BO
I’ve found Jax’s flaw—he’s a cover whore. He drags all the covers over to his side of the bed little by little until I’m left without anything. Usually I’m curled up on his body, so I’m not sure why we can’t share a big huge set of covers in the middle of the bed.
Most of the time, they’re on his side of the bed, wadded up in the floor. I have no idea how he manages that. Even more importantly, I have no idea why thinking about it makes me smile, or why I giggle every morning when I put them back on the bed.
It may not be much of an issue tonight, since he’ll probably be up too late to worry about pedaling the covers to the floor.
Jax is downstairs with his two friends while I finish up with my shower. I think Cody has a man crush or an actual crush. It’s one of the two.
Regardless, I think it’ll be a while before Jax comes to bed, because I don’t see Cody relinquishing him too easily. Which is fine. The more I think about it, the more absurd a relationship with Jax seems.
It’s just the intense situation we’re in. We’re practically in dating boot camp, and I’m the only girl here who’s available. We’re in the same house, same room—since his parents are still clueless—and together almost twenty-four hours a day.
In the real world, we wouldn’t make it. Jax is just laid back enough to let this happen, and I’m too much of a puddle around him for me to stop it.
But I need to stop it, because I don’t want to get more attached before we’re back in the real world. I can almost foresee things coming to a screeching halt when we’re away from the island, not in my house, and Jax has his clarity again.
My phone buzzes, breaking my thoughts, and I wince when I see Ruby’s name appear. Again. She’s been calling a lot, but not leaving messages other than to call her back. Which means she knows what’s going on, and she’s going to chew my ass.
Adjusting my towel and smoothing my damp hair out of my face, I finally answer so I can get the ass-chewing out of the way. I don’t even give her time to speak before I start explaining.
“Look, I know you’re probably pissed at me,” I say on a sigh, “but don’t be. And before you say it, it’s not Bora’s fault I’m here. Well, it is, but it isn’t. I came because of her, but I’m still here because of him. I sort of like him, even though I shouldn’t, and I can’t help but stick it out just to enjoy it while it lasts, even though my mind is screaming for me to get out while I can. Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous. Yes, I know I’m an idiot. Yes, I know I need to stop handling Bora’s problems. But I’m happy I did this time.”
I end the quick rant of an explanation and listen to the silence on the other end.
“Ruby?” I prompt.
She clears her throat, letting me know she’s still there, and finally speaks.
“Start at the beginning,” she says, but she sounds… off.
“Are you okay?” I ask her, feeling concerned now.
“I’m fine. Long day. Start from the beginning and fill me in on every detail.”
Unconvinced, I start to argue, but she senses it.
“Bo, either tell me everything, or I’ll be forced to kick your pretty little ass when I see you again.”
A smile tugs up and some of the worry slips away. Maybe she really is just having a bad day, and Ruby doesn’t talk about something until she wants to.
“Fine.”
I break down every last detail—minus the jerking-off catastrophe and the fire crotch disaster—and wait for her outburst.
There is no outburst.
“Jax Marshall, eh?” she asks instead, sounding amused more than anything. “I can picture that being an issue for you. He’s a good guy, from what the guys have told me. But I don’t picture him being the serious type. And we both know you’re not the type to be strung along.”
“Which is why I’m on vacation—vacation from my usual self, too. I’m breaking the rules for once, but I’m not sure how good of an idea that is…”
“Go with it. You never know until you try something. Just do me a favor.”
“Anything.”
“If he breaks your heart, let him go. Speaking from experience, it’s not easy to keep holding on and hoping the next time will be different.”
There’s a sadness in her voice that I can’t dismiss.