"Your sister, on the other hand…"
I let out a loud laugh at that, but it’s cut off when I see a familiar annoyed expression out of the corner of my eye.
"Fuck," I gasp, feeling my heart freefall into my stomach. I look around for a quick exit, but we're too far back in the bar, and any path to a door has me getting way closer to Steve than I'm comfortable with. Despite knowing Jax would have my back, I really just don't want to deal with Steve right now. It's been hard enough ignoring his texts.
"What happened?" I hear Jax ask, and I notice he's looking around for the source of my sudden distress. I know he spots Steve when his jaw clenches hard enough to pop, and he takes a step forward.
I block his path and fist my hands in his shirt in an effort to stop him. "No, please don't," I plead, hoping my eyes convey my desperation. "I just—I don't want to deal with him right now. Please. Just... not now."
Jax looks down at me, fury still sparking in his eyes, but I can tell he's weighing my feelings right now. After a tense moment, he gives a stiff nod.
I only have enough time for a relieved exhale before I see Steve coming closer in my periphery. He hasn't spotted me yet, but it's only a matter of time before he does. Without thinking, I push Jax into an employee hallway.
I don't even realize I've flattened my body against his until I hear my name growled into my ear, and my eyes snap up to his in surprise.
Despite the height difference, we're so close that I can see every fleck of silver in his gorgeous blue eyes—it reminds me of a lightning-filled sky, especially with the way they're flashing as they look down at me right now. The sight literally takes my breath away.
And as I suck in a startled breath, my breasts press even closer to Jax's chest. He must realize it too, because I feel his fingers dig into my hips as his grip tightens.
My gaze drops to his lips. I've never thought about how nice they are for a guy's lips, even though they've laid plenty of kisses on my cheeks and my hair. But they've also never been this close to my own. I've never been so tempted to find out what it feels like to press mine against them.
"Hailey," he growls again, and I realize his gaze is jumping between my eyes and my lips too. And now I can't remember anything that's ever happened before this moment. There is only Jax and I, in these shadows, staring at each other as the alcohol and proximity winds the tension higher and higher until the air feels suffocating.
I don't know if one of us would've made the shift forward. And we'll never know because the door at the end of the hallway is yanked open to reveal an angry bar employee coming in from the street, reeking of cigarette smoke.
I jump back from Jax, likely looking as flustered as I feel. The guy just glares at us before he pushes past to go back to work.
I look nervously between the street exit and Jax. "Um, maybe we should..." I manage to mumble.
My words seem to snap Jax out of whatever stupor he's in. "Yeah, let's get out of here," he agrees. He hesitates for only a moment, then grabs my hand and pulls me out of the bar with him.
"I'll grab an Uber," I mutter once we've put some distance between us and my ex-boyfriend. Jax nods stiffly, dropping my hand and jamming his into his pockets. He doesn't look at me as I take my phone out and pull up the app.
We don't talk while waiting the few minutes for my driver to pull up. I shuffle nervously the whole time, unsure of how to break the tension and cursing myself for putting us in an awkward position with my clumsiness.
I sigh when the car finally arrives, resigned to the fact that I've now made things weird between us. All because I couldn't get far enough away from fucking Steve.
Another sigh.
But just as I start to mumble some kind of half-assed goodbye, I feel Jax grab my wrist in order to stop me before I can reach for the car door. I turn back to him in surprise.
He gives me a small smile before saying, "Text me when you get home, baby girl."
I couldn't help the smile that takes over my face even if I wanted to.
He visibly relaxes at that. When he opens the car door and guides me inside with a hand on my lower back, his smile is back to its normal shine.
The entire car ride home, I can’t stop thinking about what just happened. What it felt like. I’ve been close to Jax before—since God knows he’s an affectionate person, especially with me—but something about today felt different. The way he looked at me, the way it felt to be pressed against him… it almost felt like he was looking at me like more than just Hailey, Remy’s little sister.
But... that doesn't make sense. Jax and I have been friends for so long, if something was going to happen it would've happened already. But it never did. I know he knows that I had a crush on him when we were younger. I was so obvious, even strangers could tell that I had a thing for my big sister's best friend. And even though I was too young for him then and knew he wouldn't reciprocate my feelings, he also never acknowledged them or returned them once I was old enough. It just became a childhood crush that we never dealt with.
I drop my head back against the seat with a groan, feeling the beginning of a headache coming on. Deep down, I know Jax doesn't like me like that, since he's had plenty of time to develop feelings and opportunities to broach the subject. It wouldn't even be a big risk for him, since I've already had feelings for him. It's not a stretch to think I would again.
I sigh and press my forehead against the cool glass of the car window. I make a vow in this moment to not make a bigger deal out of today than it really was, to shove away any remnants of my schoolgirl crush to keep it from rearing its ugly head. It was simply a tense moment brought on by accidental proximity, nothing else. The last thing I need is to complicate my relationship with one of the most important people in my life, who also happens to be a big crutch for me right now.
By the time I climb the steps to Remy's apartment, I've forced myself to forget about anything that may or may not have happened between Jax and I.
* * *