25. Cody
Cody
“Can we go out for breakfast?” Jax eyes Pauly.
“No, Jax.” Pauly pinches the bridge of his nose and I'm sure he’s praying for patience.
He’s dealt with a wide variety of clients over the years, but I don’t think any of them could’ve prepared him for Jax. Jax has a way of making people lose their cool pretty quickly.
“Dude! What am I supposed to eat?”
“A protein shake, just like you drink every morning when we have practice or a game.” I toss him the cup we use for the blender and grab my own.
I pour milk in until it’s halfway full. Several scoops of various powders go in next before I add a frozen banana and a scoop of peanut butter.
I top it off with a handful of ice cubes and screw the lid on.
“What about Sloan? I'm sure she doesn’t want a protein shake!” Jax plants his hands on his hips and glares at me.
“Sloan doesn’t eat breakfast. She never has.”
“High school Sloan didn’t eat breakfast. Maybe adult Sloan does!”
“Adult Sloan doesn’t.” Sloan slips her arms around my waist from behind and rests her cheek against my bare back. “I'm fairly certain the only difference between high school Sloan and adult Sloan is fifteen pounds.”
“Yeah, you were a little chunky in high school.” Jax nods his head as my eyes widen.
“Excuse me!” Sloan releases me and tries to go after Jax. I snag her around the waist and pull her against my chest. Her arms and legs are moving, trying her hardest to get to my brother.
“What? You had more of a baby face in high school. If you’re saying you weigh more now, then those pounds went to good areas. You look great.” Jax waves off her concerns and begins scooping powders into his shake.
Sloan stops fighting and trying to get away from me. I gently place her feet on the ground, but I don’t let go of her.
“Stop flirting with my girlfriend,” I growl as I press my cup into the blender and wait for it to mix.
Jax waits patiently. When the blender stops, he opens his mouth to stop, but I press it back down with a smirk. As long as it’s blending, he won't talk.
“Very mature, Cody.” Jax rolls his eyes. “And I don’t have a girlfriend so who am I supposed to flirt with?”
“Your stalker?” Sloan smirks.
“That’s not funny! You’re dating an identical twin, you’re basically dating me too.”
“Not true. You look the same but you’re not the same.” Sloan shakes a finger in Jax’s direction.
“We have identical DNA!”
“I don’t care what you have identical, your personalities couldn’t be more different!”
“That’s not true,” Jax scoffs.
“That’s a thousand percent true,” Pauly chimes in. “I could deal with a hundred Codys over one of you.”
“Oh, who asked you? You don’t even know how percentages work, no one cares about your opinion.” Jax turns on the blender and makes it impossible for anyone to talk. He folds his arms over his chest and leans back against the counter.
I chuckle and shake my head. I have no doubt he’ll leave that thing blending until it’s time to leave. He’s stubborn enough to ruin his breakfast just so no one can give him a hard time the rest of the morning.
“Give me the keys.” Pauly holds out his hand and Jax scowls.
“No, it’s my car. I want to drive.”
“Jax, you hate driving. Why are you fighting with Pauly?” I run a hand through my hair in frustration.
“Because I don’t like him bossing me around.” Jax holds the keys out of Pauly’s reach.
“I'm better at defensive driving. If Jude starts following us, will you even notice? What if he crashes into your car to get you to stop? What if he pulls out in front of you?”
Jax’s phone rings. He pulls it out of his pocket and glares at the screen as he lifts it to his ear.
“Hello… Uncle Mason!... Fine!... I said fine, but I'm not happy about it… I hope Aunt Kelsey makes you sleep on the couch when she finds out how you’re treating your favorite nephew,” he grumbles under his breath.
“Oh, crap! I thought you already hung up… I got it, Pauly’s my daddy now and I have to listen to every little thing he says…
No! I'm calling him Daddy Pauly… I don’t care if he quits.
Why can’t Peck be my bodyguard? He’s a cop, he should be able to do it…
Well, that’s true. I’d much rather get Pauly shot than Peck, I actually like Peck… Goodbye.”
Jax slips his phone back inside his pocket and tugs the front door open. He tosses his keys over his shoulder and doesn’t even glance back to see if Pauly catches them.
“Let’s go, Daddy Pauly. I can’t be late for practice.”
“I think we need to worry about me murdering him before Jude has a chance to get close,” Pauly mutters under his breath.
“He’s scared, man. He acts out more when he’s scared,” I try to soothe things over, but I'm not sure it will work. I know exactly how annoying Jax can get when something is bothering him and this is just the beginning.
He likes to act like nothing bothers him, but he has a massive heart and takes everything personally.
He feels like all of this is his fault. If Jude wasn’t obsessed with him, there wouldn’t be any issues.
Maybe if he hadn’t lost his mind on Sunday then Jude wouldn’t be spiraling like he is.
I guarantee all of that is running through his mind and more.
I can only imagine how terrible his hockey skills are going to be today.
We’re halfway to the stadium when Pauly starts glancing in the rearview mirror nervously. He doesn’t make a sound, but I can tell he’s on edge.
He slows the car and changes into the right lane. A moment later he takes a turn that won't take us towards the stadium.
“Dude, this is why I didn’t want you driving. You don’t even know where you’re going.” Jax slams his fist down on the center console and glares out the front window.
“Why don’t you glance behind us, Jax? Your little friend is following us and awfully close. I thought you’d like to be kept safe. I'm hoping if I drive in the opposite direction of the stadium, he’ll think this isn’t your car.” Pauly stays calm, but I can tell Jax’s attitude is wearing on him.
If we ever get to the stadium, I'm going to pull him aside and have a conversation with him. There can’t be so much tension between them or Pauly will have a harder time doing his job.
Jax turns so he can look between the front seats and he swallows hard. We can clearly see Jude, though he shouldn’t be able to see through the tint of the windows.
Sloan slips her hand into mine and holds on tightly. She’s trembling and I know she’s terrified. I want to comfort both of them, but there’s nothing I can do or say at the moment to make any of this better. I don’t know if everything is going to be ok or if Jude will do something we can’t fix.
The only thing I know is I’ll do anything to protect the people I love.