Page 45 of Thrown Off Balance

“All three of you need to be extremely careful. Cody, in this state, Jude might think you’re Jax. You two are identical twins and though I can easily tell you apart, he might not be able to… I think Pauly should shadow your every move until we can do something about Jude.”

“How long is that going to take? He was sitting outside of Sloan’s apartment, can’t you just go get him?” I sigh, this is a catastrophe.

“It’s not illegal to be crazy. There’s nothing for anyone to do.”

“Until he tries to hurt one of us,” I finish his thought and squeeze my eyes shut as I pull Sloan a little closer to me.

“He’s going to focus his aggression on you, Sloan. You can’t go anywhere alone. I don’t think it’s safe for you to even stay at the house by yourself.”

“What should I do when Jax and Cody are working?”

“You go to practice or the games… I’ve dealt with men like this before. He’s not going to stop until he doesn’t feel like you’re a threat anymore.”

“Can’t I just pretend to be friends with him again?” Jax huffs out.

“That could be dangerous. He might think this is all a ploy and he could turn on you or get more aggressive towards Sloan. Almost like he’d have to get rid of her before she can turn you against him again.”

“Tell Pauly there’s a room ready for him. I’ll even put a freaking chocolate on his pillow every night.” Jax leans back and stares up at the ceiling. I can feel the tension rolling off of him in waves.

He feels like this is all his fault. He hasn’t voiced that, but I can tell. This is going to weigh heavily on his shoulders for a long time, especially if something bad happens. He’ll never forgive himself if someone gets hurt.

Chapter 24

Sloan

“I'm so sorry,” I whisper as tears cloud my vision. They quickly fall down my cheeks and I don’t even bother trying to stop them. I know they’re going to keep coming for a long time.

“What are you sorry for? You didn’t do anything wrong.” Cody holds me even closer and softly kisses the top of my head. He’s such a sweetheart, but I don’t deserve any of this.

“This is all my fault. I'm the one that brought Jude into your lives.” I cover my face in my hands as my entire body shakes. I'm terrified of what’s going to happen next. Exactly how far is Jude willing to go to get Jax back in his life?

The couch dips on my left and another arm is wrapped around me.

“We’re not upset you brought a crazy guy into our lives. It happens.” Jax sounds so nonchalant, like we’re talking about Jude breaking something cheap and insignificant instead of Jude trying to stalk him.

“Oh, really? How often has your brother’s ex-girlfriend come back into your life and brought a bipolar stalker with psychotic features with her?” I stare at him like he’s insane.

“Never… but in my defense, you’re Cody’s only ex-girlfriend so there’s no one to compare to. It’s kinda unfair for you to pass judgements like that. Maybe this happens quite often.” Jax shrugs.

“I never should’ve come back into your life. This is a mistake. I should just go home.” I stand from the couch and glance around. I don’t even know if there’s anything here that’s mine. I think it’s just my phone, everything else Jax and Cody bought me.

“Sloan, stop it.” Cody reaches for my hand, but I pull away from him.

“No! I'm not letting something happen to one of you!”

“And we’re not letting anything happen to you.” Cody quickly stands and wraps me in his arms before I can move away from him.

“He’ll try to kill you, Sloan. Uncle Mason was too nice to say the words, but that’s what could happen,” Jax murmurs as he hugs me, turning this into a group hug.

“Stop being stubborn and let us love you and take care of you.”

A knock on the front door has us all jumping. My hands tremble as I grasp Cody’s shirt and hold him even tighter. We wait while Jax pulls out his phone and checks the camera.

“It’s Pauly.” He hurries to the door and opens it. “Man, Pauly, you about gave us all heart attacks. You could’ve called or texted to let us know you were coming to the door now.”

“I like the element of surprise.” He grins as he glances around the living room. “Mason gave me the general layout of the house. Do you mind if I explore and check some things out? I want to make sure I know exactly where possible weaknesses and entrances into the house are.”

“Mi casa es su casa.” Jax spreads his arms wide.