Austin laughed. “What the hell kind of colors are those!”
“Wrong! Buckle up, buttercup!” I pushed the button on the controller, and more beer sloshed on the ground as Jax took a drink.
“Holy shitballs!” Jax laughed, and Austin walked over, offering him a high-five.
Suddenly, worry overtook me. Could the electrical current cause permanent damage to the handsome and amazingly sexy Jax? I looked, and his hair did appear a little fluffier, or was that my beer buzz?
I had to say it. “I think we’ve had enough with the electrical excitement here; this might kill some brain cells. I don’t think either of you can afford to lose any of those bad boys’”.
Jax crossed his eyes. “Really, we’ll be fine.”
“I’m calling it a tie. I suppose it’s odd, but therewillbe two best men in the wedding,” Liz announced.
“Well, we should probably call it a night.” Jax gave Austin a fist bump.
At the front door, Liz gave me a hug. “Hope to see you soon, Madison. Glad we got to bond over electrical voltage.”
I pointed. “It’s beenshockinglyfun!”
Jax and I climbed into his truck before he turned to me. “You know I would’ve kicked his ass, huh?”
He was so stinking adorable. “Yeah, I’m fairly certain.” I wrinkled my nose. “It’s hard to say, really.”
A belly laugh. “You’d better watch it. That kind of sass isn’t good for you.”
“I’m so scared.” I was drunk and poking the bear I should be running from.
In just five minutes, we reached the fork in the road between my dad’s house and Jax’s. My pulse raced, uncertain as to which one he would take, or which one I wanted him to take. The truck slowed for a moment, and the silence was deafening. I looked at him out of the corner of my eye as he stared straight ahead.
He took the fork to my dad’s. He was a gentleman. Disappointment pumped through one side of my heart, and gratitude through the other.
We rode in silence for a long moment before the truck slowed to a stop beside the porch. He grabbed my arm just as I was reaching for the door handle, and I turned back to him.
“This has been, uh, today has been, well?—”
“Yes.” I wanted to kiss him, but I also didn’t. The day had beena lotto even try to comprehend. “Good night, Jax.”
“Goodnight.” His sexy eyes sent little goosebumps down my arms.
I floated to the porch before turning and seeing his handsome profile from the dimly lit dashboard as he slowly drove off. Part of me wanted to run after him, rip off my shirt—and his pants—and beg him to take me right there on the dirt road. The rest of me knew it was time to attempt to put my brain—which felt like a toddler high on Pixie-Stix and Lemon Heads—to bed. Oh, what a night.
The house was chilly, so I pulled on my ginormous black sweatpants andI’ll Cut Yousweatshirt—the only thing, other than SpaghettiOs, that I loved in my crap apartment. I was wide awake and felt like I could run a marathon the way my mind was spinning.
I quietly made my way to the kitchen, where I grabbed a carrot. A dim light over the kitchen sink shined as my eyes traveled the room. It was a cozy kitchen, and I could tell great food was prepared there. A bowl of apples on the counter and a shelf displaying onions and peppers looked almost like decorations. They fit in so well with the environment.
I was still getting to know Daisy, but I knew with every fiber of my soul that her life centered around caring for my dad, Jax, and Austin. I imagined she cooked every day and actually liked to. Truth—my dad had hit the jackpot with her.
I exited the house and made my way to the one place I wanted to be.
The barn was quiet, and it was a clear night. The moonlight shone through the door, and my mind was reliving my last trip here.
Lola was in a stall in the barn, and while I didn’t know much about horses, she seemed happy to see me, though most of my attention was on the stairs that took me to the place where Jax made me feel things I didn’t know were possible.
In my memory, it’d already become a scene in a movie because I’d replayed it so many times, and there I was doing it again.
“Hey.”
I dropped my carrot.
