We both smiled at each other at the same time once again, and I couldn’t stop myself from pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “You were so cute,” I whispered.
“Was or still am?” Jax whispered back.
I stared at her for a long time, a mix of feelings swirling through my stomach. There was only one right answer, but speaking it out loud felt like crossing some line I shouldn’t be crossing. At least, not yet. Not before I was ready. I nodded my head, because that felt like the safe thing to do.
Jax chuckled lightly enough that only I could hear it. “It wasn’t a yes or no question.”
Her breath hit my ear and caused a chill to run down my spine. When I looked at Jax again, I couldn’t hold the words in anymore. “Now, you’re beautiful.”
Jax stared at me silently, and I watched her throat move up and down as she swallowed hard. “S-so are you.”
She didn’t sound as confident as usual, but that made her words come across even more sincerely. I could tell she really meant them. I felt it in my bones. I naturally started leaningcloser to Jax, and she did the same. Our lips were a whisper away from each other when Bobby’s booming laughter jolted us apart.
Shit. I totally forgot Jax’s parents were in the room with us.
I was in such a haze that when I tried to search for them to figure out what they had seen, it was like I was looking through a fog. When I was finally able to focus on each of them, I saw that their eyes were glued to the large screen in front of them. Jax’s dad clapped his hands together as he continued to laugh at Little Jax.
I settled back into the couch and took a deep breath.Damn, that was close.
We spent the rest of the night watching home videos, some from holidays and some of performances Jax had apparently insisted on putting on for her parents. Just shy of two hours later, Jax’s parents announced they were going to bed and instructed us to get some sleep so we were ready tohead to the slopesearly.
“Want a tour?” Jax asked as her parents headed up to their bedroom which was apparently on the third floor.
“Sure.”
Jax decided it made the most sense to start at the top and make our way down, so she first took me up to the third floor, which had her parents’ bedroom, a sitting room, two bathrooms, and a guest room. Jax told me this was the most boring floor of the house, so we didn’t spend much time there before heading to the second floor. Jax started by showing me the bathroom, guest room, and two offices, before leading me to her room.
When she opened the door, I wasn’t surprised at all by what I found. Pictures of Jax with so many different people were taped haphazardly all over her walls. One wall in particular was covered pretty much from top to bottom with pictures that appeared to start in middle school and go through college. AsI stared at the pictures, I couldn’t believe how many different people Jax knew. I obviously knew she was social, but this was a whole other level.
I turned to take in the rest of the room and found an unmade Queen-sized bed with a rainbow comforter. There were night stands on both sides of the bed and each was covered with cups, candy wrappers, and an assortment of other random things.
Across from the bed was a long dresser with a huge TV sitting on top of it. There was also a chair in the room, but I couldn’t tell anything about it because it was covered with clothes.
“I know, it’s a mess,” Jax said.
I shook my head. “I like it. It’s very you.”
Jax chuckled. “So, what you’re saying is that I’m a mess.”
I walked over to her and placed my hands on her arms.What the hell has come over me?Whatever it was, it was too late to stop it now. “What I’m saying is that you’re perfect just the way you are.”
Jax opened and closed her mouth a bunch of times like she couldn’t figure out how to respond to that. Apparently, I had finally rendered her speechless. After a few more seconds, she pointed her thumb toward the door. “Let me show you the best part of the house.”
I followed her downstairs where she very quickly showed me what she called the family room, which had another large TV, and a couch that looked like a cloud, and a room she called the den, with a desk, a sleeper sofa, and a small TV.
While we walked through another long hallway, I knew what was coming, because I could smell it. The smell of chlorine became stronger the closer we got to the large glass double doors at the end of the hallway. Inside was a pool that was the size of what you’d expect to see in someone’s backyard. The room wascompletely surrounded by glass, and when Jax hit a switch, I got a view of the pool that was even bigger outside.
“Holy shit,” I said without meaning to.
Jax smiled proudly. “Holy shit is right.” She walked over to the pool and dipped her hand in. “My parents always keep this pool fairly warm since we mostly use it in the winter.” She looked over at me with a mischievous grin. “It’s the perfect temperature for skinny dipping.”
Why was she telling me tha- oh no.Hell no.“You want me to skinny dip at your parents’ house?”
Jax smirked and shrugged. “Wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened here.”
I fought the jealousy creeping in under my skin at the thought of Jax skinny dipping with other girls in this very pool. It almost made mewantto skinny dip to try to erase some of the other memories she had. But, I couldn’t. “What if your parents wake up?”
Jax pulled her hand out of the water and shook it off. “My parentsneverwake up. Plus, their bedroom is on the third floor, and they have a mini fridge filled with water. There is absolutely no reason for them to come downstairs. Honestly, this is your best chance ofnotgetting caught while skinny dipping. I’ll even turn around. You’ll practically be by yourself.”
