“All right, sorry, Peaches.” He tilted his head to the side and smirked.
Another nickname that shot more pain—reminding me of heartbreak—through my chest.
“I go by Brey. That’s it.”
“No.” He said it firm, low, in command. When he leaned forward just a breath closer to me, I could see his eyes had darkened. “You go by Whitfield, Peaches, or Sweet Sin to me. It will never be anything else.”
I’m sure Jax had become accustomed to women, and men for that matter, listening to him, shaken by his demeanor and the power he seemed to hold with just a look. Unfortunately for him, I wasn’t one of those people.
“No, Jax.” I stood and smoothed the red sequins of my dress. “That’s who I was to a sweet boy in high school. He called me those names all the time. But he’s gone. I don’t have any idea where that boy went.”
I felt his eyes brush over me, taking me in. My body reacted in a way I should have been ashamed of. I felt hot, and I knew my eyes showed my reaction to his perusal because he was smiling as he licked his lips like I was his next meal. “Fine. I’ll play. Let’s talk about where that boy went.”
I shook my head, trying to clear out the damn hormones affecting my senses. Half the reason I reacted to him was because I needed to find someone else to hook up with. I also needed to find Rome and smack him for leaving me feeling this needy before I saw my first love who now just happened to be one of People magazine’s “Hottest Bachelors.”
An announcement sounded. “With one Stonewood, you normally find another, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, Jax is here supporting his brother, Jay. Ladies, you’ve got to be excited about that one.” The spotlight turned directly toward Jax, and I took that as my moment to escape. I moved quickly to find a bathroom where I could pull myself together.
I would have to thank God for making the bathroom a single-person room with a lock on the door.
Silence.
Brilliant, beautiful silence.
I looked in the mirror and tried to muster up some confidence.
“You can handle this. The most uncomfortable situations are what make you stronger.”
It was a mantra. Something that got me through the good and bad days. Tonight was definitely turning into a bad night.
I looked like hell too. The mirror reflected a girl with hair that had frizzed. My long, dark curls had lost their luster in the summer heat. My smoky eyeliner somehow made my green eyes seem bigger than they already were.
“Hey, is anyone in there?” A loud knock sounded at the door.
“One minute!” I yelled.
They mumbled something but I heard footsteps walking away.
I shrugged my shoulders and smoothed my dress again. My main concern wasn’t someone else’s bladder issue. There were probably twenty other bathrooms in this humongous place.
As I tried to smooth more flyaways, I whispered one last time, “You can handle this.”
I wasn’t going to fix much more of my appearance at this point. So with a final sigh, I went to unlock the door. I turned the knob, but it didn’t give. I turned it again a little harder and yanked. Didn’t budge an inch.
“Come on,” I muttered, feeling my control slipping away and the fear seeping in. I jiggled it a few more times as my palms started to sweat.
“Okay. No big deal, just call Jay,” I told myself as I pulled my phone out to dial his number.
No signal?
No signal!
I tried the door again. I wanted it to magically open. I needed some higher power to give me a break. It didn’t work.
Panic and more fear lurked.
“Someone will need the bathroom. Ms. Whatever will be back any minute. Control yourself.” It was a command. I wanted to follow my own orders, but knew my panic and fear always stole that control from me.
“Shit!” I slammed my hand on the door. As I did, loud music started on the other side of the door.