“Everything, huh?”
“You need someone found, you come to me.”
“Can you find Jaxon?”
“Can I find—ha! Don’t be silly. Of course I can find Jaxon. I know his information off the top of my head.” He pats it, then hiccups. “He’s crazy, you know. Kinda scary too. Our families are friends… or were. I don’t know. But he’s kind of mean.”
“He can be, yeah. So, where can I find him?” I push.
“I don’t think you want to find him.”
But I have this wonderful idea in my head…
“I most certainlydowant to find him.”
He sighs heavily. “Okay then…” He mutters something under his breath, something about girls wanting assholes, but then he gives me an address. Rambles it off like he’s said it a thousand times before.
I take it down in my phone notes, as Orville rambles on about his schedule and what he likes to do and when his classes are.
Maybe this kid isn’t as innocent and harmless as I thought. But right now, this is benefiting me, so I take in everything he says, and the plan in my head grows.
Chapter Thirty
Sailor
I am not taking summer classes. I’m not. I wanted to, so I could finish this degree sooner, but I need a break. After taking six classes, I could use an entire year off. That’s obviously not going to happen, so a couple months will have to do.
Finals are in a week, and I’m preparing as best I can. I’ve studied more than I ever have in all my life, and even though Girls Night had rules, they’ve gone out the window because we need all the time we can get.
Just one more week and this will be over.
Only, it isn’t the only thing I’m looking forward to.
I ran into Orville at a coffee shop recently. I’m still not sure if it was planned, because I’m starting to think his stalking skills are worse—better?—than Jaxon’s. But I got more information from him and made sure everything he gave me was accurate. He felt ridiculous for everything he said, and even seemed a little scared. He made me pinky-promise, yes pinky promise, that I would never tell Jaxon where I got this information from. I did it, because why not? The less Jaxon knows, the better.
But the best piece of information I got out of that run-in with Orville, was that he heard that Jaxon was going on a trip, and so his apartment would be empty for a few days. He knew this because he was asked to change some grades in the system and add a note in there, excusing him from missing classes. Orville seems to be Jaxon’s go-to for information and school adjustments… and I guess he’s mine now too.
I can’t be sure that what Orville says is accurate, or that Jaxon will even be gone. I have no reason to trust him, but he’s my best bet at finding Jaxon. And right now, that’s exactly what I need. Two can play at this game. I’m going to find out for myself if the info I have is right.
Part of me, a very tiny part of me, hoped that Sam was wrong. That what I saw in the video was wrong. But I know I’m not. All those months I cried and stressed and was upset about Jaxon completely ignoring me, yet… he hasn’t been. He’s been around the entire time. Not only as himself but as someone else too. I want to be mad, but I can’t help but feel… relief.
Still, he hasn’t made himself known, so what even is this? Is it just an obsession? Is it more? If so, why hasn’t he spoken to me? Why is he okay watching from the shadows?
Well, he’s going to get a taste of his own medicine, thanks to his friend Orville.
The apartment isn’t like anything I expected. I’m not quite sure what I pictured, but with every photo that Jaxon sent of himself in the beginning, I’d formed an idea around how helived. I assumed it was messy, considering his bed was a mess all the time, but I now realize that’s a ridiculous assumption to make about someone’s way of life. All on how their bed looks?
The apartment is spacious and tidy. The furniture is expensive and new, like it’s hardly used. I smell him the moment I walk in, but the bedroom… I lean against the wall, my eyes falling closed as I allow his scent to take me over. A scent that is so uniquely him that I’d recognize anywhere.
After a moment of talking myself out of being turned on, which didn’t really do much, I move further into the bedroom and sit on the bed.
I lie down, in the spot I assume he does, considering the chargers are on this side of the bed. When my head hits the pillow, his scent is stronger, mixed with a bit of sweat. I turn my face into it and inhale. Calmness washes over me, like he’s the key to my sanity, and I give myself a few moments to enjoy it. It’s been so long since I’ve felt this way. It’s nice. Maybe even a little addicting. It’s exactly why I fell so hard for him in the first place. And the more I think about him, the more time passes between us, the more the scary stuff doesn’t seem to matter.
And that’s scary for a whole other reason.
Jaxon has secrets. He has demons. He is capable of killing without batting an eye.
That’s… a lot.
