I don’t know. I’ve gone over the ledge into madness. I give Brenna a look. “She’s a new employee. It shifts the balance. Accommodations will have to be rearranged.”
“We have five new employees,” Brenna retorts. “You know any of the others’ names?” One red brow lifts behind purple cat glasses. “Or job functions?”
Hell. Evasive maneuvers are needed.
“What has your knickers in a twist?” I ask. Before she can answer, Rye strides past. They ignore each other as usual, and Brenna’s pert nose rises a touch higher. I repress an eye roll. “You two really ought to fuck and get it over with.”
I can almost hear her teeth grinding. Her voice is breezy, though, when she finally speaks. “There is entirely too much fucking going around this nosy little bunch, thank you very much.”
“Who?” I can’t help asking.
Brenna’s gaze slides to mine. “Sophie and Jax, for one.”
It’s as if she’s kicked my legs out from under me. The sensation of falling is so strong, the sudden pain in my chest so sharp, I can clearly picture myself on the ground, two stiletto heels implanted in my chest—one of Brenna’s and one of Sophie’s.
“What?” The question lashes out like a whip. And Brenna visibly flinches.
Slowly she lowers her cup from her face and takes a step back. “Ah, yeah, you know what? That’s just speculation.”
“Based on what, exactly?” I grind out.
Brenna looks around as if trying to find an avenue of escape. Not bloody likely.
I take a step into her space. “Talk, you.”
“This morning Jax said he’d hooked up with Sophie, and she confirmed it,” Brenna blurts out. “Though really, she sounded extremely sarcastic when she called the sex ‘moving,’ so it might have been a joke…”
Her words drift off, as the ringing in my ears grows stronger. My heart knocks against my ribs so hard, I feel the reverberations in my throat. Jax? She’s with Jax? She fucking slept in my bed while she fucking fucked fucking Jax?
I turn on my heel, not knowing where the bloody hell I’m going, when my gaze lands on the man in question, who is about to get on his bus.
“John,” I bark out loud enough for my voice to echo over the lot.
Hearing me use his real name makes him pause and look over his shoulder. “What?”
Whatever he sees on my face gets him strolling over to me. I grit my teeth.
“What’s this about you and Sophie?”
The git gives me a stupid grin. “Oh, yeah, just a bit of fun.” He glances at Brenna, who is slowly shaking her head. “Right, Bren?”
I don’t let her respond. “Did you not give Killian a lecture about sleeping with employees when Libby came on board?”
He rubs his chin, and I have the urge to punch it.
Jax snaps his fingers. “Right. He clearly listened well.”
Fuckwit.
“Good advice which would apply to you as well, would it not?”
Jax nods, still grinning that smug little shitter grin. “It would.”
I take a calming breath, which bursts out of my lungs when Jax smiles wide and says, “But don’t worry, there wasn’t much sleeping involved.”
My breathing goes haywire.
“Careful,” Brenna whispers in my ear. “Your knickers are getting all twisted.”
I wrench my head in her direction, and she pales.
“Ack, joke gone bad, joke gone bad,” Brenna wails, flapping her hands. “Run away. Run away.”
Jax watches her go, a smile on his lips. “What’s with her?... Hey, man.” He holds his hands up. “Easy with the crazy eyes. It’s just Sophie.”
Wrong thing to say.
“What’s just me?” Sophie asks, appearing at my side.
I round on her. “You.”
“Me.” She points to her chest then to Jax. “Jax. We all speak good now.”
Jax chuckles, but when I glare at him, he suddenly becomes invested in scurrying off toward Killian and Libby.
Sophie frowns. “What’s that all about?”
“Are you fucking Jax?”
Her eyes go wide and shocked. Guilty? I can’t tell. It annoys me further.
A flush rushes over her cheeks. “Are you serious with this?”
Yes. No. I don’t fucking know.
“Answer the question, Sophie.”
She glances around before grabbing me by the arm. I let her lead me away because I want an answer. She stops in the narrow gap between my coach and the band’s.
“Look, you,” she hisses, poking my shoulder. “I don’t have to tell you a fucking thing about my personal life.”
“You cease to have one if you start fucking the band members.”
“Members?” she squeaks. “So, what? I’m fucking my way through them now? Is that it?”
The thought is so repellant, bile fills my stomach. My fists clench. “Jax. Let’s concentrate on Jax now. Did you sleep with him?”
“I cannot believe you’re asking me this,” she snaps. “That you’re actually snorting like some sort of enraged bull and expecting me to answer.”
“I did not snort. I merely asked a question. Which I want an answer to. Now.”