She frowned, reached in deeper—and froze.
Her eyes widened.
“Holy shit.”
Jaxon turned. “What’s wrong?”
“I… may have made a small mistake.”
“Did you forget something?”
Claire slowly pulled her hand out—revealing a very familiar key ring. “I forgot to leave the house keys for the girls.”
Jaxon’s laugh echoed through the terminal like a cannon. “You what?!”
Claire’s face flushed with horror. “It’s six o'clock back home! What the hell have they been doing all day?”
“Call them. Calm down. It’s fixable.”
She fumbled for her phone, only to realize she hadn’t taken it off airplane mode. As soon as it connected, her screen lit up like a Christmas tree—chimes, dings, and missed calls for days.
She didn’t bother scrolling. She just called Sara.
“Hey.”
“What the hell, Claire?!”
“I’m so sorry. I meant to put the keys back on the ring with the SUV key. I was rushing and forgot.”
Sara sighed. “What do you expect us to do?”
Jaxon leaned over and gently plucked the phone from Claire’s hand. “Y’all just hanging out today?”
“Not funny, Jax. Luckily we had our wallets and the car keys with us. We’ve been walking around the pier in our bathing suits for hours just so we didn’t look like complete idiots.”
“That’s... honestly a little hilarious.”
“WE ARE STRANDED AND YOU’RE LAUGHING?!”
“Alright, alright. Tell you what—stay at my place until we get back.”
“Are you serious?” Sara said.
“I kinda have to be. Your house keys are currently 1,500 miles away in Claire’s purse.”
Sara sighed. “How do we even get in?”
“Drive over. Call me when you’re there.”
“Fine.”
The call ended and Claire groaned, burying her face in her hands. “I cannot believe I did that.”
Jaxon just smiled. “Shit happens. And it gives me an excuse to offer up free housing, so... win-win.”
Claire looked over at him. “You haven’t stopped surprising me since the day we met.”
“If it makes you feel better, they’ll be fine. Besides, now someone’s watching over the house while I’m gone.”
