“Hello?” I said, glaring up at him. “What are you doing in my room?”
He closed the distance between us, expression unreadable. Then he sank to his knees in front of me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me into a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice thick with emotion. “I’m so sorry.”
“Huh?” I squawked, trying to squirm out of his grip. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“Sorry forwhat, Jax?”
He swallowed audibly. “I honestly don’t even know where to start.”
“Okay.” I narrowed my eyes and pushed on his hard chest. “Why don’t we start with all the nasty shit you’ve been pulling with me for the last couple of months? All the bullying, the rumors, the lies. The horrible prize pool to fuck me. Oh, and let’s not forget how your old friends-with-benefits made me eat my father’s ashes after you convinced her to hate me. Isthatwhat you’re sorry for? Huh?”
Jax didn’t say anything. Just rose to his full height and stared down at me. His expression was no longer unreadable. I could see a mixture of anger and shame swirling in his eyes; could see him trying to keep it inside, holding it down, choking on it.
I stood too, lifting my chin to meet his intense gaze. “You’ve had it out for me since we first met,” I went on. “Wait, no… even before that! I know all about your stupid theory that I’m an evil, unhinged genius pulling puppet strings behind the scenes. You think I secretly planned to set my mom up with your dad so I could come to Crown Point and mess with your family as some sort of revenge scheme for whatever happened between our fathers twenty years ago. It’s so unbelievably ridiculous. I didn’t evenknowabout any of the drama between them until I asked your dad what the fuck your problem with me was all about. My dad never told me anything!”
Jax slumped down on the end of the bed and raked a hand through his hair, slightly shaking his head. “You’re right,” he said softly. “You’re right about everything.”
“Yet you’ve still tortured me anyway. So what is it, then? What the fuck is your problem?” I paused for a beat and straightened my shoulders, sucking down a deep breath. Then I went on, words tumbling out of me, spurred by my rage. “You’re jealous of me, aren’t you? I mean, deep down, surely you knew that I wasn’t really here to destroy your dad’s life, considering how well I get along with him. You’re obviously just pissed because he’d rather spend time with me instead of you. You’re worried he likes me better, even though that makes no sense because you’re his son.”
Jax looked sick. I’d obviously struck a nerve.
“So is that it?” I asked, cocking my head. “You’re jealous of my relationship with your father?”
“No,” Jax muttered. “But you’re right about the other stuff. I thought you came here looking for revenge, and I thought you were sleeping with my dad as part of that.”
I let out a snort of laughter. “You’re kidding. You actually thought I was hooking up with your dad?” I said. I tilted my head slightly to one side. “Isthatwhy you called me a gold-digging whore the other day?”
He abruptly stood and turned to look at my desk, evading my withering gaze along with my question. “Did you know you moan in your sleep?” he said gruffly, rubbing his jaw. “I can hear it through the wall.”
“So what? Sometimes I talk in my sleep too,” I said, staring at him in disgust and renewed dislike. “Is that why you thought I was sleeping with your dad? Because you heard a few moans at night?”
“No.” He swallowed and shook his head. “I heard other things too.”
“Uh-huh.” I rolled my eyes. “Sure you did.”
Jax turned to face me again, fixing me with an intense stare. “I put a camera in here yesterday. I wanted to record the two of you together so I could use the footage against you.”
“Are you fucking serious?” I whipped my head around, searching my room for anything that looked out of place. “Where the hell is it?”
He pointed to the pendant light above my head. “It’s up there. You can barely see it.”
I crossed my arms and sneered. “Well, I hope you enjoyed watching sixteen straight hours of absolutely nothing.”
“It wasn’t nothing,” he replied. He looked down at the floor. “There was… something.”
“What do you mean?”
Jax waved a hand toward the bed. “You should probably sit down.”
I did as he said, curiosity piqued. He sagged on the bed next to me and handed me his phone. “This is what the camera recorded while you were asleep,” he said softly. “You need to see it.”
I pressed the play button, brows dipping in an inquisitive frown. “Is that you?” I asked, squinting at the screen as a tall man appeared in the frame.
“No. It’s my dad,” Jax replied through gritted teeth.
My nose wrinkled. “I don’t get it. It looks like he’s just picking up my hot chocolate mug.” I paused the video and glanced over at Jax. “Is that the big scandal? Your clean-freak dad comes into my room at night to take my dirty dishes?”