Page 24 of Fox
“Ya know, you don’thaveto be a dick,” I grumble as she shrugs.
“Yeah, but it just comes naturally whenever you’re around.” I watch as she moves her phone around, and then I see she’s in a tank top, in bed. She lies on her side to face me, and Imost certainly will not be looking at her massive cleavage or the hickey I left there.
Nope. Not looking at—
“Are you going to stare all creepy, like there’s something behind your phone the whole time?” She asks dryly, and I shake my head, refocusing on her.
“What’s wrong?” I ask and watch her face fall.
“My birthday’s this weekend, and it just hit me.”
“What did?” I ask, already knowing what she’s talking about.
“No card,” she laughs lightly. “I uhh…I never realized how much I looked forward to getting them until now.” I give her a pained look. Tony was big on drawing cards for Janie for her birthday. He would make them super intricate, sometimes asking one of us for advice. It was a big deal to him that she got her card.
“I miss him,” she whispers before clearing her throat.
“I know you do,” I say softly while trying to ignore the urge to go to her and hold her to me.
“I’m sorry.” I nearly flinch at her words.
“What?” I ask, causing her to roll her eyes.
“I said I’m sorry. For the fight, for the shitty things I said. My dad loved you so much, Fox. Honestly? I was…amsomewhat jealous. You had a bond with him I never got to experience. But I shouldn’t take that out on you. He adored you, and I know he made the right choice, leaving the shop to you.”
I want to say something sarcastic, mainly because this real moment with her makes me feel things I don’t understand. Rolling onto my side, I prop my phone up and rest my head on my pillow.
“He loved you more than anything. Even if his way of showing it wasn’t always what you needed.” She gives me a sad smile.
“He always thought that it would be okay if he could just get more money. I can’t fault him for that. But sometimes, I missed the crappy apartment and the shadow puppets. I miss scraping together enough change for pizza while we watched television, just me and him. He got big and started chasing that dream, and I never once thought it was selfish. How could I? I know he did it for me. He left it all to me, but I would trade all of it for one more pizza night.” I stare into her watery eyes, and my heart breaks as a tear slips over her nose as she stares at me.
“Fox,” she whispers, and fucking god, why can’t I be there to comfort her?
“Yeah, baby doll?” Why did I call her that? I wince, waiting for her to yell at me for the name slip. She doesn’t. Instead, she continues to give me the same heartbreaking stare that is quite literally ripping my soul out.
“I’m going to meet Frank in the morning,” she whispers. “Have him give me the papers to sign.”
“No.” The abruptness in my voice startles us both. “No, Torch,” I say softer. “You ain’t giving up this easy. You and I haven’t reached our epic final battle, and I’ll be damned if I get cheated out of it.” Her laugh is pitiful, but I’ll take it.
“Swords or lightsabers, Simmons?” She smirks, and I roll my eyes and snort.
“Like that’s even a real question. Show up with a sword and watch how quickly I take you down.”
ELEVEN
janie
“Ididn’t know Jai!” Brody sighs exhaustedly while taking a hit from his stupid fucking vape. The goddamn ripping noise is enough to make me want to strangle him. Glaring at him, I shake my head while pacing in the entryway of his creator house. I hate being here. Even though Brody swears there are no cameras on right now, I’m always on alert.
“Didn’t know what Brody? That as my boyfriend, I expected you to be faithful?” Running my hands through my hair, I scowl up at him and watch as tears well in his eyes.What is he doing?Brody drops to his knees and wraps himself around my waist. Gasping at the sudden unwelcome contact, I shove him off and step back, not wanting him to feel my horrible tremors.
“Jai,” His voice cracks. “Please. I’m a terrible person. I don’t deserve you. You have such a big heart; can you please find it in you to give me one more chance? I promise, I’ll take you out for your birthday! We can go to a nice restaurant and talk. Please? I care about you. We can’t just end everything like this. We owe it to ourselves to try and talk it out!” Curling my lip, I shake my head.
“No! Absolutely not! I’m done with whatever thing you and I have had going on. You got enough from me. I don’t deserve this! Hell, I don’t even want this!”
“Y-you don’t want me?” He sobs and…Why is he crying?!Like me, Brody doesn’t get emotional around anyone. I’ve never seen him cry, and this doesn’t feel right.
“Brody, you and I both know what was happening was more for show than anything else. You have a big enough following, you don’t need me anymore.”
