Page 45 of Jax

“You didn’t!” I gasped.

His smile only grew.

“You know what?” I scoffed, hopping up from the bench. I waved my flat palm in front of his face, my other arm wrapping up the blanket. “I don’t even want to know.”

I scuttled toward the door, Jax’s laugh bursting from his lips as he teetered up onto his feet. He collected the mug as he went and followed me. “Our game isn’t over yet, Ronnie,” he called after me.

“Yes, it is!” I called back, heading fast up to the shower.

“If you really want to know, I can always show—”

“Don’t even think about it!” I screeched, hurrying further up the stairs, aware of his boots following me through the hallway.

“Oh, come on, Ronnie! I know you’re curious.”

“No. Thank you!” I rounded the upstairs and just as I turned, grabbing the banister, my rushing feet caught the top of the stairs.

Shit.

I fell forward. Just as I was about to hit the floor, I felt the cushioned heat of an arm wrap around my waist, stopping my fall.

The fucking good that did.

My body flopped around the arm and my shoulder and my knee hit the wood. Jax’s huge weight came crashing down on top of my smaller body.

I harbored breaths, pain throbbing through my knee and shoulder as Jax’s body crushed me into the wooden floor.

“Shit, Ron,” Jax hissed, rolling off me, his arm still trapped underneath my spine. “You hurt anywhere?”

“I’m hurt everywhere, you useless man!” I groaned, trying to roll away from him. I grabbed and pulled on his shoulder, using him as an anchor and trying to lift myself up.

“Wait,” he said, catching my side in his large hand. His calloused hand brushed against the bare skin of my right hip as my shirt rose up my side, and the second he touched me, he might as well have burned me.

I leapt up so hard, I almost sent myself falling down the stairs. I ripped his hand away from my skin and went stumbling into my door, shoving it open.

My heart raced, hands tugging down my chest as I turned to face him wide-eyed.

Jax was rigid. Laid on the ground, eyes like daggers wedged into my face. His pointed glare didn’t miss the flash of panic that had overtaken me.

“Ron—”

“I’m going to shower.” I turned, ignoring the burning in my back as I escaped as fast as I could into my room, slamming the door behind me.

Subtle, Ronnie. Very subtle.

M back pressed against the door, breath held until I heard Jax’s groan as he got up from his position on the floor. “I’ll wait for you downstairs, Ronnie,” Jax called, steps fading from the air as he went down the stairs.

A heavy, aching sigh bled out of my chest as I sunk against it. My eyes looked down to the knuckles taut around the edge of my shirt, pulling it down. I plucked my fingers and lifted the hem up just enough to catch the pink scar stretching over my hip and down beneath my waist band. A rushed breath escaped my lips. I shoved the shirt back down, unable to look any longer.

Running into the bathroom, and turning on the shower, I reached for a towel and covered the mirror before I stripped off my clothes. Naked, I kept my chin up high and my eyes far away from my body before stepping into the hot spray. Jax’s faced crossed my mind, and I bore holes into the side of the wall, reliving that expression. I took a deep, haggard breath and let the piling thoughts wash away with the water.

If I’m not able to look at it… neither can he.

Chapter Eleven

Jax

“It’s too quiet,” Mint said from next to me and I couldn’t help but think he was right.

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