“It was. Why don’t you move in with me?” Jax said softly amid the low notes of the soft rock playing from the stereo.
I wasn’t even surprised by the offer. I could feel the love between us, and I felt safe in it. “I will. After I graduate.”
“Ugh,” he groaned. “I don’t think I can stand waiting that long.”
“It’s what we need to do. If I can’t be your TA, then I can’t be your live-in lover. The end.”
“What is it with you writers? Always putting a fucking exclamation point on everything?” He was pretending to be exasperated, but I could hear the humor behind the words.
I laughed softly, and he joined in.
I felt the warmth of his breath on my temple, then his lips pressed to my forehead and all was right with the world. Each precious second with him was worth every minute of lost sleep I’d have later finishing my other work.
I was floating on air as I entered my building, walked up the three floors and put the key in the lock. I was humming the song that had been playing on the radio, content in the love washing over me, my body and heart sated.
It was hard to leave Jax, but we both knew we needed to get some sleep tonight. He was going to try to work on his book, and I needed to get some homework done.
I turned the key with one hand and the knob with the other. The apartment was lit only by the small lamp on the bedside table next to Michelle’s bed. She had attempted a FaceTime earlier; inquiring where the hell I’d been for two days, but when I didn’t answer she sent a text, instead.
I’d been able to give her the briefest of explanations; responding with three words.
I’m with Jax.
Still? Thank God you’re not dead. LOL
I’ll be at Mark’s if you want to pull an all-nighter with the hottie prof.
I’m doing homework. See you tomorrow.
I was torn between being glad of the privacy and being able to keep what happened to myself and the innate need to let it out and tell my best friend everything in unabashed exuberance and excitement.
My heart was still singing because Jax had asked me to move in with him even if it was too soon, and I couldn’t for another six months. It seemed incredible that I’d only known him two months; he was part of me, and I had a grounded sense about us. He hadn’t said he loved me, but then, I hadn’t either.
I dropped my backpack on my bed, sank down beside it and bent to remove my black boots. I wasn’t hungry and was torn between taking a long shower or getting right to work. I wasn’t motivated. I wanted to marinate in thoughts of the weekend and relive every second. It has been so glorious.
I sank back on my twin bed and rolled onto my side, gathering my backpack up and hugging it for a moment. I closed my eyes, missing Jax.
The iPhone, that had dropped unheeded beside me on the bed began to ring and I reached for it without looking to see who it was. I was expecting to hear Jax’s smooth voice telling me how much he missed me but was instead assaulted with Gloria’s brittle tones.
“Good God, you’re difficult to get a hold of,” she said flatly. “I’ve been trying to reach you for two days!”
I rolled onto my back and pulled my knees up so my feet were flat on the mattress. Any excitement that I should have felt dissipated into thin air, because of her shrill harping, and my need to talk to her. “I was out of pocket.”
“Mmm, yes, well, I assume it was with Jaxon, since I couldn’t reach him either.”
So, that was why his phone was going crazy on Saturday. Thankfully, it was silent on Sunday, no doubt because he’d turned it off. I inhaled a deep breath. My brain told me to keep who I was with to myself. I didn’t say anything, and she barely noticed, but her tone turned pseudo sweet. “You know, he’s only using you, Addy. I hate to see it happen again.” She sighed heavily.
My heart constricted slightly, though I told myself she was just being a snarky bitch.
“Did you have news about the manuscript?” I asked hopefully, ignoring her comment. After the weekend I’d shared with Jax, nothing was going to deflate the love I felt for him.
“Yeah, I’m really sorry, sweetie. It’s nothing that I can take on right now.”
My heart fell. “Really,” I said.
“Yes, I just have too much romance on my plate that I’m shopping, and half of my time is chasing after Jaxon to get his book. At least a few chapters. If you could help with that, maybe I could spend some time on your novel, give you some pointers to polish it, etcetera.”
Her haughty tone made me bristle. I sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed. “I’m not sure why you think I have any influence over him. He has his own mind.”
“He does, but I saw the way he looks at you, and as I’ve said, I’ve seen it before. Every semester,” Gloria lamented. I could almost feel her roll her eyes through the phone. “He’s always got some little hottie on the hook, promising her the moon, and then he dumps all that extra work in my lap just so he can get laid.” She sounded disgusted. “Ugh. Maybe if he were meeting his own deadlines, I wouldn’t mind so much, but… well, you get the picture. How can you blame him, really? He’s incredibly gorgeous, after all. It’s not his fault women fall at his feet in heaps.”
I could feel my heart beating faster and faster as her words sank in, it pounded inside my chest like it would fly from it. My eyelids slammed shut as my eyes started to sting with tears. I felt my throat begin to tighten up. It didn’t matter that my heart knew it was total bullshit, the possibility still stung. I tried and tried not to believe her words and remember how it felt to be in his arms. He was totally focused on me when he was with me.
Don’t fall for it, Addy, my mind screamed. She’s just jealous she doesn’t have him anymore. I couldn’t stand thinking of him with this cold woman. Thinking of him touching her, kissing her, loving her… hurt like hell. Worse than her words.
“You two dated, didn’t you?” I asked bravely.
She huffed in irritation. “We did way back when, but he’s too self-centered and pompous for me. Oh my God… if you ever make it big, just try to keep your head on straight and be humble. He’s so boorish and hard to deal with these days,” Gloria responded coolly.
It was probably more like hard to control, I thought. Jax did have an air of confidence about him, but it suited him, and he’d earned it. “I just think he’s so talented.” I tried to cover the truth.
“Eh… I think he may have lost his edge.”
“Maybe he’s just distracted.”
“Thanks to you. He has a signed contract to write at least one book a year, so he’d better get his shit together. He doesn’t have the luxury of being distracted, and I told the publisher he’d have pages to them by Christmas. You’d be doing his career a favor if you’d keep your distance,” she said, then quickly changed the subject. “Maybe I can get a publisher to sign you as a ghost writer. You know, it will help you get your foot in the door and you’d be working with some of the top editors. It would really hone your craft.”