed up,” Alex says to Carter, and I bust out laughing. I didn’t plan on coming here to make friends, but that’s exactly what’s happening. I hate to think what life will be like when my contract is up and I have to say goodbye to them all.

Alex stands up and stretches. “Okay, time to be serious Alex now.” He grabs a penlight out of the back pocket of his jeans and sits down in front of Jax to examine him. I watch as Alex goes from goofy to serious. It’s a rare sight. He uses his light to check Jax’s pupils and examines the scrapes and bruises. “So, is Aly doing a good job taking care of you?” he asks Jax and shoots me a wink.

“Mm-hmm…I like her. She smells pretty,” he whisper-yells.

“She sure does, buddy, and I’ll tell you what, if you take your medicine tonight and don’t cause any trouble, I bet she will give you a sponge bath in the morning.” Alex winks at me again.

I choke on my drink and mouth, “What the hell,” to him.

“But if you don’t behave tonight, Carter is going to give you that sponge bath and you don’t want that, do you?” Alex continues. Now, it’s Carter’s time to choke and I slap him on the back to get him to stop coughing.

Alex lets out a low chuckle as he walks up beside me. “I think he’s going to be just fine. He’s going to hurt like hell in the morning and might feel a little hungover tomorrow thanks to thepain meds. Make sure he takes the ibuprofen every six hours. That will help a lot. Keep his ankle elevated as much as possible. Leave the door unlocked tonight so if you need us, we can run right over. If he starts to fall, just yell ‘timber’ so we know what to expect.”

I roll my eyes and thank Alex and Carter for bringing dinner. Knowing that those two will be just a few steps away if needed helps me relax a bit.

I put on some TV for Jax to watch while I clean up from dinner, grateful that everything has been going smoothly. Jax hasn’t been difficult to handle at all. He hasn’t moved from the couch and has remained quiet for the most part. I’m putzing around with a game on my phone when I hear the click of a crutch on the hardwood floor.

“What are you doing?” I run over to Jax as he tries to use the crutch to stand.

“Gotta pee,” he says so low I can barely hear him. I try to steady him as he stands. For a moment, I consider calling Carter or Alex. Jax is a big guy and if he takes a tumble, I’m going down with him. Thankfully, he steadies himself and with the help of me on one side and his crutch on the other, we slowly make it to the bathroom. I shut the door to give him privacy.

Several minutes tick by and I come back to the bathroom door to see if he needs help getting back to the couch. I don’t hear anything, so I knock gently. “Umm, Jax? Is everything okay in there?” I say through the closed door.

“No,” replies a muffled voice.

I slowly open the door, wary of what I’m going to find on the other side. Jax is standing in front of the toilet, his shorts are on the floor, but his black boxer briefs are still on. A mixture of sadness and distress plagues his face.

“What’s wrong?” I ask.

“My penis,” he cries. “It’s gone!” He mindlessly pats the front of his underwear.

“Oh! Umm…it…it’s still there.” I bite my lower lip to hold back a laugh.

“No! It’s not! It’s gone! I loved that thing!” He hangs his head, looking like he just lost his childhood puppy.

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