She gives a tight smile then leaves, and silence falls over the store. I stare at the bright sunlit windows for a moment, then blink and look back at my phone so I could read my texts from Chase.
At lunch, I realize I left my wallet at Chase’s house and need it so I can buy food. I phone an order into Suzy’s Cafe and rush to The Mill House. It’s one-thirty, and the parking lot is empty. I go around back, slowing when I see the river. It reminds me of Chase, and not just because it runs behind this place.
Reminding myself I have to hurry, I go up the stairs and knock on the door. A minute goes by and no one answers, and I think Jax is either sleeping or ignoring whoever is at the door. A second before I turn to go, he answers.
“Sierra. Hey. Chase isn’t here.”
“I know,” I tell him, offering a polite smile. He’s wearing pajama bottoms and a Metallica T-shirt and looks like he just woke up. “I left my wallet here this morning and need it to buy lunch.”
Jax nods and steps aside, letting me in. I go right to Chase’s room to grab it. A rush goes through me when I see the messy bed, sheets twisted across the mattress and a pillow on the floor. I cannot wait to mess up that bed again.
“Find it?” Jax says, appearing in the doorway. His large frame takes up most of the space, blocking me in. My heart speeds up.
“Yeah,” I say, grabbing the hot pink Coach wallet from the nightstand. I push my shoulders back, not wanting Jax to see he scares me. If Chase trusts him, I can too…right?
“You must really have a hold on him,” Jax starts. “I’ve never seen him like this before?”
“Like what?” I take another step forward and Jax doesn’t move. I left my phone in the car and we’re the only ones here. My pulse rises.
“In love.”
“Chase isn’t in love with me,” I say and shake my head. Not yet at least.
Jax rolls his eyes. “You don’t see it? What, are you fucking blind?”
“I happen to have excellent eyesight, thank you very much.” I put a hand on my hip and stare down Jax. “What do you want?”
He tips his head, amused at my unexpected question. “I want to know what you’re doing with Chase.”
My eyebrows pinch together and it takes me a second for his words to click. “Are you trying to interrogate me and make sure my intentions are noble?”
“Something like that.”
“Seriously?” I can’t help but laugh. “You’re worried that I might hurt Chase?”
“You’re a Lannister and he’s a —”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I interrupt, holding up my hand. “I’m so not a Lannister. I’m a dragon.”
Jax makes his face. “Stark maybe. But no Targaryon.”
I narrow my eyes. “And you’re a Frey.”
“Ouch,” he says, leaning back like the insult hurt. Then his eyes meet mine and he laughs. “You’re all right, Sierra.”
“I can die happy knowing you think so.”
He leans forward in a deep bow. “Go forth, Mother of Dragons.”
“First of her Name…Breaker of Chains…you gotta say the whole thing.”
“I wouldn’t have taken you to be a Game of Thrones junkie.”
“I love it. The books and the show were both excellent. Lord of the Rings is good too. But Harry Potter is the best of all.”
“Fuck yes it is. Chase is a Slytherin, just to warn you. I made him take the Pottermore official test a few years back.”
“I’ll let that one slide. I’m a Hufflepuff, and we see the good in everyone after all.” I laugh and go back to the front door. Just a minute ago I was scared that Jax might hurt me, but he turns out to be a fantasy nerd like me and a loyal friend to Chase.
“See you around, Sierra,” he says and opens the door for me. The relief I felt is zapped away. On Jax’s right arm, just under the sleeve of his T-shirt, is a tattoo of a sun. The same exact sun that Chase has tattooed on his chest. Suddenly, Lisa’s theory that Chase is in some sort of organized crime ring doesn’t sound too far off.
Chapter 22
Chase
“Not that I’ve ever doubted your skills,” Jax tells me later that night. “But how the fuck did a chick like Sierra end up with you?”
I laugh. “I have no fucking clue.”
Setting a bag of takeout from the bar on the coffee table, I fall onto the couch. It’s two o’clock in the morning, and I’m fucking tired. I had to go straight down to the bar after coming home from Mercy hospital. Dakota wasn’t handling the transition from only child to older sister of two very well. She asked if I would take her to get a Happy Meal for lunch, and of course I said yes. There’s a McDonalds less than a block away from the hospital and it wasn’t too hot to comfortably walk to it.
Josh was fine with it. Melissa was fine with it. Melissa’s parents were fine with it. But Judy Henson—low and behold—wasn’t. It led to an awkward conversation between Josh and his mother, Dakota crying, and Melissa, who was worn out and in pain, snapping at Judy.
Melissa’s father ended up coming with, which wasn’t as bad as I expected. The guy was talkative but nice and thanked me more than once for filling in at the bar so Josh could spend more time at home with Melissa and the babies.
“Makes sense why you fell off the grid,” he goes on. “But what are you going to do?”
I take a bite of my burger and shoot him a look. “With what?”
“Playing house here.”
I shrug. “I like it here.”
Jax, who’s never been much of a talker, grunts. He opens his bag of takeout and puts his feet up on the coffee table, flipping through channels.
“Want to know something fucked up?” I blurt.
“I love fucked up.”
“My phone broke, and I had to send it in to get the screen replaced. That’s why I fell off the grid. And I got a temporary in its place. It’s Sierra’s dead boyfriend’s phone.”
“How the fuck do you know that?”
“The person who sold it second-hand failed to do a factory reset and deleted shit by hand. But they forgot the voicemails. Sierra kept calling him after he died.”
Jax blinks, looks away, then back at me again. “You listened to the messages?”
“A few of them.”
“Does she know?”
“No. I listened before I knew it was her.”
“That is not the kind of fucked up I was expecting. I thought you were going to say cousins really do hook up here and Sierra’s got a hot cousin that joins in with you two.”
I make a face. “You have issues.”
Jax laughs at himself. “I do. But I’m also enjoying the visual of Sierra having a near-identical cousin. They’re really going at it—fuck. Here you come, ruining everything.”
I chuckle and shake my head. “I can never tell her, can I?”
Jax takes in a deep breath and pulls his French fries from the bag. “Fuck if I know. Are they sex-messages?”
“No, but it’s obvious she didn’t want anyone else to hear.”