“Right.” He shoves a heaping pile of eggs into his mouth.
We finish our food in silence, and then I pull my laptop out, opening up the document with the prices for our milk, beef, and tallow.
“I have some things to take care of this morning. Can you and Jax set up the booth for me?”
“Of course. I might have to drag Jax kicking and screaming based on his reaction yesterday, but I’ll definitely be there.”
I bite my lip as I ignore the urge to tell him he’s wrong. “Okay, great. Thanks. I’m going to get dressed real quick.”
I wrap my arms around Charlie’s neck, giving him a quick hug, and then bolt into my room, closing the door behind me.
Jax scowls at me as he emerges from his hiding spot in my closet. “That’s twice in less than twelve hours that I’ve had to hide here.”
“I’m sorry! I just don’t want Charlie to find out like this. I like you alive.”
His eyes go round. “Do you really think he’d be that upset?”
“Not about us dating, but he might not like seeing you in my bed.”
“Fair enough.”
I tug him onto the mattress next to me, crawling into his lap. “I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I press a kiss to his cheek. “But just a heads-up, Charlie is going to call you soon to ask for help with the booth.”
As if on cue, Jax’s phone blasts out, a picture of Charlie making a stupid face lighting up his screen. Jax’s eyes go wide as he scrambles toward my window. “That’s his custom ringtone. He set it in high school, and I never changed it.”
He slides the button on his phone to answer as he shoves my window open in a frenzy. He pauses in the window, leaning forward to give me a quick kiss before bolting, but I don’t miss him saying, “You thought you heard my ringtone in Lauren’s house? What’re you on, man?”
As soon as I’m dressed, I open my door to find Charlie pressed up against it, listening.
“What are you doing? You’re being weird.”
“I’mbeing weird? I don’t think so.” Charlie barges into my room. “Where is he?”
My heart stops. “Who?”
“Jax. I heard my ringtone when I called him.” He swings my closet door open to find nothing but clothing. “It was coming from your room.” Charlie surges to the far side of my bed, looking underneath it.
“What on earth are you talking about? Your ringtone?”
“I called Jax, and I heard the song I set on his phone whenever I call. Why would Jax be in your room?”
“That’s a great question. Why would he be in my room?”
His shoulders sag. “I don’t know. Things have felt off with you two lately.”
Well, that makes me feel guilty as heck.I may not have directly lied to Charlie, but I may as well have.A lie by omission is just as bad, isn’t it?
“I’m sorry I’ve made you feel that way.” I place my hands on both his arms. “I want to talk about this more, but I need to get going. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done with my trip to the general store.”
I pull my purse from the shelf in my closet. “Let’s hang out just the two of us again tonight, okay?” I grab his hand, meeting his eyes. “You’re important to me.”
“I’d like that.”
The Girls
Me
Y’all I need help
