Page 51 of Thrown Off Balance

Jude

“Where is she?” I growl as I stare at the house.

I didn’t see her get out of the SUV. I saw Cody, Jax, and some other guy, but not Sloan. If she’s here, I can easily slip in through the backdoor and get rid of her. Anything to get her away from Jax. Once she’s gone, I won't have to worry anymore. Jax will want to be my friend when he doesn’t have Sloan whispering lies to him anymore.

I just need to wait for a time where Jax and Cody leave her alone. They have a game tomorrow. I'm sure they won't take her to it. When she’s alone, I’ll strike. And once she’s gone forever, I can have Jax back in my life again.

Chapter 28

Cody

As much as I hate the reasoning for it, I love having Sloan here. Every time I glance up from practice, I see her sitting in the stands watching me. It’s a great feeling, but I wish she was here because she wanted to be and not just because she’s in danger.

“What’s going through your mind, bro?” Jax skates up next to me and stops.

“I don’t know… I just wish she was here because she wanted to be.”

“Who says she doesn’t want to be here?”

“I don’t know, but she wasn’t given a choice. She either needs to stay glued to my side or risk Jude getting too close.”

“Well, Jude can’t be a threat forever.”

“No, but how does that change anything?”

“Once Jude isn’t a threat, you can see if she still hangs around as much. If she does, she loves you and if she doesn’t, she’s not the one for you.”

“Wow, Jax, you’re making me feel so great about myself.” I roll my eyes.

“Hey, I didn’t say my answer would make you feel better now. Wouldn’t you rather know if she’s the one or not? No matter what, you’d still protect her from Jude. It wouldn’t matter to you even if you knew at the end she’d walk away.”

“That’s true.”

“So, at least you’ll know. If she puts distance between you when this is over, she’s not the one and you can finally move on.” Jax slaps me on the back. “C’mon, we have a bunch of young punks to put in their place.”

“You can sleep in here and I’ll sleep on the couch.” I motion to the twin bed sitting against the wall of my childhood room.

“Ok…” She trails off as she nibbles on her bottom lip. I know something is wrong, but if she won't tell me what, I can’t help her.

“Talk to me, Sloan. What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?” I use my thumb to tug her lip from between her teeth.

“I'm scared. What if he followed us here?”

“Well, the property is gated and we have a real-life GI Joe sleeping across the hall.” I smirk.

“I’m sure Mason wouldn’t enjoy being called a real-life GI Joe.” Sloan rolls her eyes.

“Eh, Mason doesn’t really care. Charlie’s been calling him that since they met.”

I glance over my shoulder to find Uncle Mason leaning his shoulder against the door frame. His arms are crossed over his chest and he’s watching us with a smirk.

“Are you sure we’re safe here?” Sloan asks softly.

“No, but you’re safer here than anywhere else.” Dad shrugs as he pushes past Uncle Mason and steps inside my room.

“Wow, Wes, way to be reassuring and helpful.” Uncle Mason rolls his eyes.

“We won't let anything happen to you, Sloan. Addi’s staying next door at Kennedy’s and Blake is sleeping on my floor. The only person we need to worry about protecting is you.”