Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Aurora
I lay the last of the crackers on the tray and move over to the sink to brush the crumbs off my hands. Listening to the laughter and chatter filtering through the open space that my best friend shares with her little family.
Spinning around, picking up the charcuterie board, I carry it over to the coffee table before joining everyone else on the couches. Curling up on one end I tuck my feet beneath me and get comfortable.
A loud squeal echoes over the living room, and I glance to where Presley sits on the floor, entertaining both Piper and her three and a-half-year-old son, Kayson.
Piper’s feet are kicking through the air wildly and Kayson makes weird faces at her to keep her giggling.
He is definitely like his mommy, silly and always trying to bring joy to everyone around him. Presley my cousin, who has been more like a sister to me, hasn’t had the easiest last several years. Her child’s father has put her through hell, forcing her to test her limits on more than one occasion. He’s played some ugly games over the years, but she came out the opposite end still smiling.
Tonight isn’t a wild and crazy girls’ night out, instead its actually perfect. I needed a distraction and being surrounded by friends, and the two cutest little people I know is the best kind. Before I met Bree and her parents, I was alone. Presley and her family lived too far to visit as often as I’d like. I had parents, but they were far from affectionate and caring. They never offered support, in fact if I had any kind of problems, they couldn’t be bothered with offering any sound advice. I was a distraction, there wasn’t time for my interruptions.
It took me awhile to get used to how hands-on Bree’s parents were. I’m still trying to wrap my head around how involved Craig Dawson is with not only his daughter’s life, but mine as well. It’s almost like he adopted me; the man is one of the greatest men I know.
“So how are things at the shop?” Bree asks Luna, gaining my full attention, as she leans forward and grabs a cracker. She loads it with cheese, tossing it into her mouth. Glancing over I notice the quick look Luna flashes me, like she’s afraid to respond.
My stomach instantly feels tight, knowing more than likely whatever she has to say isn’t going to sit well.
“Dax, hasn’t been happy lately with the dynamics.” Bree adds, and the Margarita I’d been drinking suddenly sours in my stomach.
"It’s like walking on glass, every day, all day.” Luna finally responds and I can sense the sad tone in her voice. “The silence is deafening.” I lift my gaze again to Luna, confused by her explanation.
She doesn’t look back at me but instead stares at the floor where the kids are still laughing and playing amid the adult conversation taking place around them. I envy them, so happy, the world has yet to touch them.
“I’m used to the two clowns going at each other, constant chaos and laughter. I don’t think I’ve heard either of them laugh in weeks. Ever since Jace threw that punch it’s been uncomfortable.”
“Wait, what?” I quickly slide forward placing my feet on the floor.
They both turn and look at me like until that moment they’d forgotten I was even there.
“What punch?” I ask.
When neither of them answers, but instead share and uncomfortable stare, I sit up a little taller. “What punch?” I asked again this time a little more aggressively, but my emotions are screaming at me making it hard to stay calm.
I remember seeing a faint bruise on Zac’s jaw but I think somehow, I knew better than to ask. Maybe I already knew the answer to the question and was too afraid to have it confirmed.
“Did he hit Zac?” I feel sick to my stomach and it only worsens when Luna nods her head. “Because of me?” My voice comes out in nothing more than a hoarse whisper as my emotions start to take over.
“Not because of you,” Bree is the first to attempt to clear things up, though I’m not convinced.
“It’s more because Zac is hanging with you and Jace didn’t know how close the two of you had gotten.” She adds.
“It sorta blindsided him,” Luna says in explanation. I know they are both trying to make light of the situation, but all I keep picturing is Jace and Zac, two of the closest guys I’ve ever met, fighting.
“So the guy can’t man up and admit he cares about her so in turn she’s not allowed to talk to any other guy?” Presley scoffs, because if one thing is true, my cousin can never keep her thoughts quiet.
“It’s the other guy part,” Luna interrupts. “It could have been anybody, but it was his best friend.”
My heart is racing, my chest growing tight. I stand, feeling like I’m slowly crumbling away from the inside out. Turning around I start toward the stairs and before I know it, I’m walking out Bree’s front door.
“Aurora,” Bree hollers after me but I don’t stop. Pulling on the front door of the shop, I’m surprised it comes open. I took a chance not really knowing who I hoped to find as I stepped inside.
The shop is quiet but from the conversations earlier in the night I knew that Jace had a late appointment.
The light to his room is the only one still on. Nervous energy courses through me. Walking down the hallway I pause outside Jace’s door. The moment he comes into view my entire body hums with a mixture of love and hate. With his back to me, he is hunched over, cleaning his instruments.
Unshed tears pool in my eyes and it pisses me off that already I’m an emotional mess. But being a person that cries when they are angry and overwhelmed is a curse I have no control over.
“We need to talk.”
He doesn’t respond, doesn’t even turn around to look at me. “Hitting your best friend seems a little over the top don’t you think?” I add getting right to the point.
Again, I am met with silence.
“Ignoring me seems real mature.” So this is the game we are playing?
“You said you didn’t want anything; you are the one that said what Dax and Bree have isn’t where you see your life going. You, Jace, not me.” Anger takes over my emotions. How can he just stand there and ignore me? “So what am I supposed to do, wait around hoping and wishing you’ll change your mind? Is Zac not allowed to talk to me because you say so?”
Still nothing and I find myself wondering what in the hell I ever saw in him.
“I want something more, something you refuse to give me. Zac has been a friend, and whether you care or not, I’ve needed a friend. You haven’t even cared enough to ask if I’m okay. Because I’m not Jace, I am so far from okay.”
My chest aches. The muscles in his shoulders and back flex with each movement he makes, yet he says nothing. He doesn’t even flinch at my words.
The first tear escapes and rolls along my cheek and I angrily wipe it away.
“Wow,” I scoff, “you really are an asshole.”
He lays his gun down and I think he’s about to face me only he picks up something else and sprays solution in it. With each passing second, my anger and frustration only grows. Stepping further into the room I pick up a small bottle of ink off a tray and whip it at him, hitting the back of his head.
Quickly he spins around. “What the fuck?”
His eyes grow wide when they land on mine.
“You’re a prick. I don’t know why I’m surprised you don’t give a fuck!” I scream the words as they echo over the quiet shop. A bit dramatic maybe, but my patience has snapped.
With that I turn around and storm out of the shop, refusing to look back.