by Watkins, TM
“What happened with the recent accident?”
“No one knows exactly what happened, there were no witnesses. Highway patrol came across you, it was probably only a few minutes after the accident. They said they saw the car pass them just outside the city limits and started to follow you at a distance. Somewhere along the way you must have put your foot down and they lost sight of you but continued, figuring that you were about to start speeding. Then they found you.”
He gulped hard, taking a careful peek at me as he turned the corner into a driveway, descending into a car park.
“You were off the road in the dirt. The cops said that you must have spun out and ditched it. They ran the plates and called me.”
Darkness shrouded the sad face, I couldn't see him for a brief moment until the lights of the garage lit up the sadness again.
“Worst phone call ever. I didn't even know you had left. How fucked up is that? You ran away and no one knew a damned thing.”
“Everyone gets distracted.”
Jaxon laughed, the smile wasn't a happy one. He pulled into a park and turned off the engine.
“It was your birthday party Kaylee, everyone should have noticed. The place was filled with at least a hundred people that should have had their focus on you but somehow you managed to slip away.”
“Oh.” I said softly, feeling like shit.
That sucked. I got out of the car, Jaxon had rounded it fast so that he could help me.
“Did I steal your car?”
“No. I gave you one and trust me, I've been yelled at.”
“Why?” I frowned.
He gestured to the red sports car beside us, low to the ground and very sleek.
“Got you a blue one.”
I gaped at the thought of it, such extravagance was surely unjustified. He took my hand and led me to the elevator, the doors opened as soon as he pressed the button.
“Just got to get some things and then we'll be going again.”
“Do you live here?”
He nodded as he pressed the button at the very top.
“Do I?”
His head shook slowly.
“Are you my boyfriend?”
“No but you wanted me to be.”
“So why aren't you?” I frowned. “You keep kissing me, you told me that you loved me. I don't understand.”
He leaned on the wall opposite, his eyes were on his fingers as he trailed them around the circle buttons on the panel.
“It's complicated.”
“So explain it.”
“We met when you were seventeen, it didn't seem right.”
“Did you do something to me?”
My heart thumped a little harder as I leaned against the wall. Should I fear him? It didn't feel like I should.
“No!” he gasped in shock. “God Kaylee, kissing you today was the most we've ever done. Jeez.”
His hand ran through his hair in frustration. The doors slid open as the car came to a halt, beyond the doors was a little entry way with two doors. Jaxon took my hand and led me to the doors on the left.
“I still don't understand. How isn't right if we've never done anything? How old am I now?”
I frowned. How old was I? It was my birthday so I could assume that he wouldn't buy a car for someone who couldn't at least drive it.
“Twenty-one.” he said quietly “I'll only be a few minutes, make yourself comfortable.”
He walked through the apartment, his footsteps heavy over the wood floors. Standing in the entry seemed pointless when he said to make myself comfortable. So I ventured further into his apartment, the lounge room was to the right. It seemed rather standard with the large lounge that dominated the room, a flat screen television mounted to the far wall. On the left was a dining room that contained a long glass table with a lot of chairs neatly tucked to the table. Overhead was a glittering light, the strands of glass beads in what looked like it could be in excessive a hundred, maybe two hundred.
All of the walls were the same, a soft white that was almost creamy in color. The shadowed walls were darker looking like a cream rather than a stark white. I passed yet another lounge room, this one had views of the landscape that was beyond the enormous patio area.
When I found his bedroom I stopped, wondering if I dared to step over the line. I looked down at the floor, there were no differences to be had. The flooring continued throughout. But that did not matter, what mattered was which way I stepped.
“Is the floor that interesting?”
I looked up, Jaxon was standing at the edge of his bed. He'd changed from the suit into a pair of jeans and I guess he'd forgotten to put the shirt on. God damn, it was a stunning view. His torso was tattoos on nicely honed muscles. Not overdone but just enough to show definition and look incredible. I didn't know what to say, I didn't know where to look.
“Do you not want to be my boyfriend?”
“Memory loss has certainly affected your shyness Kaylee. Yesterday you would have never asked that question.”
Jaxon grinned and I turned away. He'd avoided the question with distraction. I might have memory loss but I wasn't an idiot.
“I do.”
I turned to see him standing at the doorway, the momentary happiness had faded away, replaced with concern.
“I do Kaylee, I swear I do. But you are bruised and hurt, you've lost your memory and it's my fault. I'm in the shit with everyone because of it and it's come at the worst possible time for my job.”
“Clearly this is something that has caused an issue between us and even though I have no clue about what has happened I know that I'm not going to take any crap. Either you are or you aren't, there's no if's, buts or maybes. You decide now and stop the distraction nonsense.”
He walked over and took my hand, putting it to the new tattoo.
“Do you think that I would get this on a maybe? If you want a definitive answer then so be it.”
My heart stopped, I swear it just completely seized up and refused to do anything more as it waited for him to say it. I wanted to beg him to just spit it out, fearing that my heart may never start again.
“We'll take it slow because of this.” he gestured to my face. “But yes Kaylee, I am your boyfriend.”
As he leaned in to kiss me, he pressed me to the wall gently. My heart thumped hard, thankfully there was no issue with the stupid thing refusing to work. Now it was working overtime.
His lips traced over mine, wary of hurting me his kiss was delicate. My face was bruised, not my lips so I pulled him to me. He complied and our kiss became deeper, molding and pressing against the other. I felt his tongue trace over mine and my body became looser, folding into his arms.
The hand that had been on the new tattoo made its way to the back of his neck, feeling the soft strands of his hair. I could feel my shirt being pulled out of my jeans, his soft touch on my skin made me giggle. Jaxon grinned as the kiss ended, gently pulling on my bottom lip.
“I have a confession.” he whispered cheekily. “I know where you are ticklish.”
His fingers danced over the skin on my waist, just below the ribs. I howled with laughter, unable to move because he had me pinned to the wall.
The phone in his pocket rang, Jaxon rolled his eyes and pulled it out. It was lit up with a name, Jerry.
“Oh look, I'm in trouble again even though I said I was getting some things first.”
He pressed the green button and as he held it to his ear he walked away.
Jerry. The name was familiar. I remembered a happy man, one that always had a smile even if he was frowning. Except that I didn't see that man this morning. I saw a sad man. I saw my father. Slowly another piece fell into place as the memory continued, a woman reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. The crying woman. My mother.
But what was her name?
I thumped my head, trying to force my stupid brain to remember. I know that I called them mom and dad even though they aren't my real parents. They adopted me.
Jerry and... I had nothing.
A tear slipped out, one that I wiped away fast. I turned to the door, looking through it as I had done not so long ago. Take that step. My foot stepped out, warily I placed it into the room. There was an issue with this room yet I could not figure out what. My eyes darted to the bed and I wondered if this was the issue.
His past.
He had said that I had come between him and a recent love interest, so clearly he was a man that had been with other women. But how many? And how many men had I been with? I had no idea. I walked closer to the bed, feeling my heart thumping hard, turning to the view of the wall behind me I saw a dresser that was as high as my shoulders. Along the top was a couple of photo frames.
There was a picture of Jaxon and an older man that looked a lot like him. I'm guessing his father. There was another one of somewhere tropical, four guys around Jaxon and all of them were in board shorts. I recognized one of them, the guy that Jaxon had dragged into the hospital room this morning but the others I wasn't so sure of.
I stared at the image, these guys were important to him and likely to me too. The guy from this morning...
“Austin.” I whispered with a grin.
The next one along was Jaxon and then there was another that was roughly the same size as him. His skin was darker, his hair was black as the night with deep green eyes.
“What's your name?” I whispered again. “Evan.”
My eyes darted to the next guy, almost twice the size of Evan. He was tall and built, muscles that were firm and for some reason he reminded me of closing doors. I laughed softly as I remembered him or rather, him closing the door to an office. With a gasp the memory became more vivid, I remembered his wife.
“Fraser and Eden.”
A strong woman, a challenge to befriend but once you got there she was worth it. My fingers ran over the glass to the last man. Brown hair and green eyes, a warm personality showed in his soft smile.
“Curtis.”
I put the frame back on the dresser and looked at one that caught my interest. As I picked up the frame I realized why I held issues in coming into this room. I remembered that I had been to his apartment on a regular basis but his bedroom door was either shut or partly closed. It was almost like this room was a no go zone, an unspoken agreement that no one entered without his permission. It wasn't because he was messy or he had something offensive, it was because he had something to hide.
A picture of me.
Well, it was of the two of us. Somewhere tropical again, he was in his board shorts and beautifully shirtless and I was in a tiny bikini. Really tiny. Considering that I had two mountains on my chest the bikini could be almost considered scandalous. I had my arms wrapped around his waist as I hugged him, his arm wrapped around my shoulder and the other stretched out to take the photo.
I smiled at the photo, in it we were both really happy and I understood why he could be so reluctant to start anything with me. If it went wrong he would lose out on moments like this one. But sometimes the risk was worth it.
“Where is that Kaylee?”
I gasped and turned, Jaxon was standing behind me. His face was serious as he waited for my answer. Turning back to the image, I frowned. Somewhere... somewhere important. It was something important. I smiled as I remembered.
“Maui, your birthday last year.”
“Did you enjoy it Kaylee?”
“Yes.” I grinned. “Loved every second of it.”
I put the frame back on the dresser and turned to look at him. He was wearing a shirt now, shoes on and his bag in his hand. We were ready to go.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. They're just worried because we're taking too long. They think I'm going to do something dastardly in their absence.”
His eyes flickered with hesitation and then looked at me.
“Not until you remember everything and the bruises are gone.”
Oh yeah sure, I knew that. Except that I totally didn't and was kind of hoping. One day it might happen. Maybe.
Chapter Thirteen
Four people sat on the lounge opposite me, Jaxon was beside me. We were starting with the basics, family. Once I remembered their names we would move forward to friends. I had begged Jaxon to tell me the woman's name. It was easy to see how easily crushed she could be and I knew that something as simple as me remembering her was important. I could remember her I just couldn't remember her name. Eleanor or El as everyone calls her.
Once he said it, it was like a light bulb went on in my mind. I also remembered Nathan and Brad. Nathan frowned at me and said that I called him Nate. They weren't responding well to the fact that Jaxon was on the lounge beside me or the fact that he was holding my hand. Something was amiss here and I was curious.
“You are the contention.” Nate said with a dark, menacing tone.
I looked at Jaxon who seemed rather bewildered.
“You asked what contention number two was in the intervention, well it's you. Every time you do something, every time you parade around with some woman on your arm, we are the ones that pick up the pieces. What are you going to do now? Is this forever or are we days away from your usual boredom and casting them away without a second thought?”
El settled her hand on his knee, trying to calm Nate. There was no point, I could see the anger in his eyes. He was determined to say what he had to and then he would settle.
“Do you know what the weekend did to her? Were you there to find her drunk on the floor, laying on a smashed bottle? Were you the one to pick the glass out of her body while she cried because she didn't think that she was good enough for you? No, you were in LA, fucking some tramp who is out there telling the world how hard done by she is, who is out there bad mouthing Kaylee for no valid reason.”
“I got Kevin on it Nate. Fucks sake, we've all had crap moments.”
“I think he has raised a valid point Jaxon.” Jerry interrupted. “You average three days at best. Why is that?”
Jaxon lowered his head, the four of them waited. I waited. I wanted to know why he couldn't maintain a relationship for any length of time.
“Because they weren't her.”
And it was that simple. I didn't know how many there had been in his past but I figured that there were a few. To know that I was better than them was a little gratifying. Even the panel of four seemed a little shocked.
“Do you know how wrong it seems to watch someone grow up and know that deep down you love them? Well, it's seriously fucked up. I lose sleep over it, thinking that I'm some pervert that should be locked away. I drink to forget the pain and yeah okay, I've slept with way too many women but it's only to tell myself that my mind is lying to me.”
“You're not a pervert Jaxon.” El chided him softly. “You've never laid a finger on her, the most you've given is a hug. One that no one in this room would be embarrassed to watch. Kaylee may not have a complete memory of everything that has passed between you but I do. She would tell me everything, especially when it came to you. I do not have an issue with the way that you have conducted yourself in her presence. Even when you might have been a little too intoxicated for her to witness, you were still well behaved. I think we can all attest to the fact that you never misbehaved. Kaylee certainly complained about it enough.”
Everyone nodded. Jeez, how much did I say to these people?
“Did you know that my mother was sixteen when she married my father?”
Jaxon shook his head, even Nate and Brad were a little shocked.
“Times are different now of course and even back then she had to have her father's permission to marry. Everyone is different, everyone ages differently. Kaylee is so independent and head strong. When you brought her to the house, I thought I was looking at an adult. In fact, Jerry and I had quite a lengthy discussion about it, didn't we darling?”
Jerry nodded as he stared at us, never breaking contact to look at her.
“She carries herself in a manner that would h
ave the world believe she is at least ten years older and I think we all know why that is. A year without her parents, having that vile uncle rob her of her inheritance and then dumped into the system has created an adult in a child's body. Did you think she was a child or an adult when you found her?”
“Really young adult.” he said quietly.
El nodded supremely, her hands clasped on her lap.
“And you said that you watched her grow up but you didn't. Not really. She was already an adult when she came to us. You just watched her come out of her shell and develop into the wonderful woman that we all love. That's the past now Jaxon, she's not a child anymore, is she?”
He looked at me and I offered a smile, worrying at those pained eyes.
“You were a friend and nothing more. Now I think that I've had enough of this subject. Are we done boys?”
Jerry huffed but relented with a murmured agreement. Nate and Brad agreed but continued to stare at Jaxon.
“Great.” she clasped her hands together with delight. “I brought out the photo albums. Kaylee's going to have a look through them and tell us what she remembers, aren't you darling?”
“Sure thing mom.”
I looked through several thick books, laughing at the funny images, smiling at the happy ones. As I looked through the pictures that included Jaxon I understood why I loved him. There was always a happiness to him, an element of craziness. I laughed at the picture of his screwed up yet happy face, he was in bed under the sheets and sitting back against the head board. Evan was beside him on top of the sheets, Curtis on the other side. He was reading a book, it was a book that belonged to Austin and Curtis had it upside down. Evan was pulling a stupid face and Curtis looked like he was deep in thought as he pretended to read.
It did not make any sense to me, clearly I was missing something here. Jaxon gently coaxed me into trying to remember it, I had taken the picture. Then it hit me, the morning of Austin and Abbey's wedding. Austin was out of the picture but he was actually beside me. In his hands was Abbey's wedding present, a puppy and it was licking Jaxon's feet. I hadn't realized it at the time and I was trying to take some serious photos. Being that Abbey was a mad keen photographer I was trying to do my best even though it would never be as good as her work, so I told them to be serious. This was what I got and Abbey loved it.