Kaia looked at Jax, seeing the grim set of his jaw, the anger in his eyes, but also the emotional tension in his stance. This was Wren. This was the woman who was the closest thing he had to family. This was the person he'd spent most of his adult life with, the one he seemed to hate now. But was it all hate, or was there something else between them? He'd said there wasn't, but she didn't really know what to think except that his messy and complicated life was now standing in his living room.
As they stared at each other, she felt very much like a third wheel. "I'm going to go," she said, grabbing her clothes from the floor as she ran into the bedroom. She stripped off the robe and threw on her shorts and tank top as fast as she could, but she wasn't fast enough as Jax came into the room.
"Kaia, wait," he said. "You don't have to leave. Wren is the one who will go. I just need a couple of minutes to make that happen."
"No." She shook her head. "You need more than that. You can't keep avoiding her. You have to talk to her." She could see the conflict in his eyes, but she could also see that he agreed with her.
"I'll call you when she's gone," he promised.
"Sure."
When she walked out of the bedroom, Wren was standing by Jax's workstation, looking at the guitar he'd been working on. Her gaze moved to Kaia, but she didn't say a word.
Once outside, she practically ran to her apartment, not wanting to see anyone she knew. Thankfully, the courtyard was empty and quiet. As she closed the door behind her, she didn't know what was going to happen between Wren and Jax. But she did know that it had to happen.
She was just afraid her happy bubble was about to burst…or maybe it already had.
Chapter Twenty
"You shouldn't have come here, Wren."
"You didn't give me any other choice, Jason."
The sound of his name on her lips took him back in time and also felt strangely wrong. He'd gotten used to being Jax the last few months. And now Wren wanted him to be that other guy, the one she could twist around her finger whenever she wanted.
"I'm sorry," she said, her sky-blue eyes filling with moisture that might have been real or practiced; he wasn't entirely sure.
"For what, exactly?"
"For everything."
He shook his head as he dug his hands into his pockets. "That's not good enough."
"Being sorry for everything isn't good enough?"
"No. Because you want to wrap everything up and throw it away, pretend it never happened."
"Oh, I know it happened. I spent two months in rehab," she said sharply.
"It wasn't the first time you went to rehab. And it's not the first time you've said you're sorry."
"I've changed. I'm different now."
"I've heard that before, too, Wren."
"My God! You're being so cold, so rigid—" She stopped abruptly, taking a breath, trying to rein in her anger, because, clearly, she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. "Okay, you're right. I've made bad choices a habit, and I need to own that. You need actions, not just words, to believe that things can change."
"I don't need anything. I'm done."
"You can't mean that," she pleaded. "We've been friends for too long. We've been each other's family. I don't just want you back in my life; I need you back. You were…you are…the best person I've ever known. And I am very aware of how much I have hurt you."
"I don't think you are," he said harshly, not wanting to be moved by her apologies because he knew where that would take him.
"I am. And I'm ready to take the responsibility I should have taken months ago. I'm going to own up to everything. I'm going to throw myself at the mercy of our industry, our fans, and all the people who will trash me online. I understand we can't move forward until I do that, so I will do it."
"If you wanted to do it, you could have already done it. You don't need my approval to take ownership."
"I wanted to talk to you first because of what you did for me. There will be a lot of questions, and I didn't want you to be blindsided."
