Page 62 of Please Remember

Chapter Twenty-Five

Jax

Sage stands by my pickup outside her house the next morning while Allie sleeps inside. We decided that Allie should stay with Sage for a little while longer while we're getting reacquainted, but she wants to see me every day still. That's improvement, and after I screwed up majorly, it's the least I can do.

"You really think Laura put a camera in your bedroom?" Sage asks.

"I would bet just about anything on it," I say through clenched teeth. "The cops have it now, but we're also missing a picture from the living room. Something else I'm pretty sure Laura took, but I have no idea why."

Taking a sip of her coffee, she shakes her head. "She's definitely got an agenda."

"What do you mean?" I ask as I seethe.

I didn't sleep at all last night and spent a good portion of it checking the house for any other cameras or listening devices. The key is also no longer taped beneath the mat in the back. Security cameras have beenordered, and I will install them the moment they come in. Laura will get nowhere near my house again.

"The two times I've been around when Laura showed up, which I think were the only two times she's tried, it's like she's trying to plant the seed that you're simply settling for Allie. That what she can offer isn't what you want, but you'll deal with it anyway."

"Settle forAllie? That girl needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror."

"It was obvious that everything Laura said was intentional. She wants a wedge driven between the two of you. You really fucked her?"

Closing my eyes, I shake my head. "Allie told you?"

"No... Benji, actually. Don't be mad at him. He was worried he'd given you wrong advice. He did, but his heart was in the right place."

"It was not really... sort of... it was barely anything," I say. "Just a physical reaction while my brain struggled to keep up with everything that happened the three days prior."

She taps her fingers on the cup I brought for her. "I wouldn't put it past her to do something drastic to get your attention. If she was recording you and Allie, there's a very good chance she would try and blackmail you to keep it off the internet.”

“You really think she’d do that?”

“I have my suspicions. Throwing herself at you didn't work, so it makes sense she’d turn her attention to Allie. She wants to make Allie think you're not happy. It’s simple: if you leave Allie, or vice versa, you go back to Laura. At least, you do in her warped mind. Probably figures it's easier getting into Allie's head when getting in your bed didn’t work."

"It ends today."

"I really wish I could come with you. I'dloveto see the look on her face."

"You'll hear all about it, I promise. Thanks, Sage," I say.

Tilting her head, she narrows her eyes. "For what?"

"Being such a good friend to Allie. I don't think she'd be where she is comfort-wise if you weren't around. You're more patient than I've been."

"I love her, too, Jax. Not in the same way you do, but I think that might be where I'm able to separate things a little more. Just remember, though, she was mine before she was ever yours. Make her cry again like that night, and I will kick your ass."

I smile and nod. "I went about it wrong. All wrong. But I see my mistakes now. I love her. That's never changed, and it never will."

"By the way, did you know invitations for your wedding were postmarked three days ago?"

I gape at her as I process what she just said. Wedding invitations for a wedding I called off over a month ago went out this week? "What?"

"Yes, my brother's best friend received an invitation the other day. Apparently, you're still marrying Laura."

"The fuck I am!"

She taps her hand on the door of my pickup, and I pull away as she walks inside. I drive the six blocks to the house I almost moved into. The house that was supposed to be my marital home if I married Laura. Something I'm more than happy never happened.

I jump out of the pickup and race up to the door, pounding on it for a full minute before Laura opens it.

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