“Toyou.You’re the only idiot I know who ever got eaten by a shark.”
“Valid.”
It is. But I don’t need to rehash Jax’s life story. I need to enjoy this time with him while we have it. By autumn, we could be on different continents again.
A companionable quiet falls around us. Jax drives us out of Burlington in the opposite direction to anywhere I’ve ever been.
An hour or so later, we land in a state park someplace I’ve never heard of.
“It’s nice here,” Jax says. “Tourists don’t come at peak summer because the trails are too steep to be family friendly. Got your mountain legs on?”
“Calling me a goat?”
“Only if you mean GOAT, dude.”
I flip him the bird and slide out of the truck. I’ve brought nothing but myself and a chip on my shoulder, but Jax has packed everything we need, including leftover fried chicken butties from V&V’s kitchen. “You stole my stock?”
“Tanner said I could.”
“Tanner doesn’t cook it.”
“Stop moaning. Let’s go.”
Jax hikes faster than Kai, with more purpose and less conversation. Less kissing too. And I don’t ogle him. Jax Penrose-Reid,as he now goes by, is pretty as a picture, but I know the prettiest bloke there ever was, and it ain’t him.
Can’t argue with the view he gifts me when we finally reach the top of the legitmountainhe’s dragged me up, though. The sky is clear and blue, and I can see for miles and miles and miles. With the sun beating down and a sandwich in each fist, the only thing missing is Kai.
“So…” I swivel to Jax as he breaks the silence. He’s leaning against a boulder the size of a bungalow, his lunch done and dusted, only a bottle of water still to chug. “You like it here?”
I dart a glance to the epic view. “It’ll do.”
“I meantherein general. Vermont. V&V. Your roommate.”
Oh hello. I school my features, déjà vu hitting me, though I can’t pinpoint why. “I like it all, mate.”
“What’s your favorite part?”
Kai’s arms around me while we sleep. His lips at my neck when I wake up and he’s still right there.“Food’s good.”
Jax snorts. “Cupboard love?”
“If you say so.” I finish my sandwiches and tip water down my throat.
Jax is still studying me. “You like the job, though, right?”
“I like the wonga Tanner paid me yesterday. It’s the most money I’ve had in years.”
“Joss.Mate.”
“What?”
Jax pushes off the boulder and comes closer. “Don’t be obtuse as fuck. It doesn’t suit you.”
I eye him as he approaches me. Something in his expression reminds me of something else—more déjà vu—but I have no fucking clue what. Also, I’m irritated. I don’t need him to pick me apart. I have my own fucking self for that. “If you want better answers, ask better questions. Say what you mean, man. I can’t wade through vague. You know that.”
“Sorry.” Jax hops over a log and sits on it. He digs in his pack and pulls out a roll of Rowntree’s fruit pastilles, handing them to me as a peace offering. “Don’t punch me, okay?”
“I don’t punch people.”
