Page 157 of One Good Crash

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He frowned. "My oldest."

I tried to think. I didn't even know which onewasthe oldest, but that wasn't my fault. Jax had been very tight-lipped when it came to his family. "So, what's his name, again?"

"Jake."

Something in his tone suggested a distinct lack of brotherly love. I recalled what Jax had told me earlier, that the story was embarrassing. But from the look on his face, he wasn't embarrassed. He was ticked off.

I asked, "So, what'd he do?"

"Alright, lemme back up," Jax said. "It's the night of the party, right? And for the last few months, Jake's been threatening to come pick up this car."

"Wait, what do you mean by threatening?"

"I'm just saying, we didn't invite him."

"Oh." I still wasn't quite sure what that meant. "What car do you mean?"

"The wayhesees it? His car."

"But it's not?"

Jax made a waffling gesture with his hand. "Depends on who you talk to."

"So what'syourversion?" I smiled. "From the beginning, okay?"

"Alright. A few years ago, Jaden and I borrow this car—"

"Wait. Howmanyyears ago?"

Jax gave it some thought. "I dunno…fifteen I guess."

I shook my head. That wasa lotof years, too many, in fact."But that can't be right."

"Why not?"

"Well, because you're twenty-nine years old."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, that means you'd be fourteen at the time." I did the math. "And Jaden would be what, twelve?"

"Close. He'd just turned thirteen." Jax got this faraway look as he added, "I remember, because we did this birthday cake thing in the car. It was just a vending machine snack, but…" He paused. "Eh, that's not important."

It was to me.

I wasn't a huge fan of Jaden, but the image struck me as just a little bit sad. "But you weren't alone, right?"

"No."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Jax grinned. "There was Jaden, too. Remember?"

"Oh, come on," I protested. "You know what I meant."

He was still grinning. "Did I?"

Now, I couldn’t help but smile back. "Iknowyou did."

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