Page 38 of Thrown Off Balance

“He can’t hear you either.” Jax rolls his eyes. “I guarantee he’s hoping Cody and I are going to bring you home. He wants to confront you or us when we don’t have other people around.”

“What am I going to do? If you drop me off, he’ll see your car. I don’t think I'm comfortable with being around him alone either.”

“You’re not staying at your apartment tonight,” I growl, speeding up as I drive past the building. “You can stay in our guest room.”

“No, that isn’t necessary. You can just take me to a hotel. I’ll stay there for the night. There’s no way he can stay outside of my apartment that long.”

“You’re not going to a hotel. We have two spare rooms. Pick one and sleep there. In the morning, we can see if he’s still there. We’re not taking no for an answer so just give in and let us be the good guys,” Jax sighs.

“Fine! But only tonight. Tomorrow I'm going home.”

Chapter 20

Sloan

Jax shows me where the two spare bedrooms are as soon as we get to their house. His master bedroom is on one side of the house and Cody’s is on the other. It’s kind of the perfect set up for them. They each have their own wing, but they also share a large portion of the home.

I choose the bedroom on Cody’s side of the house. I tell Jax I like the blue walls better than the green walls of the room on his side of the house. He laughed in my face and told me what a horrible liar I am. I couldn’t help but smile. No matter how much Jax can drive me crazy, I love him and his craziness.

“Hey, I figured you’d prefer to wear something other than that dress.” Cody enters the room with a small stack of clothing. “Everything will be big on you though.” He winces.

“It’s ok. I appreciate having anything to wear other than this.” I pull the fabric away from my body in annoyance.

“You look beautiful, Sloan,” he says softly.

“Thank you… Do you mind unzippering me?” I turn my back to Cody and gather my hair in my hands so it’s out of my way.

Cody doesn’t respond, but he slowly drags the zipper down my back until it stops at the base of my spine. His warm breath fans over my exposed neck and makes me shiver.

Before I can say anything, he leaves the room, closing the door softly behind him. I groan and cover my face with my hands.

I don’t know how my life has gotten so crazy over the last few weeks, but I don’t like it. I'm terrified of going to work or back to my apartment. What if Jude’s really as crazy as Mason thinks he is? I don’t trust him not to try to hurt me, especially if he thinks I'm the reason Jax doesn’t like him anymore.

Once I’ve changed into a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt from the things Cody brought to me, I tiptoe towards the kitchen and find Jax and Cody sitting on the couch in the living room. I stop at the end of the hallway where they can’t see me. I don’t want to interrupt them and they look like they’re in the middle of a serious conversation. The open floor concept makes it possible for me to see and hear them easily.

“What are you going to do?” Jax’s voice is quiet and gentle. It’s how he’s always been when it’s just Cody around.

“There’s nothing for me to do, Jax.” Cody sighs and scrubs a hand down his face. “She doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“She picked your side of the house,” he singsongs.

“That means nothing and you know it.”

“She spent a lot of time with you when Jude was fawning all over me.”

“That still means nothing. She was bored and I'm familiar to her. Who else was she supposed to talk to?”

My stomach twists with his words. I didn’t talk to him because I was bored. I miss him more than he’ll ever know. I just… I don’t know how to get back to how we were before I moved. I don’t know how to be his Sloan again.

I’d give anything to date Cody again. He was always an amazing boyfriend and I don’t think he’d be any different this time around. I'm scared of taking that leap and everything falling apart though.

“I don’t know, man. I think she still loves you.” Jax glances up and his gaze meets mine. He doesn’t look surprised to see me. I think he’s known I was right here all along.

“I don’t. She views us as being the reason her relationship with Jude fell apart.” He shakes his head. “It hurts like crazy to know she’s been back and she never contacted me. Did I really mean so little to her?” He leans forward so his elbows are resting on his knees and his head is hanging low. It gives Jax the opportunity to openly watch me without the risk of Cody catching him.

Moisture fills my eyes as the first tear trickles down my cheek, followed by more.

“I don’t think that’s it at all. I think she didn’t contact you because she was terrified of what would happen.”