Page 77 of Jax
Maddy pointed her noodle at me with laser focus. “You. In the water. Now. We need even numbers, and I refuse to let Sully play both sides again.”
Sully, already knee-deep and spinning in confused circles, raised his hands. “I’m neutral Sweden!” He paused for a moment as our eyes met, and he gave me a little nod and a smilethat said he was proud of me for choosing to leave my room. I returned the nod with a small smile of my own.
Bellamy didn’t miss a beat. “Sweden folds fast when Maddy’s involved.”
And somehow, amid the splash fights and questionable diplomacy, the chaos wrapped around me. Not tidy. Not quiet. But welcoming. For the first time in too long, I wasn’t choking on my own thoughts. I let it cover me—bright, wild, absurd. Alive.
Then, Deacon emerged from the trees with two beers and, inexplicably, a frog.
“I name him Chauncey,” he said solemnly, like it was a ceremony and not a confusing woodland interlude.
There was a pause before Bellamy muttered, “Why does that frog look like it’s seen some shit?”
“Because he has,” Deacon replied, gently stroking its back like a damp, battle-hardened veteran. “He’s the only one here with actual combat experience.”
I blinked.
“Is no one going to question the fact that he’s got a live amphibian?”
“Nope,” Maddy called. “We’ve moved on. Get your ass in the water, feral metal witch.”
The nickname snapped my attention back to her. “You realize that’s not exactly motivating, right?”
She surged through the water like she was storming Normandy. “You’re on my team. Sully’s a traitor. Bellamy’s otherwise occupied. And Chauncey isn’t allowed in amphibious combat. I need you.”
“I’m not even in a swimsuit.”
“Neither am I. It’s chaos o’clock, baby; we don’t stand on formality here.”
I opened my mouth to argue again, but then Jax crouched in the pond, soaked and shirtless, braced on his thighs, eyes locked on mine like he’d already decided how this ended.
“You riding with me or what?” he asked, voice dipped in challenge. “I’ll be gentle.”
My pulse stuttered. “You drop me and I’ll weld your car shut with you inside it.”
His grin deepened. “That’s the hottest thing anyone’s ever threatened me with.”
Bellamy raised her granola bar. “I’d wear that on a shirt.”
I should’ve stayed put. But my body moved before logic caught up. I stepped forward, jeans dragging through the water, pulled toward the man who had tied me up and shattered every rational thought I had.
It wasn’t the game that made the air snap and hum. It was Jax. That anchored calm beneath the swagger. That brutal focus that said he remembered every inch of me, and wanted more.
He looked up at me as he knelt, steady and sure. “Ready?”
“Not remotely,” I muttered, planting my hands on his shoulders. His skin was slick and sun-warm. When I wrapped my thighs around him, I felt it—quiet, magnetic control. The kind that steadied without softening.
He stood with effortless strength, hands curving around my calves like it was the most natural thing in the world. For one suspended breath, that was everything.
Then Maddy screamed, “CHARGE!”
Chaos returned instantly. Sully surged beneath her, and suddenly we were colliding—elbows, laughter, water everywhere. Jax shifted beneath me with seamless precision, adjusting without words, calm in the storm like he’d done this a hundred times. Like he knew exactly how to keep me balanced.
Maddy lunged again, both hands reaching. I swatted her away.
“Are you trying to grab my boobs or win a chicken fight?” I snapped, dodging her wild, noodle-armed swipe.
“YES.”
