Page 63 of Thrown Off Balance

He wraps me in a hug and kisses the top of my head like a father would. Before I can even process anything, he’s stepping back and disappearing down the hallway and into my room.

“Are you guys ready? Everyone’s in place, it’s time to do this,” Pauly says softly.

There’s sympathy in his gaze. He knows how hard this is going to be for Cody and me. We don’t want to leave each other. Though we can assume how Jude will respond, we don’t know for sure.

“I’ll be climbing over that fence within a few minutes. I’ll be right back at your side as soon as I can,” Cody whispers as he wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me into his embrace.

“Are you sure you can make it over the wall?” I scrunch my nose up and giggle when he scoffs.

“Nothing can keep me away from you, sweetheart. That fence doesn’t stand a chance.” He brushes a lock of hair behind my ear and kisses the tip of my nose.

“I love you,” I whisper, laying my head against his chest, right over his heart. I'm terrified that everything will go wrong today and…

Nope! Not thinking about all the ways this could go wrong. Everyone will be perfectly ok!

I suck in a deep breath and blow it out slowly as Cody’s heart beats strongly against my ear. He’s going to be ok. He has so many people at his back.

“I love you, beautiful. I’ll be back here in a few minutes.” He kisses me slowly. I savor the feeling of being in his arms and surrounded by his love.

This could be the last time…

No! Everything will be ok. We just need to get through the next hour, then we can spend the rest of our life together.

“Let’s go, Cody.” Jax grabs his arm and pulls us apart. “If I don’t physically remove you from the pretty girl, you’re never going to let go.” He winks at me as he continues to drag Cody towards the door.

“You know the plan, Sloan. We stick to the plan. Make sure to put your ear piece in so you can hear everything going on.” He motions to the little ear bud on the counter and I quickly put it in place.

“I’ll be listening to you, babe. Anything you say I can hear.” Cody taps on his ear bud and smiles. “Everything will be great in a few minutes.”

I blow out a breath as they walk out the front door and it shuts with a thud behind them. Nausea swirls in my stomach as I try to think of what to do next. I'm so scared I feel like I can’t move from this position. Jude could walk right through that door and I’d just stare at him with wide eyes. This isn’t going to end well.

“You have to look like this is a normal day, Sloan. Do the dishes or pretend you’re on the phone, anything to make Jude think nothing is wrong,” Mason murmurs in my ear.

Yeah, doing dishes right now is totally normal when I'm trying not to crumble to pieces.

Chapter 37

Jude

I watch as Jax and Cody step out of their house with their bodyguard following. That guy has been glued to their sides for weeks. I know I’ll never be able to get close to them as long as he’s around.

Maybe I’ll have to take him out too…

My eyes widen as I realize they’re leaving the house without her.

She’ll be in there all alone.

This could be my chance.

I scoot forward in my seat and narrow my eyes. They got into the car and I still haven’t seen Sloan. Maybe she’s grabbing something and will be coming out in a minute. But if not…

This could be it.

Once she’s gone, she won't be able to poison Jax against me anymore. I can freely approach Jax and we can be friends again. All of the tension and weirdness will be gone.

A slow smile spreads across my lips. I can end all of this today. After Sloan’s gone, maybe the bodyguard will leave too.

My hands shake with excitement as the SUV drives down the long driveway and takes a right. The windows are down and I can clearly see Jax, Cody, and the bodyguard, but no Sloan.