Chapter 7
Bri
“What the hell? Jace?” I stepped forward, worried about how sick he looked.
Dad rushed over and helped Jace’s friend get him to his feet. I must’ve been having some sort of empath moment because my chest ached and pounded as I watched Jace’s face contort in pain.
I never liked seeing anyone hurt, but Jace was acting like his chest was about to explode. Just watching was torture. Fear coursed through me. Was he going to die right here in front of us?
They got him off the floor. His breathing was labored and shallow. “Does he have asthma?” I asked the guy with him.
He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t think so.”
I got up in Jace’s face as they helped him outside. “Jace, do you have asthma? Do you have your inhaler?”
He glanced at me and shook his head once.
I let them go around me and tried to think of what else it could’ve been. “What about heart problems? Do you know if his parents had heart attacks young?”
His buddy glanced at me. “No, they didn’t.”
“Could it be some trapped gas? Try banging on his chest.”
Through his labored breathing, Jace chuckled.
“Are you laughing?” I asked. “I’m sorry if I’m in mom mode, but you seem to be dying as we walk down this hallway.” He kept laughing. “Jace, if you keep on, it’ll make the breathing worse.”
“It’s getting better,” he whispered.
“I don’t believe you for a second.” We got outside and his friend pointed to a truck. “That’s his. Help me get him in.”
I opened the passenger door and Dad and Jace’s friend got Jace inside.
“I’ll go pack up his stuff,” Dad said. “Back in a jiffy.”
His friend ran around the truck and got in the front. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I’ll make sure he gets the help he needs.”
“I’ll follow you to the hospital,” I offered. They might’ve needed help, and I wasn’t due anywhere.
Jace shook his head, leaned back on the back window of his truck, and his friend gave me a closed-off look. “It’s okay, we can handle it.”
Something was wrong here. I’d seen him look close to death twice and seen him gripping at his chest several other times. “I’m just as concerned as I would be with any person,” I said.
Jace’s friend leaned over Jace. “I’m Wayne. I know what’s wrong, I’m going to take Jace to his family doctor. He knows how to treat him.”
I wanted to argue, but Dad was jogging out with Jace’s backpack, and me talking to them would only hold them up.
Jace lifted his head long enough to wink at me. “Thanks for caring,” he whispered.
I glared at him. “Don’t die. Or I’ll start to believe you all really are some sort of cult, and you’re sacrificing your heart to your old-world gods or some shit.”
Wayne and Jace stared at me in shock for the longest time before they both burst out laughing. Jace leaned forward until his head rested on his knees as he laughed.
“Stop laughing before you make it worse!”
“Then stop making me laugh.”
His words made me feel warm, but maybe that was because he’d been so rude and cold toward me until now.
“I’m really already feeling better.” Jace rubbed at his chest as Wayne turned the truck engine over.
Wayne leaned over Jace again. “If you give me your number, I’ll keep you updated on his progress.”
I nodded and reached into my purse for a scrap of paper, but looked up sharply when I could’ve sworn I’d heard a growl come from the truck.
Wayne stared at Jace, and Jace stared at me. Then, Wayne’s face changed, and he looked surprised. “No way,” he whispered, then he laughed.
Jace held his phone out the window. “Put your number in my phone?”
I took it and sighed. “I’m only doing this because I want to know if you die. I’ll bring a casserole to your funeral.”
My father snorted behind me. I turned to look at him, my fingers pausing on the screen of Jace’s phone.
Dad shrugged. “I raised you right.”
“My conscience would bother me if I thought you were lying somewhere dying.”
“Thank you,” Jace said when I handed the phone back to him. “I’ll call you later.”
They pulled out of the parking lot. Dad and I watched them drive away, then I sighed and looked at my father. “Should we go get our things?”
He patted his shoulder and I realized he had the backpack full of our guns and ammunition in it. “I grabbed it while I was in there. Ready to go home?”
Dad didn’t speak again until we were in the car and backing out. He casually looked at me. “So.” He drew out the vowels in the word. “You know him?”
Curiosity dripped from his voice.
“Sort of. Not like you’re implying. He just happened to have been around when Damon confronted me—”
“Both times?” Dad’s voice was way too full of some sort of smug know-it-all vibe.
“Yes, both times,” I said quickly. “He helped me, and I appreciated it, but then he was kind of a jerk to me. There’s nothing between us.”
“Well, remind me to thank him.”
I grunted. “Thank him for being a jerk.”
Dad laughed, but thankfully, he let it go. It didn’t keep my mind from wandering repeatedly back to Jace and what the hell was wrong with him.
We were still staying with my parents, which meant my parenting requirements were pretty light. Mom had Hayden in the kitchen helping with dinner, and she’d cleaned everything that needed to be cleaned. I decided to check in with Skye.
“Hey,” she said brightly when she answered. “How are you?”
“I’m good. I wanted to see how the babies are doing?”
She gushed about their smiles and how they’d begun to laugh. Star was moving around more than Sean, and they’d been betting on who would reach which milestone first.
When she seemed to run out of steam, I broached the subject of Jace. “Isn’t Anthony good friends with Jace?” I asked.
She cleared her throat before answering. “He is.” Her voice was guarded.
“Why do you seem hesitant to talk about him?” I asked.
“No reason. I just wasn’t aware you knew Jace.” She chuckled. “You don’t know many people from Anthony’s cult, after all.”
“Yes, we’ve run into each other a few times recently, but both times Damon has confronted me, he’s been there.” I realized I hadn’t talked to her in a good week. “You know about that, right?”
She sighed. “Yes, but Kaylee had to tell me about the incident at the pizza place.”
“I’m sorry.” I sighed. “Things have been so topsy-turvy. Just when I think Damon has moved on, he shows up again. I actually started working with my dad at the gun range. I’m going to take my conceal carry test this week after work.”
“Oh, fun,” she said. “Well, not the part about Damon, but the part about learning to shoot. I love to target shoot.”
“Well, I’m doing it for a serious reason, but yeah, it is a lot more fun than I anticipated it being. But while I was there today, Jace turned up, and something happened to him. It seemed like he was dying or something.”
“Hang on.” She must’ve put her hand over the phone or something. I heard rustling, then Skye yelling, muffled through my earpiece. “Anthony! Have you talked to Jace?”
I couldn’t hear her boyfriend’s response, but she came back on the line a few seconds later. “He’s fine. Saw a doctor. Apparently, it’s anxiety.”
I gasped. “That makes perfect sense. Anxiety can mimic a heart attack and other things. It’s good that he knows what it is now.”
“Yeah, he’s fine now.” She still sounded so strange. Maybe I shouldn’t have joked so much about the whole cult thing.
“Skye,” I whispered. “Do you need help? Are you safe? If you need to be saved from the cult, cough three times.”
Her laughter seemed genuine enough. “I’m fine. There’s no cult. No blood sacrifices. I wish I could tell you the backstory with Jace and his anxiety but it’s not my story to tell. I won’t betray that confidence.”
I didn’t like the sound of that, but I wouldn’t put my friend in an awkward position on who to be loyal to, so I let it go.
Another week passed, and I never heard a word. I’d put my number in Jace’s phone but didn’t get his. The only way I was going to learn anything was by asking Skye, which I didn’t want to do after she’d acted weird. She might think I was totally into him.
But he’d said he’d let me know he was okay, and he hadn’t. It was rude.
I tried to put him out of my mind. He wasn’t my business or my concern. He’d been nice last Sunday when he’d seemed like he was dying, but before that he’d been nothing but a total jerk. Why did I care if he’d figured out his anxiety?
Lisa had called and asked if Hayden could have a sleepover with Tori, and I’d allowed it.
There was no reason that Damon would know where they lived, and just to be safe, I took a long, circuitous route to take Hayden there.
I hadn’t been followed. Lisa knew the drill anyway, and had promised to lock up tight and keep an ear out for anything strange.
On my way back home, I had to drive past Jace’s Place. I slowed down, just curious, and spotted Jace’s truck parked in the back, near the spot where Damon had confronted me.
So, he was at work. I looked down. I’d thrown on jeans and a pretty enough top and had actually slapped on a little makeup. I might as well go in and see if he had the nerve to say anything.
When my eyes adjusted to the dim interior of the bar, I spotted Kaylee. Jace was nowhere in sight, so I walked over to Kaylee, who was at the bar and looking like she wanted to punch someone. “What’s wrong?”
“You know me,” she said.
I nodded. “I do. Are you okay?”
“And do I have serious relationships?” she asked.
I raised my eyebrows. “How many have you had?” The bar wasn’t busy yet, but she seemed like she’d already been there a while.
“Just a few. Do I have serious relationships?”
“No. You don’t do strings.” It was something Kaylee made apparent from the get-go with all her suitors, of which there were many.
“One of my boyfriends is stepping out of line and wanting to be exclusive.”
I shrugged. “They’ve done that before.”
She snorted and sipped her drink. “It’s more than that. He asked me to stop filming my show.” She threw her head back, her elegant neck craning, and laughed. “He wants to take care of me,” she said with air quotes. Her laughter faded and she glared at me. “I don’t need taking care of!”
“I know you don’t. You’re the most independent woman I know.” I rubbed her arm. “Don’t let him get to you.”
“It’s not about the money,” she declared. “I love what I do. I’m good at it. It makes me powerful and makes me feel so good. I’m an entertainer; an actress in my way. This is more than a paycheck.”
“Hey.” I caught her attention and pushed Jace to the back of my mind. “If this guy doesn’t know all this already, then he’s not for you, is he?”
She clamped her lips shut. “No. He’s not.”
“He’s not good enough for you.”
She slammed her glass down on the bar. Thank goodness it was one of those with a thick bottom or it would’ve shattered. “No, he’s not good enough for me!”
“What’s your name?” I asked.
“Kaylee Price!” She threw up her arms as she yelled, fists tightly clenched.
“What is your other name?” I grinned at my friend, happy I’d been able to lift her spirits.
“Kitten Kaylee!” she yelled and pumped her fists in the air.
“Damn right. Don’t let that fool get to you.”
She slapped her hands on the bar. “Get my friend a drink!”
The bartender asked me what I wanted, but I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to drink yet, if at all.
“Kaylee, have you seen Jace?” I asked as she watched the bartender, who I didn’t know, fill her glass.
She smiled and nodded towards the far side of the bar. I looked that way to find Jace sitting behind the bar with a laptop on his lap. He wouldn’t have been noticeable from the door.
The smirk on his face infuriated me. “I’ll be right back, ‘kay.”
She waved me off as she drank. Rounding the bar, I lifted the trap door, slipped behind the bar and circled the unnamed bartender, who stared at me in shock. Jace grinned wider as I approached.
With my hands on my hips, I stopped right in front of him.
“Is your phone broken? You seem alive and well. If I hadn’t talked to Skye, I would’ve thought you’d died of a heart attack, or from the side effects of being a total asshole.
” No matter how loud I yelled or how mean I sounded, he never stopped smiling.
And it annoyed me all the more because his smile was so much more beautiful than his frown.
“What’s funny?” I asked and stepped closer. “It’s not funny.”
“It’s cute that you care so much,” he replied.
“I don’t care.” I crossed my arms and tried to think of what I could say that would make it seem like I hadn’t been thinking about him all week after I’d made such a scene.
Even Kaylee was staring with her mouth unhinged.
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t dead, but you didn’t bother shooting me a text or anything. ”
“Liar,” he said quietly. “You care.”
I wasn’t lying. I didn’t care a whit about him. But the damn man wouldn’t stop smiling! Grumbling low in my throat, I shot him my most scathing glare. “I’m glad you didn’t die, anyway.”
I whirled and waved at Kaylee. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”
“It’s too early!” she retorted.
“We’re going anyway!” I yelled and gave her my best mom look.
She raised her eyebrows, but she got her purse. “Yes, ma’am.”
I opened the door for Kaylee to go through and looked in Jace’s direction. I couldn’t actually see him because of the sunlight streaming in behind me. “Since you’re not dying, delete my number!”
“Not a chance!” he yelled.
I had to fight a smile as I slammed the bar door shut and waltzed to the car. If I had an extra roll to my hips, it was his fault for making me mad. He was a jerk, and I couldn’t forget that. I wouldn’t fall for another set of pretty eyes. I’d done that once and that hadn’t turned out well at all.