Page 28 of Jax
“That’s how they get you,” I said, tapping my mug against the counter like a punchline. But my stomach twisted anyway. It wasn’t a joke.
I dropped my eyes. Let my lashes lower just enough to suggest vulnerability without truly showing it. Let the warmth of the moment carry me for one more breath before I tucked it back where it belonged.
I need them to think I’m adjusting. That I’ve accepted this. If Tech Boy’s watching, and he is, I need to look docile. Bored. Safe. Pretend long enough, and maybe they’ll stop looking.
The cinnamon roll Maddy pushed toward me was warm, sticky, and nearly perfect. I smiled again and ate it, mostly to placate her. It was damn good, though.
A couple of hours later,after receiving the official house tour from Maddy and then wandering around for a while, I heard the girl’s voices filtering in through my window from outside. I glanced through the glass and saw them on their knees in a small flower garden I hadn’t noticed last night. Mostly out of pure boredom, I decided to join them. I put on some comfortable shoes and took off my hoodie, then exited the house through the back door.
The garden looked like something off a postcard as I walked up—too perfect, too still. The kind of place that begged you to relax, which made me trust it even less.
The sun was soft against my back as I approached the girls. Bellamy was kneeling in the dirt, her dark braid slung over one shoulder, fingers moving with a gentle precision I didn’t expectfrom her. Maddy sat cross-legged nearby, dirt on her cheek, humming under her breath as she dug another hole.
“Mind if I join you, ladies? I think I might bash my head against a wall if I have to sit alone inside any longer.”
“Sure!” Maddy said, still too chipper for my taste. “We’re just planting some new flowers in Rayden’s memorial garden.”
I lowered myself into the flowerbed beside them, the damp soil seeping cold through my jeans. My hands accepted the spade when it was offered, but my eyes kept dragging back to the fence line, the breaks in the tree cover, the faint gleam of a camera lens. The dirt grounded me. Something to push against when the rest of me itched for escape. Flats of marigolds waited between us, bright and eager, too cheerful for how heavy my chest felt.
Bellamy brushed her hands on her knees and glanced over. “First days are the worst,” she said quietly. Not a question. More like an offering.
Maddie nodded, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Takes a while to figure out where you fit. Took me longer than I’d like to admit.”
I dug the spade into the soil, turning it over just to give my hands something to do. “I’m not really looking to fit,” I muttered.
They didn’t flinch. Maddy just gave me a small smile, the kind people wear when they remember exactly how that feels. I didn’t return it. Couldn’t. But for a moment, the silence between us felt less like a wall and more like a truce.
Bellamy pushed a handful of soil into place around the roots. “Rayden hated these. Said they smelled like gym socks.”
“Maybe that’s why you’re planting them,” Maddy said gently. “A little sibling revenge.”
That drew a smile from Bellamy, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Mine drifted back to the tree line, just for a breath toolong. “Do you guys ever go out?” I asked casually, eyes still on the shadows. “Or is this kind of… lockdown thing permanent?”
Bellamy didn’t look up, but Maddy stilled beside me. It was barely perceptible, a slight pause in movement, a breath held a beat too long.
“Why?” Bellamy asked.
I shrugged. “Just… curious about how tightly the guys keep this place locked down. I hate the idea of someone getting in again. If they took me once…”
There. The faintest shift. A thread of sympathy. Let them think it was fear driving the question. Let them think I needed reassurance.
Maddy softened. “We’ve gone out before. Supervised. Coordinated.”
Bellamy responded with blunt directness. “You planning a field trip?”
I smiled and placed a marigold into the dirt, arranging it neatly before I spoke. “Just trying to get a sense of the place. It’s easy to pretend you’re safe out here.”
“We are safe out here, safe as anyone can be who is hiding from the Dom Krovi,” Bellamy said, her voice carrying sincerity. “I ignored that once during my first few weeks here, and I found out the hard way that I should have listened, you know?”
The words hit harder than I wanted them to. Not because they were wrong, but because they hit a little too close to what I was trying to talk around without giving away. I shifted, tugging my hoodie sleeves down as if the movement could protect more than just my skin. “Sounds like you’ve been here a while.”
Maddy looked up, dirt-streaked and smiling. “Long enough to know the coffee’s good, the men are overprotective, and the bathroom’s always free at midnight.”
I laughed. Actually laughed. And it scared the hell out of me. Because for just one second, it felt good to sit in the sun, kneel inthe dirt, and tease these girls who felt like they could be friends. It felt normal. Like the life I used to have, back before Violet was ripped out from under me.
And that was the danger. That was the real fucking trap.
I dug my fingers deeper into the soil, grounding myself with the cold, damp reality of it. I wasn’t here to bond. I was here to survive. But God help me… part of me didn’t want to move.
