“What the ... Whitfield!” I yelled after her but she didn’t stop walking.
Fuck that.
Before she rounded the corner back into the hallway, I swept her up over my shoulder and started walking her back toward the stairs. We were having this conversation whether she liked it or not.
“What the hell are you doing, Jax?” she roared, pounding me with her fist.
“You and I need to talk.”
“No! Put me down,” she said in her best composed tone.
Again.
I hated that voice and tone.
She only used it when she was uncomfortable and looking for the upper hand. She damn well wasn’t getting it this time. I started climbing the stairs, ignoring her.
“Oh my God, Jax. You’re going to drop me. I’m going to break my neck.” The pitch of her voice climbed as I climbed the stairs.
I couldn’t help myself. I started to laugh. “What do you weigh? A hundred and thirty pounds? I’m not gonna drop you.”
“I beg your pardon! I weigh one hundred and ten, you ass! And guess what? We aren’t at fucking Burger King. You can’t have it your way. So, put me the fuck down.”
I dropped her onto the wood flooring in the room. Hard. God, the woman wouldn’t shut up when she wanted something. I couldn’t hold back my laughter. Her sassy mouth was something to be missed, especially when she swore.
She could cut someone off at their knees if she wanted to.
Except with me.
And, damn, had I enjoyed it. It was one of the first times I remembered feeling more than just lust for a girl.
Aubrey made me feel a lot of things for the first time, and every time I thought of those memories, I knew why I feared us together. I had those feelings for the first time with her and never again after.
“What are you doing?” she asked, glowering at the closed door as if she could make it disintegrate.
“I want you to tell me what happened down there.” I took a step closer to her. I needed to be near her. I wanted to hold her when she let me in, to soothe her. I could protect her. I wanted to protect her from the flashbacks.
She took a step back, staring at me for a minute, then bent over as a full belly laugh burst from her. “You want me to stay up here with you to talk like little girls about our emotions and our problems?”
Just like she used to, Brey built walls and threw stones over them when her feelings were threatened. “Don’t give me that. I just hauled your ass out of a bathroom and saved you and Jay a load of publicity.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “You owe me.”
She slumped a little then, her façade deflating. “Jax, it isn’t your concern. I normally have it under control.” I barely heard the last part.
“‘Normally’?” I boomed. “What the hell do you mean ‘normally’? How often does this happen?”
“Never!” Her eyes darted away. “Sometimes. I don’t know! Only when I’m in small places or when I feel trapped.” She whipped around to pace away from me and then paced back to get right in my face. “Don’t you dare tell Jay.” Her words held more warning than I was used to, and I’d negotiated with some of the most powerful people in the world.
“You can’t breathe on a public bathroom floor. You’re having flashbacks of an attempted homicide but you’re worried about my fucking brother?”
“Keep your voice down.” Her eyes narrowed to slits. “I don’t need Jay walking on eggshells around me because you can’t keep your damn mouth shut. So, don’t open it.”
I wasn’t used to her commanding me, let alone swearing at me. I wasn’t used to anything about her, and that made me fucking livid. “Watch that mouth of yours, Peaches.”
“Or what?”
“Or I’ll show you how filthy a mouth can really be.”
Her eyes widened and shined anger under the dim lights of the small room. She stood a half a head shorter than me, and her heels under that dress had to be at least five-inches tall. Yet, she didn’t back down. “You have no idea how filthy I can be nor will you ever get a chance to show me how filthy you are. I want nothing to do with you.”