Page 80 of Just Friends
Slowly, for the first time in a week, Jax smiled that handsome smile that could melt hearts. Looking more and more like himself, he wrangled that smile and got it under control before it spreadtoomuch. And I began to wonder if Paulina could be right aboutotherthings, too?
“Nah, we can do one room,” he said. And though he’d successfully corralled his smile, it still showed in his bright eyes. “I’m fine with that.”
“Yeah?” I asked. “You sure?”
“Yeah, definitely.” He turned to the receptionist. “Let’s just do one room instead. We don’t need two.”
“Of course, Mr. Cameron.” The young receptionist’s cheeks were turning pink, too—but was she blushing because she’d witnessed a cute scene? Or was she blushing because she was experiencing sheer second-hand embarrassment? Who knew. “Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“Not a problem,” he said.
“Here you are.” She slid a pair of keycards across the desk. “Enjoy your stay at Oakwood Mansion!”
A quiet lingered between us as we walked to the elevator and waited. But this time, it wasn’t a bad quiet like the one in the truck—it was a nervous, hopeful quiet.
Oh my God.I thought, my heart still racing in my chest.I can’t believe I just did that!
20
Jax
The elevator doors closed with a mechanical hum.
What just happened?I wondered, gravity clinging to my organs as we shot upward.
We could’ve had our own rooms, but Piper wanted to share a room, abed, with me. Did she mean something by that?
Totally.She wants you, bro. Go for it. Green light all the way.
But that was the devil on my shoulder; the little fucker thatlovedto get me into trouble. And even though I couldn’t keep my eyes off Piper, theworstthing I could do this weekend—a weekend I’d declared was about returning our friendship back to normal—was go and fuck it up all over again by doing something boneheaded.
So maybe it didn’t mean anything. Maybe it meant exactly what she’d said: she’d get lonely if we had our own rooms, and besides, we were supposed to spend time together this weekend.
Wehadshared the same bed plenty of times in the past, after all. It used to happen all the time before her diagnosis. We’d be hanging out in my room, she’d start to get a little sleepy, the words coming out of her mouth would become increasingly more bizarre, and then before you knew it, she was out like a light—in my bed. The first few times that happened, I’d carried her back to her room. Eventually, it happened enough that I’d pass out next to her and it wasn’t a big deal. Hell, I even woke up cuddling her once or twice. And it was never weird the morning after. Never strange. We just laughed it off and moved on.
But still.
There was a funny feeling I couldn’t shake. Like there was something about this, her request, that felt …different.
Why? I didn’t know. Lately, my mind was so fucked. I felt like I couldn’t make sense ofanything anymore. All I knew was that I couldn’t trust myself around her. Not anymore—not after the kiss. But why? Why was I so twisted up and confused?
Because you’re in l—
The elevator glided to a stop on the fourth floor with a friendlyding,snapping me out of my trance. Still moving on autopilot, I left the elevator with a head full of fog, leading Piper down the hall to our room.
“Hey, Jax, isn’t this our room?” she asked, stopped in front of the door with the letter G.
I looked at our keycard: 4F. Sure enough, I’d walked right past it. “My bad.”
Piper swiped her keycard through the lock and I held the door open for her. Keeping her eyes low and her lips pursed, she moved past me and stepped inside.
“Oh, wow,” she said with quiet surprise. “It’s so nice.”
I walked in behind her and took a look around. The room was big and nicely furnished with plenty of places to sit: there was a comfortable-looking, coral pink couch, a cream chaise lounge, and a number of matching armchairs. Gold accents and metallic details tied the rest of the pink-and-beige room together.
“What do you think?” she asked.
“It’s a little”—I trailed off, searching for the right word—“a little girly, but yeah, it’s nice.”
