“I’ll have to move to a new state and change my name to Isa Montgomery.” That’s a little drastic, Becca had said. Plus you’ll miss me too much.
“What if I leave the ring on Jaxon’s doorstep, knock on his door, and flee the scene?” You’d trip over your own two feet and Jaxon would see you on the ground when he opens the door.
“I could just tell Jaxon the truth.” Then you’d be dating someone whose family hates you. Or they’d deny your story and Jaxon would think you’ve had it this whole time.
“So what the hell am I supposed to do?” Hide the ring in his drawer and be done with it.
Becca’s always the voice of reason. So tonight, I’m going to Jaxon’s apartment and I’m ending this ring bullshit once and for all.
When I walk into Jaxon’s apartment, the scent of sautéed garlic and onions fill my nostrils.
“Damn, it smells good in here.”
Jaxon closes the door behind me and takes my coat. “I’m making tacos.”
My eyes widen. “You really are the perfect boyfriend.”
He chuckles and dips his lips down to meet mine. “God, I’ve been dying to kiss you for days.”
I stretch up onto my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. “Prove it.”
“What about the tacos?”
“This is the only scenario in which tacos come second.”
Jaxon lifts me up and I wrap my legs around his waist as he carries me to his bedroom. I’m still clutching my purse like a life preserver. My plan is to plant the ring in his drawer when he goes to the bathroom.
If only I could get rid of it before we have sex. It’s difficult to focus on anything over the taunting tick-tock coming from my purse. Now I know why Captain Hook was so afraid of that sound …
Jaxon drops me onto his bed. I watch as he undresses, my eyes taking in every inch of his perfect, chiseled body. But it isn’t his shredded abs, his blocky shoulders, or his muscular arms that make my heart thunder in my chest. It’s the feeling I get when I look into his eyes.
I’m falling in love with Jaxon.
“What?” he asks.
I scoot to the edge of the mattress and kneel, running my fingertips along his smooth chest. “I love … when you take your clothes off.”
Chicken shit.
Jaxon smirks. “I love when I’m not the only one who has his clothes off.”
I lift my sweater over my head, and begin tossing my clothes onto the floor. I pull him down with me as I lay back on the bed.
“You’re right,” he says against my lips. “This is much better than tacos.”
I smile and reach for a condom in his nightstand. After I roll it over his length, I prop myself up on my side. “Can we do it like this? I want to be close to you.”
Jaxon turns onto his side, facing me, and hooks my leg over his. “Baby, we can do it any way you want to.”
We both sigh as he pushes inside me. We’re intertwined like two ropes, arms and legs twisted around each other’s bodies. My hands in his hair, pressing his face close to mine. His hands on my ass, guiding my hips as he thrusts into me. We don’t speak as much as we normally do. This time feels different. It feels like more. The sound of our breaths and moans of pleasure fill the quiet as we gaze into each other’s eyes.
I love this man.
I do. Somehow, through all of our fighting, through the anger, the diarrhea, and the dodgeball, I fell in love with the enemy.
That notion sends me over the edge. “Yes, Jaxon. Oh, God. Yes!”
As I float back down to earth, Jaxon caresses my face, looking at me in a way that melts my insides. Emotion swirls in those deep, dark irises of his.
Does he feel the same way I do?
It’s my turn to ask, “What?”
“I love you, Raegan. I love you so much.”
My heart hammers in my chest. I run my fingers through his hair, swallowing back the sentiment. “I love you too.”
Jaxon kisses me, slow and passionate, and he finds his release. Then he’s holding me against his chest wearing the biggest smile. I’ve never seen him so happy.
My stomach twists. Josh was right. How can I hurt the man I love? It would wreck him to know his brother stole the ring, and that his father wanted to help him keep the secret. As much as I hate carrying this lie with me, I’d hate to be the one to cause Jaxon that kind of pain.
Jaxon hears the churning of my stomach and laughs, assuming I’m hungry. “I’ll get our tacos.”
My eyes follow him as he rolls out of bed and disappears into the hallway.
Now’s my chance.
I want to be rid of this ring, this burden. I jump out of bed and remove the ring from my purse, eyes darting around the room. Putting it on top of the dresser where he’d had it before would be too obvious. I need to hide it in a place where he’ll find it—just not while I’m here.
Blood pulses in my ears while I pull out the top drawer as quietly as I can. With a shaky hand, I tuck the ring box underneath a few T-shirts.
Will he find this here? I shake my head and try shoving it in the corner of the drawer instead. I need to make it look like the box fell inside on accident. Maybe I should set it on the dresser and slide it into the open drawer so it looks legit …
“What are you doing?”
I jump at least an inch off the floor. Jaxon’s standing in the doorway, with a plate of food in each hand. He’s staring at the blue box I’m clutching, blinking as if he’s unsure of what he’s looking at.
I’m naked, hunched over his dresser, holding the ring in my hand. This isn’t a good look for me.
“Jax, I can explain.”
The plates clatter onto the top of the dresser. Lunging toward me, he snatches the box out of my hand and flips it open. He shakes his head, disbelief written all over his face. “What the hell is this, Rae?”
“It’s … it’s your grandmother’s ring.”
“I know it’s her ring,” he fires. “Why do you have it?”
I hadn’t prepared myself for this. What should I do? Tell him the truth, and shatter his world? Or tell him a lie, and shatter his world? Either way, Jaxon’s going to be hurt.
But family is everything. I don’t want Jaxon to lose that because of me.
“Raegan, why do you have this?” he asks again.
I take a deep breath, and decide to do the right thing.
Even if it feels wrong.
“I didn’t want you to find out like this. I thought I could slip it into your dresser without you knowing it was me.”
“No. It can’t be you.” His eyes well as he shakes his head. “Tell me it wasn’t you.”
My bottom lip trembles. I don’t need to say anything else. My silence says it all. All I can do now is watch as Jaxon’s heart breaks.
Jaxon
“Get out.”
I thought I’d been hurt before. I thought I knew what deception felt like. My ex cheated on me with my brother. They’d lied to me about it for a long time.
Yet in comparison, this feels much, much worse.
I think I’m in shock. I’m not yelling at Raegan as she collects her clothes. I should be livid. I should be telling her what a conniving liar she is. Instead, I’m rooted to the floor, clutching the ring box, staring at the open drawer.
I stand there for a while. Long after Raegan walks into the hallway and slips out the front door.
How could she lie to me? I’d been so sure that Raegan didn’t steal the ring.
Why tonight? Why now, of all times, did she decide to give the ring back?
What else did she lie about? She told me she loved me. Was that a lie too? Was this all part of her plan?
I rub my forehead, the questions assaulting my brain. I don’t have any of the answers, and maybe I never will, but one thought sticks out among the rest: I don’t want this ring.
I throw my clothes back on and take the ring with me on my way out.
“Jaxon, what are you doing here?”
I drop a quick kiss to my mother’s cheek as I enter the house. “I need to talk to Dad.”
“He’s in his office. We just finished dinner. Are you hungry?”
“No,” I say over my shoulder as I stalk down the hallway. When I reach the office, I swing the door open without knocking.
“Jaxon.” My father looks at me over his glasses. “What are you doing here?”
I toss the ring box onto the desk in front of him. “I don’t want this.”
His eyebrows pinch together as he stares down at the box. “You found Nana’s ring.”
“You can give it to Josh if you want. Or keep it. I don’t give a fuck what you do with it. Just keep it away from me.”
“Jaxon, what’s going on?” Mom’s in the doorway behind me.
I stare at the floor when I say, “Raegan had the ring.”
“What do you mean she had it?” Dad asks.
I sigh, raking a hand through my hair. “She came over tonight. I found her trying to hide it in my dresser.”
Mom shakes her head. “That can’t be right.”
“Of course she had it,” Dad says. “I knew she had it all along.”
His comment stokes my anger. “You were right, Dad. You were right and I was wrong. Does that make you feel better?”
“Calm down, son. I know you’re upset but—”
“You don’t know anything!” I storm out of his office and crash into Josh in the hallway.
“I knew that little bitch had Nana’s ring,” he says, a smug look on his face.
I press my forearm against Josh’s neck and slam him against the wall. “Call her a bitch again,” I say through gritted teeth.
“Jaxon!” Mom pulls on my shoulder. “Jaxon, enough. Let him go.”
Why am I sticking up for Raegan? I’m losing my mind. I have to get out of here. I push off of Josh and head for the front door.
“Please don’t leave like this,” Mom calls after me.
“I’m sorry, Mom. I have to go.”
I need to be alone right now.
Days Left Until Summer Break: 73
Raegan
“Aunt Raegan, wake up!”
I groan and shield my eyes from the sunlight streaming through my window. “Leave me alone, you little Gremlin.”
Mia giggles. “It’s lunchtime. Mommy says you have to get up and eat something.”
“Tell Mommy I’m not hungry.”
“Mommy!” Mia screams. “Aunt Rae said she’s not hungry!”
I cringe and flip the covers over my head, cocooning myself in the warmth. I shall stay here forever. I’ll become one with my bed. They’ll make a show about me. True Life: I’m Living in My Comforter.
“Raegan, you need to get up.”
“Your mommy tone won’t work on me, Beck.”
She sighs. “Mia, get off the bed, please.”
Mia bounces onto her bottom and springs off the bed. “What are you gonna do, Mommy?”
It’s quiet. Quiet is never good.
“Becca?” I call from under the blanket.
The next thing I know, my mattress tilts upward and I’m rolling sideways onto the floor.
“Why didn’t I think of that?” my mom asks.
Mia squeals. “My turn! I want a ride!”
I rub my backside and glare at the traitors before me. “I hate you all.”
Mia crawls onto my lap, uninvited. “Aunt Rae, you need to brush your hair.”
“She needs a weedwhacker at this point,” Becca says to my mom.
I hold Mia’s chubby little face in my hands. “I’ll buy you a puppy if you get your mother out of my room.”
In a flash, she’s up and pushing on Becca’s legs. “Mommy, hurry! You need to get out so I can get a puppy!”
“Mia, your aunt is lying. You can’t trust a word she says right now. She’s not herself.”
Mom scoops Mia into her arms as she pouts. “Come on. You can help me make lunch. We can cut our sandwiches into hearts.”
“Yay!”
I shake my head. “If only our problems could be solved by cutting our sandwiches into hearts.”
“Raegan, you can’t hide in here forever. Take a shower and come downstairs for lunch. You’ll feel better once you’re clean and fed.”
“What am I, a dog?” I stand and slide my mattress back onto the frame. “Nothing’s going to make this better.”
Becca sighs while I flop onto the bed and burrow under my covers. I hear the click of the door closing and release a breath. Finally, alone again.
Several minutes later, the doorbell rings. Then I hear voices in the hall.
My bedroom door bursts open, Kerry’s voice booming. “All right, ladies. Mary, Sammi, you two take her legs. Becca and Andrea, you’re gonna have to help me get her arms.”
“Be careful,” Mary says. “She’s scrappy.”
Before I can make a run for it, my friends seize my limbs. I’m helpless as they lift me off the bed and carry me out into the hall.
“Get off me! Are you crazy?” I squirm, trying to free myself from their grasps.
“Watch her head,” Andrea shouts.
“This might actually be easier if we knock her unconscious,” Kerry whispers.
The girls wrangle me into the bathroom and toss me into the tub. They hold me down while Becca twists the knobs to the faucet. Ice cold water rains down on me.
“It’s freezing!” I scream. “Get me out of here.”
“You’ll come out when you don’t smell like a barnyard animal.” Kerry squeezes shampoo into her palm and begins scrubbing my head.
“You’re getting soap in my eyes, you asshole!”
“This ain’t a picnic for us either.”
I don’t know if it’s the suds stinging my eyes, or if I’m finally giving up the fight, but hot tears spill over my lids. My head hangs down as the sobs rip through me.
Becca climbs into the tub beside me and wraps her arms around my shoulders. One by one, my friends huddle around me, getting soaked by the spray of the shower head.
“It’s going to be okay,” Sammi says.
I cover my face with my hands. “I didn’t think it would hurt this bad, taking the fall for something I didn’t do.”
Andrea squeezes my knee. “You were trying to do the right thing by Jaxon and his family.”
Mia appears in the doorway. Her mouth drops open when she sees all six of us crammed on top of each other, fully clothed, in the tub.
I open my arms for her and she crawls onto my lap, ducking under the stream of the water. “Are you sad, Aunt Rae?”
“I am.”
“Do you want to ride in my Barbie car? That always helps me when I feel sad.”
I giggle. “Maybe later you can take me for a spin.”
“Come on,” Becca says, standing. “Let’s let Aunt Raegan finish her shower.”
“Towels are in the hall closet.”
The girls exit the bathroom, leaving a trail of water on the tile floor. I pull the shower curtain closed and strip out of my wet pajamas. I let a few more tears escape, pressing my forehead against the wall.
Why does doing the right thing have to hurt so bad?
Jaxon
Another day without Raegan.
She’s called out sick every day this week. I wonder why. She wasn’t the one who was lied to for six months straight. I should be the one vegging out at home, drowning my sorrows in a bottle of Jack Daniels.
But I’ve got a school to run. So I do what I do best and bury myself in work.
It’s Friday and the school’s buzzing. We’re supposed to get hit with a snowstorm this weekend, which means there’s a chance we could get Monday off.
“Wear your pajamas inside-out this weekend,” Beth calls as she swings her coat on.
“Will do.” Not. I don’t want a snow day. If it were up to me, I’d come to work all weekend just to avoid the deafening silence in my apartment.
The school clears out. Teachers speed out of th
e parking lot, busses depart with excited students.
It’s almost four o’clock when I hear whispers outside my office.
“Who’s there?”
The whispers stop.
“I know you’re out there. I can hear you.”
Becca peeks into my office. “Hi, uh, Mr. Waters.”
“Becca. What’s going on?”
“Do you have a sec?”
“That depends. What is this in reference to?”
Becca closes the door behind her and sits in the chair facing my desk. “I think you need to know the truth.”
My skin prickles. “About?”
“About your grandmother’s ring.”
I shake my head and wave my hands. “No. I’m not discussing this with you.”
She leans forward. “You don’t have to say anything. I just need you to hear me out, and then I’ll be gone.”
I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes. “You have thirty seconds.”
“Thirty seconds? Geeze. Not really a lot of time. Let’s see. Where do I start …”
“Twenty seconds.”
“Okay, okay.” She sits up straight and pins me with her gaze. “Your brother is the one who stole the ring.”
“Time’s up. Get out of my office.”
“I still have, like, ten seconds!”
“Fine. Hurry up.” I cross my arms and rock back in my chair.
“The night Raegan came to your house for dinner, after your grandfather’s wake, your brother cornered her in the hallway. I think he was drunk, but that doesn’t matter. He told Raegan that if she loved you, she would plant the ring back in your apartment and never tell you about it. But your dad caught them. He heard everything Josh said. He agreed with Josh, and forced the ring into Raegan’s purse.”
Becca blinks, waiting for my reaction.
Josh? My father? Heat rises in my neck, and it’s suddenly hard to breathe. “Look, Becca. I don’t know what kind of crazy lie Raegan concocted but she’s the one who stole the ring. It’s pretty sad that she’s trying to use my family against me.”
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