Page 8 of Game Changer
It’s dark and desolate down here.“Great.”I look around at all the concrete.“Lovely.”
“We need to get a taxi,” Jax says.He leads the way to a narrow sidewalk.
Cars roar past us, the sound echoing in the enclosed space as we walk a dark incline leading up to street level.
Near the top of the incline, a man sits against the wall with a big bag beside him, no doubt containing all his worldly possessions.He eyes us as we approach.
I’m glad Jax is with me.
“Beautiful bride,” he says.
“Thanks.”
“I was married once.”He chokes on a sob.
Oh my God.
“That cheating whore…I got six kids with her.”He wipes his face.“She was fucking everyone in town behind my back.”
“Wow.”I drop down into a crouch next to him, my skirt spread all around me.Vaguely I realize this sidewalk isn’t exactly clean, but whatever.“Same.My fiancée was cheating on me.”
“Him?”The man eyes Jax suspiciously.
“No.He’srescuing me.I didn’t go through with the wedding.”
“Good for you.”He pats my hand, tears still in his eyes.
“I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“Yeah.My life went into the shitter after that.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.”I have no cash whatsoever, or I’d give him some.
Jax digs into his pocket and pulls out a bill that he hands to the man.“Here you go, man.”
“Thanks.Good luck, pretty lady.”
We emerge onto South Wacker.City lights glitter around us.Jax spots a yellow cab and raises his hand to hail it.
I see the driver do a double take at my wedding dress, then jerk the wheel and screech to a halt at the curb.
“This doesn’t look weird or anything,” I mutter, hoisting my skirts and clipping after Jax in my high heels as he jogs over to the taxi.
“You wanted to leave,” he reminds me over his shoulder.
We jump in, me wrestling with the multiple layers of my dress.Jax helps me deal with it, tucking fabric under my thighs, then I pull the door closed.
“Newlyweds!”the driver says.“Congratulations!”
Jax and I exchange glances.I widen my eyes at him, and the corners of his mouth lift.
“Uh, thanks,” Jax says.
“Where to, lovebirds?”the cabbie asks.
Jax gives his address.
The driver chats all the way to Jax’s place, although I don’t say anything, lost in my misery until we pull up in the driveway of Jax’s building.I’ve been to his place once before when he had a party; he lives in a new, super modern high-rise on North Lake Shore.
