Page 33 of This Is War: All's Fair Duet
I ease back, looking up at him. “Where?”
“Well”—he hesitates, his lips quirking up on one side—“I’m guessing you don’t want to be in your room right now since you’re out here. So… my room? It’s fucking freezing out here. Lemme put this resident advisor training bullshit to use, would ya?”
I let my eyes wander over his features as he delivers a hopeful twist of his sinful lips that I can’t resist. I carefully nod. “Yeah. Okay.”
He tucks me under his arm, drawing me close to him, and we hurry back to the dorm. Jaxon lets us in, then rather than waiting on the elevator, we jog up the two flights of stairs. Just before he pushes open the door, I stop, biting my lip. He winces, and I don’t know if he realizes what the problem is or not, but without questioning my bizarre actions, he pokes his head out and looks around before holding his hand out to me. From there, we hurry down the hall opposite the one my room is on. It only takes us twenty seconds, but in that time, I feel very exposed and anxious. In my head, I know it’s because I don’t want to deal with Logan, should he be wandering the floor looking for me… and then I feel terrible for having those thoughts. But I’d feel even worse if he knew I was with Jaxon right now.
As we enter his room and he closes the door to the outside world, I can’t help the crumpling of my face. I descend into another bout of tears, wet trails streaking down my face while I beat myself up. Each breath I attempt gets jammed up inside me until my chest burns with it.
“Hey. Hey, hey,hey.” Jaxon spins me around to face him. “What the fuck is going on?” he grits out, but all I can do is focus on the nose rings he wears. The slim circles of metal screambad boybut are also so entirely suited to his face, I don’t know what I’d make of it if he took them out.
I blink, struggling for air. Shake my head. Feel the involuntary tremble of my lip as it quakes.
His hand comes up, catching my chin with his fingers. “Talk to me, Rya. Please. These tears are killing me.” He leans in, brushing his lips over one cheek, then the other, collecting the moisture before his tongue slips out to taste it. “Take a couple deep breaths for me, pretty girl.”
A laugh practically explodes from me as I roll my eyes at him. “I’m anything but pretty right now.” I sweep my fingers over one cheek, then the other. Sniffle.Fuck.
“Rya, you’re the prettiest mess I’ve ever seen.”
I shoot him a half smile and try to compose myself. “Yeah. Okay. I’m sorry. I’m just—” Another bit of laughterrolls from me, unbidden as he guides me over to the edge of the mattress.
He gestures to the bed. “We can sit. Talk.”
“Just what you wanted from the chick you went out with… what? An hour ago? Two?” I’ve lost track of time.
“It’s okay.” He takes a spot up toward the wall at the head of the bed.
I frown, noticing something I hadn’t before. His bed is a double. “Resident advisors have it good.”
He huffs out a laugh. “The bed you mean? Perk of the job, I guess. I sure as fuck wasn’t expecting it. I brought extra-long twin sheets with me and then had to order some to fit this mattress with quick shipping. Got extra pillows, too.” He pats the space next to him. “Want to sit here with me so you can lean against them? Might be more comfortable.”
Biting my lip, I turn and climb farther onto the soft bed, then nuzzle in next to him, making myself at home against his pillows. A deep sigh escapes me. “Thanks.”
Jaxon’s phone pings, and I’m content to let him check the message. I do wonder if he’s still getting messages from whoever had texted earlier that made him cut our date short.
And if I want to ask him anything about it, he’d made it clear earlier that I’d be spilling my guts, too. I can’t bring myself to talk about it again. I close my eyes, and thewounded look on Logan’s face floats in front of me, taunting me. I hit him. I can’t believe I did that. Cringing hard, I draw my legs up and lean forward, hugging them to my chest.
Jaxon sets his phone down, returning his focus to me. “Sorry. Had to check in. I told you I’d explain what happened earlier.” For a moment, I’m unsure he’s going to continue, but finally, he throws a hand out, like whatever he’s on the verge of revealing pisses him off. “It’s my mom. She’s diabetic. And she sometimes doesn’t have access to the insulin she needs.”
The rough exhalation from my lips and the way I physically feel my face fall must tell him everything he needs to know. Words would be redundant.
“Yeah. It fucking sucks.” He glances away for a second. “That’s what the text was about earlier. She was feeling like crap. I had to go make sure she was okay,” he mumbles.
Shit.I don’t know what to say, so I go for the obvious first. “I’m sorry she’s not feeling well.” He tips his head in acknowledgment, and I suck in a breath before putting a hand on his bicep and squeezing gently. “It must be awfully stressful for you.”
“It is. It’s kinda a constant worry in the back of my head. She’s mostly fine, but every once in a while—” He stops himself with a shake.
“What about your dad?” I ask, my teeth sinking into my lip. The way Jaxon stiffens tells me plenty. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked that. I?—”
“Funny how you know more about me than I know about you,” he grumbles.
“Well. Just that your dad’s obviously married to Logan’s mom.” I angle my head to try to get a read on him, but he stares straight ahead, so I end up watching the twitch of his jaw muscle instead. “I didn’t know he wasyourdad. Just that he was Logan’s stepdad.”
He draws in a deep breath. “Not your fault my dad’s an asshat. Anyway, no, he’s not helpful with this particular situation. Not with anything, honestly.”
“That sucks.”
“Eh.” He shrugs. “He can go fuck himself.”
