Chapter Eighteen #2
I met them at the door dressed in slacks and a work blouse, maintaining a calm expression I hoped would reassure them.
Jax took one look at me and stopped short.
“I would tell you that some expressions should never be used, but I’m also kind of proud of you for letting us know you needed us. I know that’s not easy for you.”
I nodded once, afraid that if I said anything, I might burst into tears.
Sloane’s gaze moved over me with that quiet precision. “And before you start apologizing, ask yourself if you’d show up for us if we asked you to,” she said gently.
“Without hesitation,” I said automatically.
She handed me a large bag that clinked with bottles. “Then take this. We may or may not need them, but it’s always best to be prepared.”
Jax snorted. “I brought pizza for the same reason.”
“I’ll get plates.” I smiled because I imagined Sloane grabbing rare bottles of reserve wine with the speed someone might snag a soda. Meanwhile, I would bet my favorite pair of heels that Jax’s pizza had a few slices missing and was from the night before. Both offerings couldn’t be more perfect.
I carried the wine to the kitchen and found an opener and plates.
Jax and Sloane followed, helping bring everything to the living room.
Once we were all seated—Sloane and I on the couch, Jax on the floor—I poured wine for each of us.
Jax immediately knocked hers back like it was juice, then reached for a cold slice of pizza, grease already shining on her fingers.
“Cheers to bad decisions and better friends,” Jax said, clinking her empty glass against ours before refilling it.
Sloane took a more measured sip, her free hand finding mine on the cushion and squeezing once. “Anything you need?”
“Thank you for coming so quickly. I’m sorry—”
“Nope,” Jax said firmly, cutting me off. “We’re not doing that. We’re not apologizing for feeling what we feel. We love you. There’s nothing you could say that would change that. If there’s a body involved, tell us where it is, and we’ll handle the rest.”
Tears pricked my eyes and I wiped at the corners. She wasn’t joking. At least, she didn’t sound like she was. “No body.”
Sloane placed a hand on my arm. “Is it your father again?”
I shook my head. “No.” Then I sniffed. “Yes and no. I don’t know.”
While opening the pizza box again, Jax said, “Did something else happen with Brady and Nora?”
Sloane’s hand tightened on me. “Is it about the video? If someone is causing trouble for Brady, I want names. No one messes with your little brother and doesn’t face my wrath.”
I pried my arm free. “Have you two always sounded like mobsters?”
After a moment of self-reflection, Sloane sat back and smiled smoothly. “You’re right. Plausible deniability. We never had this talk.”
I chuckled. “Sloane, you’re supposed to be the rational one.”
“Low blow,” Jax said in a light tone. “I mean, it’s true, but I still think you should retract it. I did bring the pizza.”
Sniffing, I nodded. “You’re right, Jax. Sorry.” I took a long sip of some of the best wine I’d ever had, then sighed. “It’s probably wrong to be drinking wine before breakfast.”
Both Jax and Sloane raised their own glasses in toast. Sloane said, “I’d rather be wrong with you two than right without you.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Jax announced, clinking her glass against Sloane’s.
“Me too,” I said, doing the same before I took a gulp.
Jax downed her drink like it was water. Sloane sipped hers, then placed it to the side. “So, what happened, Bella?”
Deciding to contact Drew because I was worried Brady and Nora were going skiing alone seemed like an issue from another lifetime, but for what I was about to share to make sense, I needed to start there.
“A couple of days ago, Brady told me he and Nora were going skiing. I contacted Drew and told him I wanted to talk.”
“This is so juicy,” Jax laughed. “And I love that with a straight face you can call what you wanted to do with Drew ‘talking.’”
“I was worried because Brady looked like he had been drinking in the video, and I wanted to make sure he and Nora weren’t . . .”
“Having any fun?” Jax asked.
Sloane rolled her hands. “And what was Drew’s response?”
I cleared my throat. “He met me at a diner and agreed we should also go to Vermont. Just to make sure Brady and Nora were okay.”
Both Sloane and Jax waited, eyebrows raised and expressions expectant.
I added, “So, we stayed in a house he rented next to the resort they were staying at.”
“I love every part of this,” Sloane announced.
Jax inserted, “As I’m sure Drew did.”
I blushed. “It wasn’t like that. He is as protective of Nora as I am of Brady.”
“Um-hum,” Jax said. “So you didn’t fuck Drew?”
My gaze slid over Sloane’s before I looked away and muttered, “I didn’t not have sex with him.”
Sloane swallowed a chuckle, quickly attempting to look serious. Jax was all grins. “Was he any good?”
My cheeks burned red. Sloane lowered a shoulder. “It’s a valid question.”
Covering my face with both hands, I muttered through my fingers, “He was phenomenal. Like, unfairly good. The kind of good that makes you question your entire life plan.”
Jax whooped, nearly spilling her wine. “Details! No, wait—yes, details! But PG-13 for Sloane’s delicate sensibilities.”
Sloane rolled her eyes but smirked. “Speak for yourself. I can handle phenomenal.”
I lowered my hands and met their gaze. “We were snowed in. It was romantic. Amazing. He’s so different than I thought. So much kinder—and funny too. It was so good I forgot about Brady. I forgot about everything.”
Sloane leaned closer, her voice gentle. “Then why are you here and not still with him?”
I snapped. “You know why.”
Jax stared at me for a beat, then lifted her glass. “Well. That escalated fast.”
Sloane didn’t flinch. “She’s angry with herself, not me.”
My face fell, and I slumped forward. “How could I be so stupid?”
Jax’s mouth firmed. “Nope, not doing that either. Mabel would put you on dishwashing for the rest of the day for talking like that to someone else, and for the rest of the week for saying it to yourself. You’re not allowed to talk about our Bella that way.”
Feeling defensive even though I knew I should feel grateful, I said, “I never put much stock in Mabel’s advice.
” When Sloane’s eyes narrowed, I tried to justify my stand.
“We have zero in common. I’m in charge of an international billion-dollar company.
She has how many kids? Eight? And I doubt she’s ever left Firebrook Valley. We are not the same.”
Jax tensed. “Mabel was my bonus mom when I needed one, so I’m going to need you to keep her name out of your mouth if you have nothing nice to say about her.”
Sloane let out a slow breath. “Jax, you know she doesn’t mean it.”
I set my glass down carefully. I was behaving badly, and it needed to stop. “I shouldn’t have said that. Mabel is a very nice woman.” I swallowed hard. “I wish I’d found a way to connect with her the way you did, Jax. I’d probably be a better person if I had.”
That took the heat out of Jax’s gaze. “You can’t help how you were raised, I guess. It’s just that you sounded like a real ass there for a moment.”
“I would argue that point, but you’re right,” I said quietly. “Stupid things come out of my mouth when I’m nervous or defensive, and I’m feeling both right now.”
“Because?” Sloane prodded.
“I left while Drew was still asleep.” In defense, I added, “I did leave a note.”
Sloane rounded her mouth with a silent oh. Beneath the weight of their scrutiny, I squirmed. Jax clutched her chest dramatically. “You ghosted him with a note? Bella Holliston, ice queen of the boardroom, uses a Post-It to breakup after mind-blowing sex? That’s next-level savage.”
Sloane swatted Jax’s arm. “Not helping.” But her lips twitched. “Though . . . points for efficiency.”
I continued, “It’s not like I hurt his feelings. He’s probably relieved I left. No strings attached sex—what man doesn’t want that?”
Sloane and Jax exchanged a look.
“Outside of the personal hit my life would take, our companies are rivals. We’d be risking a financial fallout. Over what? He could be in a relationship with someone else for all I know.”
“You should hug her, Sloane. I would, but I’m on the floor,” Jax said.
Sloane’s arm went around my shoulders. “It’s going to be okay, Bella.”
I relaxed into her strength. “Is it? I wrote him a note. Ugh. A horrible, polite note thanking him for a nice weekend.”
“Oh, honey,” Sloane said. “You really are messing things up with him.”
I wiped a tear from my cheek and half laughed. “He sent me a text asking where I was and I left him on read.”
“Cold,” Jax said. “That’s cold.”
“Also not helpful,” Sloane chided.
Jax refilled her wine. “Well, at least I’m not telling her she’s messing it up. How do you know she is? For all you know, she just doubled his interest in her.”
Sloane nodded. “That’s true. Men are strange creatures.”
“I don’t want him to be more interested in me,” I blurted.
Jax’s eyes widened, delighted. “Oh, so you’re not impressed by phenomenal sex? I would be. Hell, lately, I’m impressed with mediocre attempts.”
“Jax,” Sloane admonished.
Jax threw up her hands. “Sorry, some sex—even mediocre—is better than none. When was the last time you got some?”
Sloane blushed. Jax snapped her fingers and pointed at her. “Your problem is you’re hanging out with all the rich, old dudes your dad wants you to marry. Come spend some time with welders. They’ll scratch that itch.”
“Thank you, but I’d rather be celibate than settling for after-disappointment snuggles.” Sloane’s chin rose. “And so would Bella.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Actually, Drew was great.”
Sloane huffed. I hid a smirk; when the two of them went at it, it was difficult to take them seriously. Sloane’s next words sobered me. “Then why did you leave him on read?”
I looked down at my hands, digging for what was holding me back.
“My father hasn’t been himself lately,” I whispered, and the fear finally surfaced.
“I don’t know if it’s age or what, but he’s less predictable .
. . and angry. So angry. If he found out that I’d been with the son of Cody Burke . . .”
Jax sat up straighter. “Is he going to?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But if he does, I don’t know how he’ll react.”
Sloane searched my face. “Are you afraid of him?”
“My father? No. Not of him.”
“For him,” Jax supplied.
“And Drew?” Sloane asked softly.
My mouth opened, then closed. The answer terrified me. “If my father went after him, I wouldn’t blame Drew for defending himself . . . but . . .”
Jax’s voice softened but stayed blunt. “You didn’t start the Holliston-Burke war, Bella.”
Sloane nodded. “And no one expects you to be able to end it. It’s not your responsibility to fix, Bella.”
“Hey, maybe that’s what you like about Drew,” Jax inserted. “You don’t have to fix him. That alone must be a relief.”
Sloane’s voice stayed gentle, but it cut clean. “And maybe a little because you know you can’t control him. You’re often the one in charge. It’s nice to not be, now and then.”
Heat crawled up my throat. I looked away, but it didn’t help. Sloane slid my phone across the table. “Text him.”
I stared at it. “And say what?”
“Maybe you can see him without anyone knowing until you figure out if what you have is worth going public with,” Sloane suggested.
“Maybe.” I chewed my lip as I considered how that would temporarily solve the problem.
Jax’s mouth curved. “Does no one see the irony of you considering secretly dating a Burke while worried that Brady might be doing the same?”
I glared at her, but the heat in my face wasn’t from anger. I picked up my phone and texted: Home. I’m home.
Sloane peered over my shoulder. “Wow, you’re bold. Just putting all your feelings out there like that. So brave.”
I picked up a pillow and swatted her with it. She laughed, and Jax saved the wine I’d nearly knocked over.
“I’ll text him more later,” I said, taking a long swig. “But first, how about we eat that pizza and watch some sappy rom-coms?”
Jax grinned, already queuing something on the TV. “Only if we fast-forward to the grand gestures. None of this slow-burn nonsense—Sloane’s had enough of that.”
Sloane laughed softly. “Deal. But do we really want to skip past all the fun dialogue?”
Jax joked, “Oh, that’s right, you’re used to dating men who talk.”
I managed a real smile, the first since Vermont. “Oh, boy. Let’s get that movie on.”