Apparently not.
Reluctantly, I opened my eyes, only to feel the need to shield them with my hand. From what I could guess, those idiots were shining a flashlight – a very bright flashlight – straight at me.
I hollered out, "Will you shut that thing off?"
They didn't.
Instead, Jaden called back, "What are you doing?"
I couldhearhim, but I couldn’tseehim. Cripes, I couldn’t see anything through the glaring light. I yelled back, "I'm not doing anything."Damn it.The stupid flashlight wasstillon. "Didn't you hear me?"
"Hell, everyone heard you," he said.
Terrific.And no doubt, everyone could alsoseeme, thanks to the Spotlight of Shame.
I stumbled to my feet and glared up at him. Or rather, I tried to. But it was hard to glare while that light was roasting my eyeballs alive.
With a muttered curse, I crouched down and yanked my shoes out of the sand. Without bothering to put them on, I began stalking away from the light, planning to head back the way I'd come. But there was no escape. As I moved toward the side of the house, the light moved with me until, at last, the house itself was between me and Freddie Flashlight.
I welcomed the darkness, just like I welcomed a surge of hatred for both brothers. Obviously, Jaden was manning the light. But what was Jax doing?
Was he watching silently from above, like this was some sort of show for his amusement?
No. He wasn't.
I knew this, because a moment later, while stalking through the shadows, I ran straight into him, literally, and almost lost my footing. In fact, the only reason Ididn'ttopple over was because his arms closed tight around me, pulling me close, even as he said, "Hey, are you alright?"
I gave a bark of laughter. "Oh, sure, I'm perfect. How are you?"
His voice was very quiet. "You're cold."
"No," I snapped. "I'm not. I'm roasting alive. Can't you tell?"
Yes, I realized I was being incredibly rude, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Tonight had been one of the worst nights of my life, and I saw no reason to pretend otherwise.
Pathetically, it wasn't even because tonight had delivered more bad stuff than I could handle. Rather, it was because thebestparts of the night had been so very wonderful, which perversely, only made the awful parts seem ten times worse.
I yanked myself out of his grasp and demanded, "Where's my phone?"
His voice was low and soothing. "In the house. If you need it, just say the word."
"Fine," I snapped. "I'm saying it. And I need my wallet, too."
As my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I could see Jax more clearly now. He was still wearing the tux, but it looked slightly rumpled, like he'd slept in it or something. And yet, he still looked incredibly sexy.
The bastard.
He eyed me with obvious concern. "What happened?"
You left. That's what happened.I made a scoffing sound. "As if you don't know."
"Idon'tknow," he said. "Why'd you leave?"
Now, that was a lovely question. In fact, it wassolovely that I tossed it right back at him. "I dunno. Why'dyouleave?"
"Because I had to."
"Fine. Whatever. Just get me my stuff, alright?" I crossed my arms. "I'll wait here."
