Chapter 36 Jax
Chapter Thirty-Six: Jax
Tiger remembered she needed something from her house, so after I cleaned the jizz from my boxers and gave her a painkiller, we got into my car and headed straight to her place.
She’s in her room now, while I stay in the living room trying to clean up the mess we left behind.
The mess her dad left behind.
I’m on my hands and knees scrubbing dried blood off the hardwood floor when she walks out of her room.
“Maybe I should stay here for a couple days,” she says quietly.
I glance up at her and wipe my forehead with my shoulder. “Why?”
She shrugs. “Because everything I have is here. Maybe I can talk to the landlord. Maybe it would be easier to get Zinnia back if I have stable housing.”
I place the paper towels down on the floor. “Okay. Then I’ll stay here with you.”
Her eyes brighten for a second. Then something crosses her face. Uncertainty maybe. “What about Zeff and Cal?”
Zeff and Cal.
She’s using their nicknames now. Not Zephyr and Callum.
I shrug like it doesn’t matter. “They’ll probably want to stay here too.”
I watch her carefully and try to read her expression.
“Is that what you want?” I wait a beat. “Because if it’s not, I can tell them no.”
“No,” she shakes her head quickly. “No, that’s what I want.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at our place?”
She shrugs again. “Can I do both?”
I smile softly. “Yeah. Yeah, you can do both.”
“Okay,” she says. She walks across the house toward the hallway. “I need to find my dad’s lease agreement for this house.”
I pause at the sound of her calling him dad.
She’s almost to his bedroom door when I stand up. “Hey.”
She turns around, eyes meeting mine.
“Zinni said something while we were waiting for you. At the hospital.”
Her shoulders tense immediately. She waits for me to continue.
“She said she wished she had your dad.”
Tiger blinks. But she doesn’t say anything. She looks down at the ground and stares at the floorboards for a long moment.
“Is he not your biological dad?” I ask.
Then she says sternly, “He’s not.”
She turns back around, enters his room, and shuts the door behind her.
I stay standing there staring at the closed door.
Then I sigh and reach back down to continue cleaning. She said it like it’s not weird to insist this man is her dad when he’s clearly not. I scrub the ground harder.
My phone starts vibrating in my pocket, so I throw the shit to the ground and storm to the kitchen sink. I wash my hands quickly and grab the phone a second too late.
Missed call from Callum.
Then my phone rings again. Zephyr this time.
“Yeah?”
“Where are you?”
I can hear Callum in the background. “You can’t answer my call, but you can answer Zeff’s?”
“My hands were covered in blood, crybaby,” I say.
“Where the fuck are you?” Zephyr asks.
“At Tiger’s. She needed something.”
Callum starts laughing. The sound comes through clear even though he’s not holding the phone. “I thought you were fucking.”
I clench my jaw. I always knew this was going to be a problem. He wants her. I can see it every time he looks at her. Little does he know I got to taste her instead.
“We’re heading your way,” Zephyr says.
“She wants to stay here,” I mutter.
“What?” Callum’s voice cuts in.
“Yeah.”
“Then we’re staying there too.”
I turn around to check if she’s out of the room yet, but the door’s still closed.
“That’s what I said.”
“Be there soon.”
I end the call and return to the mess on the floor. There’s blood splattered everywhere. Not just in one place. It’s on the hardwood. On the baseboard. Even a few drops on the wall that I missed earlier.
I get back on my hands and knees and scrub.
They arrive twenty minutes later.
Tiger came out of her dad’s room about ten minutes ago and said, “I can’t find it anywhere.”
But that didn’t stop her from taking a few of his files with her. A manila folder stuffed with papers. She took them to her room without explaining what they were.
I wonder what she found.
She closed her door and it’s been closed ever since.
“Is she okay?” Callum asks as he drops onto the couch.
“I don’t know,” I say honestly.
“So what did Coach want?” I ask, changing the subject.
Callum and Zephyr exchange a look.
Callum laughs. Then he starts telling the story from beginning to end. The protein powder. The accusations. The drug tests. Rowan’s positive result.
“So it was Rowan from the beginning?” I ask, shaking my head.
Zephyr shrugs noncommittally.
Callum nods. “Yeah.”
“Think he’s going to be suspended?”
Callum nods again. “For sure.”
“So who the fuck’s going to play center?”
Callum shrugs. “Probably the second-string center, don’t you think?”
I glare at him. He knows exactly what I’m thinking.
Zephyr catches on. “You want that spot?”
“And be captain? Fuck no.” I pause. “Callum?”
Callum shakes his head. “Nah.”
“So you two don’t mind if I go for it?”
Callum laughs outright. “Text Coach right now. I want to hear what he’ll say.”
“Fuck you,” Zephyr says, but he’s smiling.
“That’s one way to shine,” Callum adds. “Go for it.”
Tigerlily walks out of her room shortly after. When she notices Callum and Zephyr sitting on the couch, she stops.
“Oh. Hey,” she says.
“Hey, girl,” Callum says with that easy grin.
Zephyr waves.
She looks at me. “Thanks for cleaning.”
I nod, observing her. It looks like she’s been crying. Her eyes are red. Her face is blotchy.
“I’m going to stay here for a couple days,” she says to all of us.
“We are too,” Callum adds without missing a beat.
Zephyr nods in agreement.
“Okay,” she says. The word comes out awkward. Uncertain. Then she turns and goes back to her room and shuts the door again.
“What’s that about?” Zephyr asks, looking at her closed door.
I shrug.
Callum says, “Maybe she doesn’t know how to say no to us.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think that’s it.”
“Then what is it?”
I lower my voice. “Shouldn’t she be bedridden?”
Callum and Zephyr both look at her door. Then back at me.
“The drugs must be good,” Zephyr says.
Callum scoffs, “Her legs didn’t get shot. It’s just her arm.”
“It’s just her arm,” Zephyr mocks.
“Shut the fuck up,” I whisper.
Callum shrugs. “She’s a fucking champ.”
“What is she doing in her room?”
“I don’t know. But she took a bunch of files from her dad’s room. And she’s been locked in there ever since.”
“You think it’s about Zinnia?” Callum asks.
“Maybe.” I run my hand through my hair. “I don’t know, but something’s not right.”
We all sit there in silence for a moment, staring at her closed door, and wondering what the hell she’s hiding from us.
And wondering if we should push. Or wait for her to come to us.