Page 122 of Game Changer
Great.Perfect.
“Wynn,” Steve snaps at him, jerking his head.“Come here.”
Jax’s head swivels, and he takes in me and Steve together.His jaw tightens and his shoulders tense, but his face stays remarkably expressionless.“What’s up?”he asks, ambling forward.
Steve moves us behind a tent set up beside the autograph table.He pulls out his phone.
“Just tell me…” He unlocks it and swipes a few times, then holds it up for us to see.“What the hell is this?”
I peer at his phone and see a photograph of Jax and me at Clear Lake.We’re standing on the beach, arms around each other, smiling up at each other.
I freeze.I feel like darkness descends over the festival and only Jax, Steve and I are standing here, in a quiet bubble.I look at Jax.He looks at me.
What the hell do we do now?
My throat has gone dry, and I swallow.
I turn my gaze back to Steve.“Uh…”
“This is who you were with all summer?”he demands.
Welp, there’s no point in lying about it.I don’t like lying anyway, but he’s holding proof in his hands.
I look at Jax, trying to convey my regret.He gives a tiny, resigned nod.
“Yes,” I say to Steve.
I don’t offer any other explanation or info.What more does he need to know?
His face reddening, Steve shakes his head and turns to Jax.“What the fuck, man?”
Jax holds up his hands.“You two weren’t together anymore.”
“I know, but Jesus Christ!We were engaged!She dumped me at the altar.What did you do, go after her?”
“No,” Jax says quietly, lifting his chin.“She asked me to help.She wanted to get away from the wedding and she wanted to get out of town.”
“He tried to talk me out of it,” I put in.I know this is bad for Jax.Steve can go jump in Lake Michigan, for all I care.“He encouraged me to stay and talk to you and maybe go for counseling.Really.”
“Counseling?”Steve’s eyebrows fly up and his face gets even redder.“What the fuck?”
“I was trying to help.”
“You call thishelp?”Steve shoves the phone in Jax’s face.“I can’t fucking believe this!”
“Where did you get that picture?”I ask, as if that even matters.
“Rico showed it to me.He just stumbled across it on Instagram.Somebody tagged the Aces because of the festival today.”
“I saw it yesterday,” Jax says quietly.
“Shit,” I say, dropping my head forward.
“You were just going to keep this secret?”Steve says.“Forever?”
“It’s over,” I say, but unexpectedly my throat closes up.I try to say more, but I can’t get any words out.To my horror, tears prickle the corners of my eyes.
Jax watches me with concern, and jumps in.“It’s over, Chucky.It was just a summer fling.”
