Текст книги "Falling Away"

Автор книги: Penelope Douglas

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 24 страниц)

CHAPTER 4

K.C.

I sat on the edge of Tate’s bed the next morning, running my thumb back and forth across the jagged scar on the inside of my wrist that lay in my lap. It was long and thin but well hidden, running diagonally on the inside of my wrist.

Gutless and helpless. I shook my head slowly, feeling a cold tear land on my arm.

Jaxon Trent was an asshole.

Everyone thought they had me figured out. Jax, Jared, Madoc, Liam, my mother … everyone.

Everyone except Tate and Shane. They were the only family I really had, because they were the only ones who knew everything.

“I’ve never met anyone so desperate to get out of her own skin.”

I tucked my long hair behind my ear and sniffled. He was right about that. Immediately the memory hit me as if it had just happened yesterday.

“Katherina, come here,” my father calls. He sits by the window, wearing blue lounge pants and a robe.

I chew on my nails, looking up at my mother, scared. But she doesn’t look back. Why won’t she look at me?

I’m four, and they don’t tell me what’s wrong, even though I keep asking. All I know is that my daddy can’t live at home anymore. His hair is messy, and he never had a beard before.

“Katherina.” He waves me in with his hand, wanting me to come.

“Daddy, I’m Juliet,” I mumble, and my mother pinches my back.

My lip shakes, and my face hurts. I did something wrong. When I do bad things in public, she pinches me, because she says she can’t yell at me.

I see my daddy’s face look sad, and I drop my hands, because I want him to love me. “I’m just kidding.” I smile as big as I can. “I am Katherina.”

And I run to the safety and love of my daddy’s arms, holding on tight, even though he thinks I’m my sister.

I couldn’t believe it, and I hated to admit it, but the asshole was right. I wasn’t my dead sister, Katherina, and what was worse, I didn’t even know who the hell Juliet was anymore. I barely existed.

What ice cream did K.C. like? Because I’d just eat that so I wouldn’t confuse my father’s happy delusions. Did I have to wear Mary Janes to church every Sunday just because they were K.C.’s favorite shoes? I hated Mary Janes, but no, I was supposed to like them, so I decided just to like them and forget about it. What did I want to be when I grew up? Or, wait. What did K.C. want to be? Because Daddy liked to talk to her about that, and I had to try not to upset him.

In death, my sister was perfection. She never bit her nails, acted up, or listened to bad music. She was beautiful, perfect, and alive. Juliet was the dead one.

I trailed around in a daze, having slept barely at all the night before, and stripped off my pajama shorts and cami as I stepped into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I climbed in, my heavy limbs moving only as much as they had to, weighted down with fucking defeat.

Gutless and helpless.

I dipped my head back and shivered as the hot water poured welcome heat all over my skin. The weather outside was hot and wet, and I kept the temperature inside at eighty degrees, not wanting to run up the Brandts’ electric bill while I stayed here. But even though it seemed I was constantly wiping sweat off my brow, I wanted it hotter. I turned the faucet, increasing the temperature from a pleasant thaw to a fever, and I didn’t care if it was almost too much. I wasn’t cold anymore.

“… writhing and sweaty and begging.”

I tilted my head, leaning it on the shower wall and closing my eyes.

“I wanted to taste how wet you were for me.”

Sucking in my bottom lip, I felt the fire pool between my legs, and my head felt as if it were floating.

It could’ve been the heat of the shower. Or it could’ve been the memory of his breath on my face. It had smelled like apples and pears and rain.

Like summer. How could anyone’s breath smell like summer?

“I used to fantasize about pinning you against the lockers at school …”

Reaching down, I slid my hand up the inside of my wet thigh, the urge undeniable. I should’ve let him have me in high school, but I was afraid he’d rip my life apart. I was afraid he’d confuse me. And here I was, just as confused as ever, and I should’ve let him screw me. Ten times a day, whenever he wanted, because at least I would’ve been Juliet again, and I would’ve felt something.

I brought my hand up between my legs and ran my middle finger along my slit, rolling my hips into my hand.

Oh, God, that felt good. I breathed hard, rubbing my hand faster.

I was at least grateful for one of the things my mother had encouraged. Waxing. I’d opted to get it all removed. I loved it, and I wondered if Jax liked that sort of thing. My fingers rubbed against the smooth skin, and the pressure built in my belly with the pleasure of skin on skin.

My fingers slipped inside my folds, and I reached up and held one of my breasts with the other hand, wishing it was his hands squeezing and kneading while his tongue swirled around my cunt.

Shit. I just said “cunt.”

I never said words like that, but Nik constantly used them, and somehow it didn’t seem out of place right now.

I groaned, swirling my fingers around my clit, feeling the hard nub pulse like an automatic weapon. I wanted him.

Jax’s tongue was on me, and the hot spray of the shower doused his body in shimmering droplets. I wanted to lick them all.

But he was doing all the action right now. His tongue darted out to lick and play over my hip, up my stomach, and then stopping to French-kiss my breast before he stood up straight. Grabbing me by the back of my hair, he stared down at me as he whispered into my mouth.

I want your legs wrapped around my waist as you ride my cock.

“Oh, God,” I cried out, swirling my clit faster and faster. “Yes.”

I was throbbing and on fire, and I wanted what I had never wanted with Liam. Leaving the water running, I climbed out of the shower and hurried for the bedroom, dripping all over the rug. Yanking open the bedside drawer, I pulled out the vibrator and crashed onto the bed, lying on my back.

Spreading my legs, I turned the dial as far as it would go, and I heard the buzzing getting louder and louder. Working the head around my clit, I gasped at the swirls of pleasure filling my stomach.

Holy shit!

I started feeling little waves rolling through my belly. My eyes fluttered closed, and I arched my back off the bed, wanting more, needing more.

Oh, God.

Rubbing the vibrator over my entrance, I bit my bottom lip. The tantalizing vibrations felt so good.

“Oh,” I groaned, feeling the quakes and quivers inside my body.

“I wanted to dirty you up.”

“Jax.” My voice shook as I pumped the cock around my entrance, never going in, but just massaging and teasing. My legs shook with the pleasure of what was happening inside me.

“Oh, God!” I screamed, spreading my legs wider.

Heat poured out of me, and I wanted this more than I’d ever wanted anything. The deep vibrations pulsed in quick hums inside my womb.

Oh, God. Faster, faster, faster …

I arched my back and moved the tool up and around, rougher and rougher, massaging my clit.

“Oh, God. Fuck!” I cried out, shaking and sucking in air as the cyclone between my legs racked through me. “Yes!”

I came, gasping and moaning as I reached up and fisted the hair at my scalp.

My arms ached with exhaustion, and I slowly relaxed my eyes that were squeezed shut.

Jesus. I blinked, seeing the white ceiling come into focus.

What did I just do?

“You know, if you could talk to me at some point in the foreseeable future, that’d be greeeeat, mkay?” Shane imitated the guy from Office Space as she trailed me in the school hallways Monday morning.

“Why are you even here?” I asked, sounding just as annoyed as I felt. It was eight o’clock in the morning on my first day of tutoring, but Shane was on summer vacation with no reason to be here other than to be a pain in my ass.

“I’m transitioning the new cheer captain.” She smiled. “I’ll be around tons.” The snarky arched eyebrow was meant as a threat, and that was when I finally noticed the spandex shorts and sports bra she was wearing.

Ugh. Damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn. I thought I’d be safe at school at least.

Ever since the party last Thursday, she’d been on my case to give her the scoop on what had happened with Jax.

No comment.

I’d buckled down, prepared for tutoring, and spent my remaining days of freedom at the gym or lying out tanning in the backyard, although that was uncomfortable, since the brick wall made it easier to see through. Jax had come out in the backyard yesterday and immediately shoved all his friends back into the house when they interrupted my tanning. It wasn’t like Jax to do anything to make me comfortable, but I appreciated it, even though I promptly got up and went inside anyway.

Luckily that was the only time I’d seen him, though. I’d heard his car in the mornings and in the middle of the night, coming and going at odd hours, but that was the thing. It was constantly coming and going. The guy hardly sat still and once he was home, he’d turn around and leave again minutes later.

I’d resisted the urge to peer out the windows, and I’d been avoiding Shane and texts from Tate and my roommate, Nik.

“Look,” I said, grabbing the doorknob to the chem lab. “I’m sorry I’ve avoided you. I’m nervous, okay?” And that was true. I was practically squeezing the life out of the strap of Tate’s messenger bag. “Just give me a couple of days to get settled in. We can do dinner Wednesday night. Sound good?”

Shane twisted her full lips to the side, looking displeased, but I couldn’t help it. Jax’s hateful words from the other night were still flowing through my mind, an ever-present whisper, and to make matters worse, I masturbated to him the very next day. Seriously?

Right now a nice, long walk with Tate’s iPod sounded like heaven. It was really the only company I wanted.

“All right.” Her mumbled answer took some weight off my shoulders. “Do you want a ride home? I get done at eleven. I’ll stick around,” she offered.

“No.” I shook my head and smiled. “I’m actually enjoying the walks.” Looking forward to them was more like it.

She gave me a playful sneer, her hazel eyes amused. “But it’s so hot. Really?”

“I like the heat.”

“Do you?” Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she backed up, walking away.

I smiled. Yeah, I guess it was weird. At first I thought that living in Phoenix got me used to the high temperatures, but Shelburne Falls was a different kind of heat. The thickness of the air saturated everything with moisture. It was wet, and it made every pore on my skin sensitive and aware. I was constantly conscious of the way the hem of my coral-colored skirt brushed across my thighs and the heat pouring off my chest made my shirt stick to my skin. The back of my neck was already damp, and although I was glad that I wore a light white sleeveless blouse, I wished I had pulled my hair up instead of leaving it down. Brushing it over one shoulder to lie on my chest, I turned the knob and walked into the classroom.

The smell hit me right away, causing me to stop. I hadn’t been in a classroom in this school in two years, and that smell took me back to bittersweet memories. The whole school smelled the same. Like basketballs and construction paper. I inhaled, suddenly feeling alone but at home. I had nothing I had the last time I was here. No boyfriend. No best friend. But it was here that I was last happy.

“Hi, Ms. Penley,” I said right away, trying to appear less nervous than I was.

“K.C.!” She smiled one of those smiles where you can see both rows of teeth. “It made my summer when I heard you’d be helping me out.”

I nodded, looking around the nearly empty lab. A few other students—or possibly tutors, judging from the fact that they had files like mine—sat at tables around the room.

It was weird to see Ms. Penley in here, since her literature and writing classes were always in a standard classroom. This room made my legs stiffen with fear, whereas Ms. Penley’s usual classroom made my toes curl with comfort. Chem lab was my least favorite place, because I hated science. Luckily I’d had Tate to get me through those classes.

“Well.” I shrugged. “I just hope I can be of help.”

She waved me off. “It’ll be fine,” she assured me. “I’ll be in the room, and there are three other tutors here as well. That’s why we’re in the lab. Lots of room.”

I nodded, it finally making sense.

She continued talking as she organized files on her desk. “You’ll be sitting at a table with four students. We’re going to spend the first half hour or so reviewing the basics: gathering and organizing their ideas, main idea and supporting details, and the revision process. Most of these students still need a lot of practice on forming a thesis statement. You already have their diagnostic assessments.” She stopped to look at me. “So when we break into groups, I want them to each share a sample paragraph and discuss how it could be made better. I simply want them to analyze their work today, and I want them to see how their work compares to others’.”

That sounded easy enough. “Got it.”

Scanning the room again, I noticed all the other tutors seated on their own, so I headed for an empty table and unloaded my bag. I glanced up at the clock next to the door and counted down three hours and fifty minutes until I could leave. I’d have two sessions, each lasting an hour and forty-five minutes with four students in each session. Some kids were here for more than just writing, so they’d rotate to physics, English, or whatever math class they needed. And as icing on the cake, we’d all get our fifteen-minute snack or Facebook break.

One of the tutors—I think his name was Simon if I remembered him correctly from when we were in school together—smiled at me, and I nodded a greeting back.

Students trailed in, most of them later than the eight fifteen start time, and I let my eyes wander as some took their seats. I recognized a few kids, but I didn’t know any of them. They had just been finishing their freshman year when I’d graduated.

Did I look that young only two years ago? Did I wear that much makeup?

As Ms. Penley began her lecture, showing examples over the classroom projector of what excellent papers looked like, I noticed that barely any of the kids paid attention.

This must be hard for her. Some of the kids clearly just didn’t care. They covertly played on their phones under the table. They whispered to one another, ignoring Penley. They doodled in their notebooks.

And I remembered that that was what I did in my science classes in high school. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. I’d just gotten tired of struggling.

So I stopped trying. I did enough but no more.

Now I wished I tried more and wasn’t so afraid to put myself out there. Maybe if I had reached out for new experiences, I’d know what I wanted to do with my life. Now my options felt limited, because I’d held myself back in high school, and I was two years into college political science classes that I couldn’t just throw away.

I wanted these students to know that their education gave them choices. It was a valuable time.

Penley wrapped up her lesson and then directed the students to their tutors. I stayed where I was, leaning my elbows on the table and forcing a relaxed smile as one boy and three girls came to sit down.

“Hi, I’m K.C.,” I greeted.

The guy held up his pointer finger but didn’t make eye contact. “Jake.” And then he buried his face in his hands and let out a loud yawn.

Jake might be on drugs.

I looked across the table to the three girls. I knew one of them. The younger sister of a somewhat friend from high school whom I no longer kept in touch with. The other two were strangers, but all three of them looked at me as if I were the hair in their soup.

That was one thing that didn’t make me nervous. I had no trouble standing up to women in my own generation.

I kept staring at them, eyebrows raised in expectation.

The dark-haired girl finally spoke up. “I’m Ana. This is Christa and Sydney.”

Sydney I knew. Her sister was sweet. She looked like a little shit, though.

She had long auburn hair, parted on the side and hanging in big, voluminous curls down her back and over her chest. Her stunning brown eyes brought out the red tint in her hair, and her makeup and nails were perfect.

Ana’s beautiful Asian complexion glowed alabaster and her long, shiny black hair and dark eyes were flawless.

Christa had short blond hair cut in a bob with a severe angle. Although the wallflower out of the group, I knew from knowing Tate that those were usually the ones to show their awesomeness later.

All of the girls were dressed the same. Shorts and tank tops.

I smiled calmly. “Nice to meet all of you.” I took out their diagnostic assessments—compositions they wrote at the end of the school year, including their outlines and rough drafts—and handed them their own papers. “So we’re supposed to each share a sample paragraph and discuss what improvements we could make. Who would like to go first?”

No one budged. Jake sat next to me, looking as though he was ready to fall asleep. Ana looked away while Christa and Sydney smirked, challenging me.

“Anyone?” I asked, a grin tickling my face. I remembered my classes when no one would volunteer. Now I knew what being a teacher felt like.

I held up my hands. “I’ll read it if someone wants to give me their paper. This time.”

Jake shoved his paper in my face, still not making eye contact.

“Thank you, Jake.” Relief flooded me.

I cleared my throat, reading out loud. “What do you do when you’re hungry? You might go through a drive-through or hit the store. For eight hundred and forty-two million people in the world, they can’t get food that easy.”

I cleared my throat again, hearing the girls across from me snicker.

“That was a good opening paragraph.” I nodded, keeping my voice light and looking at Jake even though he wasn’t looking at me. “Asking a question right off the bat is a solid way to grab the reader. And I like your voice.”

“He’s barely talked since we sat down,” Sydney joked. “How can you like his voice?”

“I meant the tone that comes through in his writing,” I explained as if she didn’t already know. “Expressions like ‘hit the store’ when most people would say ‘go to the store’ or ‘drive to the store.’ That’s his personal voice. It makes the writing sound natural.”

I caught Jake out of the corner of my eye, looking at me. I turned to him, wanting to be as kind as possible. The truth was, he needed a lot of work. His word choice was boring, he used adjectives when he should’ve used adverbs, and the sentences flowed like mud.

But I wasn’t going to lay all that on him today.

“Two suggestions, though: The statistic you wrote wasn’t cited. Readers won’t know where you got that information and they won’t trust it if you don’t tell them the Web site, article, or text to which you’re referring.”

“ ‘To which you’re referring,’ ” Sydney mimicked, and the paper crinkled in my hand.

“Is there a problem?” I asked, calling her out.

She rolled her eyes and whispered something to Christa.

“Another thing,” I continued, trying to ignore her, “is that there is some passive language h-here,” I stuttered, noticing Christa laughing into her hand and Sydney stealing glances at me. “You might want to spice it up,” I tried to continue to Jake, “by saying—” And when all three of the girls laughed together, I stopped.

“What’s going on?” I tried to keep my voice down.

The girls brought their hands down and folded their lips between their teeth to stifle smiles. Christa sighed sympathetically. “I’m just not sure why we’re being tutored by someone that got arrested.”

Son of a …

I narrowed my eyes and sat up straight. How the hell did everyone know? My mother definitely didn’t tell anyone. And Principal Masters most certainly didn’t tell anyone. What the hell?

“Everything okay here?” Penley stopped at our table as she circulated.

My chest fell with a hard sigh. “You might want to say ‘For eight hundred and forty-two million people in the world,’ ” I continued to Jake, “ ‘the solution to hunger proves more difficult.’ Using words like ‘is,’ ‘was,’ and ‘am’ is weak, so we try to use other verbs to make it sound better. Do you understand?”

Penley moved on to the next table, and I glared across the table to see that all the girls were concentrated on something out the window.

Jake shrugged. “I guess. So I have to go back and rewrite the whole thing?”

I shook my head, smiling. “Not today.”

“Oh, my God!” Christa bounced off her chair and leaned across the counter underneath the window, peering out. “He’s got his shirt off!” she whisper-yelled to her friends.

They scrambled out of their seats, Ana nearly falling in the process as they raced over to the window, giggling.

I shook my head, slightly amused, to be honest. I kind of missed being boy-crazy.

Sydney turned to her friends. “My sister says he’s even better without his pants on.”

One of them bounced up and down, while the other whimpered.

I wondered who they were talking about, and then I remembered Principal Masters saying something about the lacrosse team practicing every day.

Walking to the windows, I stood next to the girls and looked outside.

My shoulders sank, and I groaned. Fuuuuuuck. My heart suddenly felt as if it were too big for my rib cage as I watched a half-naked Jaxon Trent running around and rolling on the field as everyone horsed around with the water bottles.

“Damn, he’s hot,” Ana whispered, smoothing her hair as if Jax could actually see her. I felt like yanking her by her collar and sitting her ass down. He wasn’t a piece of meat.

But I swallowed that urge. Gazing out the window, I watched Jax and the rest of the team grab their Gatorades and collapse on the grassy field, the sweat on their chests shiny from the sun’s angry glare. His hair was wet, and he worked those long black shorts like a pro. I clamped my mouth shut before I whimpered.

He sat there, smiling and talking to a teammate, and I loved how even from here I could see his heart-stopping blue eyes.

He seemed oblivious that three teenage girls were gawking at him before he fell backward onto his back, resting.

“Girls,” I choked out, my mouth as dry as jerky. “We’ve got work to do. You’re here for a reason. And I’m here to help.” I held out my arm, gesturing for them to come back to the table.

But Sydney didn’t budge. “No, you’re here because you’re a fuckup, too,” she shot back. “We’re going to the bathroom.”

And I watched as all three of them grabbed their purses and left. Scowling up at the clock, I gritted my teeth, noticing that I still had three whole hours left.

Luckily session two passed more smoothly. After Jake and the girls left, I got a group of three male students, and I relaxed right away, noticing that boys were a hell of a lot easier. Men simply wanted to do whatever you wanted them to do so you’d shut up. There was no arguing, no cattiness, and no chitchat. Other than some minor flirting, the only problem was disinterest.

It was going to be a long-ass summer.

At noon, all the students filtered out of the room to enjoy the rest of their summer day, and I finally reached into my bag to check my phone.

Four texts. No, five.

Tate: Jax not happy! You blew out his speakers? LOL!

Great. I’d given her hell about cutting Jared’s electricity to shut down one of his parties. I was never going to hear the end of this.

Another from Tate. Heads up. Jared will be calling when he gets time. He needs to ask you something.

Hmm … okay.

Nik: Bored. Sooooo bored. Where are you?

I giggled quietly, missing my friend. I was about to dial her but decided to check my other messages first.

Mom: We need to meet for lunch this week. Call this evening.

Lunch? I grabbed the bag, swinging it over my shoulder as I walked out of the room, staring at my phone. Why did my mother want to have lunch?

When I got in trouble, she did nothing to help me. She had spoken to me only as much as she had to to let me know that I was not staying at home while I completed my community service. I’d felt alone and abandoned.

Now dread sat in my stomach like a ton of bricks, and the last thing I wanted to do was call her.

Checking the last message, I halted in the middle of the hallway.

Liam: Jax jumped me last night. Keep your new boyfriend away from me, or I go to the cops!!

Huh?

I dropped my arm and just stood in the empty hallway, probably looking as confused as I felt. Holding up the phone, I read the text again.

Jax jumped Liam?

Why? And why was Liam complaining to me about it?

Fisting the phone, I shook my head. Whatever. This was their problem. Not mine.

If Jax wanted to act like a child, that was on him. If Liam wanted to have the police laugh in his face, since they were obviously in the palm of Jax’s hand, then let him.

Dumping the phone in my purse, I grabbed Tate’s iPod, tuning it to Bananarama’s “Cruel Summer,” and stormed down the stairs and down the corridor to the rear of the school. Exiting through the back was a shortcut to Tate’s house, and since I was already annoyed, I figured I might as well book back to the house and get changed for the one o’clock kickboxing class.

Looking down the hall, though, I stopped, seeing bodies scurrying through a door. I yanked out my earbuds.

“Hurry, hurry!” one of them whispered, but it was so loud I could still hear it yards away.

And even with the blur of short shorts and tank tops, I still recognized the girls.

Christa, Sydney, and Ana.

“Hey, are you all all right?” I headed up to the closed door that Sydney had just disappeared through and saw the sign that read ATHLETICS.

Ana and Christa had spun around and were now staring at me wide-eyed, the blush of getting caught red all over their faces.

I smiled. “I’m not a teacher. Relax.”

And they pinched their lips together, trying to hold back smiles while they snuck glances at each other.

“Where’s Sydney?” I ventured, knowing damn well she’d gone through the door.

The sign didn’t say that any specific gender was prohibited, but I did know that tutoring was over. The girls weren’t supposed to be roaming the school.

“She’s—,” Christa started, but Ana nudged her with her elbow.

“She’s …?” I pressed.

When neither of them came clean, I turned to leave. “I think Ms. Penley is still here….”

“She’s in the weight room,” Ana blurted out.

I turned around, narrowing my eyes. “Doing what?”

Both of the girls smirked, avoiding eye contact.

“Jaxon Trent,” Christa deadpanned.

I froze. The softness from my face hardened into steel. “Go to the parking lot,” I ordered. “I’ll send her out.” When they didn’t move, I lost my cool. “Now,” I ordered.

They covered smiles with their hands and veered around my immobile body, heading back down the corridor.

Heading through the ATHLETICS door, I walked down the dim, carpeted hallway with offices to my left and right. Coach Burns, the football coach and a history teacher. Coach McNally, the girls’ tennis and soccer coach who also taught driver’s ed. There were a few more offices, but I kept my eyes focused straight ahead on the big, heavy-looking wooden door that read WEIGHT ROOM.

I shook my head, trying to ignore the pounding of my heart in my chest. Jax wasn’t really having sex with a seventeen-year-old girl in here. No, he was smarter than that, right?

And then I remembered the two girls I’d seen him with a couple of years ago. And I thought of Liam, who definitely wasn’t as smart as I’d thought.

With my stomach clenching, I pushed lightly through the door and spotted both of them right away.

Separate and clothed. Thank God.

I let out a small breath and relaxed my shoulders. I didn’t know why the hell I cared, but … I swallowed.

Just not her. He couldn’t go for her.

The room was empty except for Jax and Sydney, and “Again” by Alice in Chains was playing on the CD player in the corner of the fully equipped room. I only knew the song because Tate listened to nothing but Alice in Chains when we’d first met. Two big fans were spinning from each side of the room, trying to keep it cool. The school had AC, but it was still stifling this time of year.

Jax was lying back on a black weight bench, a dumbbell in each hand as he spread his arms wide and then brought them back in and straight up over his body, flexing every muscle in his glowing, tanned arms, abs, shoulders, and pecs.

And I wanted her out of here.

He still wore the same knee-length black shorts as before, and his legs were spread, a foot resting on each side of the bench as a vision of me straddling him on that bench popped into my head.

I closed my eyes for a split second. I’m so fucking warped. I quickly swallowed the drool in my mouth before I accidentally drowned myself.

“You liked my sister.”

I heard Sydney talking, with her back to me.

Jax’s tone was clipped. “Your sister’s cool.”

“But not enough to come back for seconds,” Sydney taunted in a sexy voice, stepping up to the weight bench. “Wanna see if I’m better?” she asked.

“Jesus Christ,” Jax grumbled under his breath.

Dropping the dumbbells on the floor, he sat up and wiped his hand up his brow and over the top of his head, breathing hard.

Jax was pissed. I didn’t know him well, but I knew that about him. Whenever I’d seen him angry, he always ran his hand through his hair. It was his tell.

“Sydney,” I called, and watched both of their heads pop up to look at me. “Your friends are waiting in the parking lot. See you tomorrow.”

Sydney paused, probably trying to figure out how she could get the upper hand. Jax was frozen, glaring at me under scary black eyebrows.

Sydney arched an eyebrow before walking past me out of the door. She almost brushed my shoulder, and I could smell the anger on her. I was going to pay for that tomorrow.

Cocking my head, I gave Jax an amused look.

He shook his head, grabbing his towel off the floor. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t ask her to come in here.”

“Like I care.” I kept my voice casual, because I so totally did care. “Half the women in town have seen you naked.”

He walked to a table, picking up a water bottle before turning his head to look at me. “That’s an exaggeration.” It sounded more like a warning instead of a statement.