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“What’s going on with you lately, Mia?” he asks while heapplies triple antibiotic ointment to my palm. “It’s not like you to be so distracted.”
“I just have a lot on my mind lately. Don’t worry about it.” The last thing I need is to have Jaxon in my business.
“Is it Mac?” he asks, and looks up at me.
Well, so much for him not being in my business.
“What? Why in the hell would you ask that? You know I don’t have anything to do with him.” I feign innocence. Maybe if he thinks his suggestion is way out of the ballpark he’ll let it go.
Nope, no way I could be so lucky.
“I talked to Jesse yesterday…,” he says, and looks into my eyes, trying to see the truth there.
I’m going to fucking kill Jesse. He just can’t keep his damn mouth shut.
“Jesus fucking Christ! Does everybody in this town know? I swear that man is worse than a group of old ladies at their weekly book club meeting,” I spit.
Jaxon doesn’t say anything while he puts a bandage on my hand. After it’s done, he cleans his mess and turns to me, and I know what’s coming. I brace and prepare.
“What’s going on between you two?” he asks.
“Absolutely nothing. We kissed in the hallway at Mom’s and that’s it. It was a stupid mistake. A mistake that won’t be happening again.”
“Mia, I never pushed back then because I knew you were in pain. Both of you were and I didn’t want to make it worse by butting in to your business, but I need to know. Did he hurt you?” I know the expression on his face. He’s in big-brother protective mode. While I love that side of him most of the time, right now it is not something I need. I don’t need him trying to wiggle his way in. The less he knows the better. If he knew what happened with Mac, there’s no telling what his reaction would be, even if it wasn’t Mac’s fault.
I take a step closer to him and grab his hand with my good one. “He didn’t hurt me, Jaxon. It just wasn’t working between us. We decided to go our separate ways.”
He pulls me into his arms and rests his chin on top of my head. I lay my head on his chest. He really is the best big brother a girl could have.
“I know you’re lying. I know something more happened between you two. He’s my friend, Mia, but if I find out he hurt you in any way, I’m going to beat his ass.”
I pull back and look up into his eyes. Eyes that are so unique and beautiful. Eyes that have an edge to them right now.
“Please, Jaxon, just leave it alone, okay? It happened a long time ago. There’s no need for you to go all alpha big brother. I’m fine. He’s fine. Everybody is fine.”
“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” he mutters, before kissing the top of my head and letting me go. He picks up the first-aid kit and walks away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
MY FEET ARE KILLING me and I’m exhausted. I’ve been ready for this day to be over since I walked in the door. It’s ten minutes to closing, and it couldn’t come fast enough. I’m doing as much of my end-of-shift duties as I can, hoping to get out of here quickly.
Once the last straggler walks out, I breathe a sigh of relief.
Finally.
I quickly finish up and yell through the kitchen door to let Hoot know I’m leaving. It’s just after two in the morning, and I’m really looking forward to a hot shower and my bed. I grab my purse and walk down the hallway to the back exit. Walking out into the slightly humid air, I turn and lock the door behind me. I dig my keys out of my purse and make my way to my car. I’m two steps away when I look up and see I have a flat.
That’s just fan-fuckin-tastic! Can today get any worse?
I bend down to inspect my tire and don’t see anything embeddedin it. Probably a nail. Lucky for me, Jaxon showed me how to do minor repairs to cars when we were younger, including how to change tires. But I sure as shit am not doing it tonight. I can barely keep my eyes open as it is. I debate with myself to go in and ask Hoot to give me a ride, but I decide against it. He does most of his creative cooking at night after the bar closes. That means he’ll be here for at least another hour, and I don’t want to wait. I just want to go home. I know he would stop what he’s doing to take me home, but I don’t want him to have to go through that. I can walk, as I don’t live too far from here. I throw my keys back in my purse and start my trek toward home.
Even though I’m wearing a tube top, the humid air is causing my shirt to stick to me and sweat trails down between by boobs. I feel nasty, and I’m sure I don’t smell too good either. I speed my steps and promise myself I’m never wearing my combat boots to work again. Yeah, that’s a promise I won’t keep. I love my combat boots.
Jaded Hollow is a small community and relatively quiet most of the time, but it’s amazing how quiet it is in the dead of night. All the houses and businesses are dark, except for an occasional porch light. The streetlights are on, and there’s not a running car in sight. I’m just passing Davey’s Bait and Tackle when I hear something behind me. I turn quickly and see a tall figure just outside of the glare of the street lamp. I try to shield my eyes so I can see better, but it does nothing to help.
“Alright, asshole, just show yourself,” I snap. I am really not in the mood for this shit.
“Well, well, if it isn’t little miss Mia,” comes a voice I despise. “What are you doing outside at this time of night?”
“I should be asking you the same thing, Shady. What trouble are you causing?” This guy gives me the creeps. There is something way off about him. Of course, it probably has a lot to do with the fact that he was the guy I gave my virginity to. I use the word “gave” loosely. I don’t even know if he remembers it. He’s never brought it up.
