There’s no way to express how much I wish I could.“I think it’s for the best if Olivia doesn’t get home to find us in bed together.”
Jax sighed dejectedly. “I guess you’re right.” After a few seconds, she perked up slightly. “At least, next weekend, we’ll be in Vegas and have a hotel roomall to ourselves.And you know what they say—what happens there, stays there.”
I ran a finger over Jax’s cheek. “I can’t wait to see what we get up to.”
Chapter 23
I sat on our hotel room bed and looked over the website of the music festival Jax and I would be attending for the next two days. The music festival ran from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. both days, which Jax tried to convince me was conservative for this type of thing. To me, that sounded like cruel and unusual punishment for a crime I hadn’t committed.
The festival was called “CryoRave: The Eternal Drop” and even though it was taking place indoors in a city where it never snowed, there was apparently fake snow that fell from the ceiling the whole time. According to Jax, they also kept the temperature very low to try to make it feel more wintery, but it still ended up hot from all of the bodies.
I was glad I had decided to take Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off of work, so I’d have some time to recover from this insanity. The four days I worked back at the office after the holiday break were by far my hardest ones yet. The company was doubling down on its goals for the new year, which meant I had to work extra hard to find ways for us to reach those goals, and right now, I felt like I was failing.
I clicked on one of the videos on the website and couldn’t believe all of the people crammed into a small space, dancing as if their lives depended on it. “How do people last through the whole weekend?”
Jax leaned closer to me to watch the video. “Honestly… for most people, drugs.”
“Oh.” I don’t know why this surprised me, given what I had heard about music festivals, but it made me irrationally anxious. “Are… you planning on doing drugs?”
Jax laughed. “Have you met me? My nervous system is like a built-in drug. I have more energy than I know what to dowith. I did bring weed gummies in case you wanted to partake, but I’m also okay with just having a few drinks if that’s what you prefer.”
I figured being high when I’m surrounded by a much bigger crowd than I’m used to would have a much different effect on me than it did on most people. I had to imagine it would only make my anxiety worse. Still, I didn’t want Jax to think I was boring when I had worked so hard to convince her otherwise. “Maybe. Can I think about it?”
“Carter.” Jax grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “I can tell you don’t want to, so please forget I even mentioned it. And could you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
Jax’s stare was somehow even more intense than usual. “Don’t ever do something just because you think it’s what I want. All I want is for you to be happy.”
“You make me happy.” My mouth went dry as the words slipped out. This was the closest I had ever come to a confession of my feelings.
“Good, because I feel the exact same way.”
A few minutes later, we slipped under the covers, fully clothed, and I quickly fell into the most restful sleep of my life.
***
It was a good thing I slept well, because the next day was the complete opposite of restful. I spent most of the morning contemplating how warm I should dress given the description Jax gave me, but when she came out of the bathroom wearing her outfit—which was essentially just a neon underwear and bra—I had to start all over.
Luckily, I had brought two bodycon dresses “in case of emergency.” It turned out not realizing how little clothes people wear to a music festival was, indeed, an emergency.
Jax of course told me I looked incredible even though she looked like sex in human form. I wasn’t the only one who noticed either. Ever since getting to the festival, she had been turning the heads of both men and women.
It was approximately two hours into the festival when I first checked my phone to see if it was over yet. It became more bearable when Jax and I each took two shots and shared two very strong mixed drinks. It becameenjoyablewhen Jax dragged me up by the stage, stood in front of me, and danced against me. I moved my hands to her hips and swayed to the music with her.
Who needed drugs? I couldn’t be higher than I was at this moment. Time passed by in a blur as I held the girl of my dreams close to me. This might not have been my scene, but I’d belong anywhere as long as I was with Jax.
“I need one of you to come up on stage!” the current DJ, whose name I didn’t know, screamed.
I’m not sure what came over me, but I started to jump up and down and scream.
“You!” The DJ pointed right at me. “Get up here.”
Jax and I turned toward each other, grabbed each other’s hands, and jumped up and down screaming. A few seconds later, a security guard walked over and directed me to a part of the barrier that he then opened for me to go through. Once I was through, he walked beside me to show me how to get onto the stage.
When I got onto the stage, the DJ immediately met me in the middle.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
