After less than a minute he walked back out and started across the lawn to Tate’s, jerking his chin at me to follow. I assumed he had a key, so I jogged up to his side as he climbed the porch steps.
“What about Liam?” I couldn’t leave my boyfriend sleeping in his car all night. What if something happened to him? Or he got sick? And Tate’s dad would have a fit if I tried to bring him inside.
He unlocked the front door – I wasn’t sure if he had Tate’s or Jared’s keys – and stepped inside the darkened foyer. Turning to me, he waved his hand in a big show, inviting me in.
“I’ll get Jared to follow me in his car while I drive Dick-wad home in his, okay?” He hooded his eyes, looking bored.
“Don’t hurt him,” I warned, crossing the threshold and walking past him.
“I won’t, but he deserves it.”
I swung back around to face him, arching an eyebrow. “Oh, you think you’re so much better, Jax?” I smiled. “Do you even know those skanks’ names in there?”
His mouth instantly tightened. “They’re not skanks, K.C. They’re friends. And I’d make damn sure any girlfriend of mine knew how to drive a manual, and I wouldn’t have gotten so drunk that I couldn’t keep her safe.”
His quick temper threw me, and I immediately dropped my eyes, hating the rush of guilt that prickled my skin.
Why was I trying to cut him up? Jax definitely got under my skin, but he wasn’t a bad guy. His behavior at school was certainly better than his brother’s had been in the past. And Jax was respectful to teachers and friendly to everyone.
Almost everyone.
I took a deep breath and straightened my shoulders, ready to swallow a mouthful of pride. “Thank you. Thank you for driving Liam home,” I offered, handing him the keys. “But what about your…” I gestured with my hand, trying to find the right word. “Your… dates?”
“They’ll wait.” He smirked.
I rolled my eyes. Oooookay.
Reaching up, I worked my messy bun loose, pulling my mahogany hair down around my shoulders. But then I shot my eyes back up when I noticed Jax approaching me.
His voice was low and strong, without even a hint of humor. “Unless you want me to send them home, K.C.,” he suggested, stepping closer, his chest nearly brushing mine.
Send them home?
I shook my head, blowing off his flirtation. It was the same way I’d reacted last fall the first time I met him, and every time after that when he made a suggestive remark. It was my safe, patented response, because I couldn’t allow myself to react any other way.
But this time he wasn’t smiling or being cocky. He might’ve been serious. If I told him to send the girls away, would he?
And as he reached out with a slow, soft finger and grazed my collarbone, I let time stop as I entertained the idea.
Jax’s hot breath on my neck, my hair a tangled mess around my body, my clothes ripped apart on the floor as he bit my lips and made me sweat.
Oh, Jesus. I sucked in a breath and looked away, narrowing my eyes to get my damn head under control. What the hell?
But then Jax laughed.
Not a sympathetic laugh. Not a laugh that said he was just kidding. No, it was a laugh that told me I was the joke.
“Don’t worry, K.C.” He smiled, looking down on me as if I was pathetic. “I’m well aware your * is too precious for me, okay?”
Excuse me?
I knocked his hand away from my collarbone. “You know what?” I shot out, my fingers fisting. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you actually make Jared look like a gentleman.”
And the little shit grinned. “I love my brother, but get one thing straight.” He leaned in. “He and I are nothing alike.”
Yeah. My heart didn’t pound around Jared. The hair on my arms didn’t stand on end around him, either. I wasn’t conscious of where he was and what he was doing every second that we were in the same room together. Jax and Jared were very different.
“Tattoos,” I muttered.
“What?”
Shit! Did I just say that out loud?
“Um…,” I choked out, staring wide-eyed in front of me, which just happened to be at his bare chest. “Tattoos. Jared has them. You don’t. How come?” I asked, finally looking up.
His eyebrows inched together, but he didn’t look angry. It was more… befuddled.
Jared’s back, shoulder, arm, and part of his torso were covered with tattoos. Even Jared and Jax’s best friend, Madoc Caruthers, had one. You would think with those influences, Jax would’ve gotten at least one by now. But he hadn’t. His long torso and arms were unmarked.
I waited as he stared at me and then licked his lips. “I have tattoos,” he whispered, looking lost in thought. “Too many.”
I didn’t know what I saw in his eyes at that moment, but I knew I’d never seen it before.
Backing away, he wouldn’t meet my gaze as he turned and left the house. He closed the door, locked it, and walked down the porch steps quietly.
Moments later, I heard Jared’s Boss and Liam’s Camaro fire up and speed down the dark street.
And an hour later, I was still lying awake in Tate’s bed, running my finger over the spot he’d touched on my collarbone and wondering about the Jaxon Trent I never got to know.