Before You (Before You #1)(16)

Bre looked up and saw Jax in his swim trunks, sitting in a chair in the corner of the bedroom with a guitar in his lap, his long legs stretched out in from of him. “I should ask you the same thing. What is the host of the party doing hiding out in a bedroom alone?” Bre said, walking toward him.

“Who says I’m alone?” Jax’s lazy voice mocked.

Embarrassed, Bre froze in place, then started walking backwards toward the door. Trying to avoid acting like a na?ve dimwit, she shrugged her shoulders to give the impression that she was blithely unfazed by his comment. Of course, Jax wasn’t alone. Internally cringing, she glanced at the bed, fearing she would find Katie there, but she noticed it wasn’t disturbed. Her eyes flew back toward him, only to see his face filled with humor. She tried to think of something mundane to say. “You have a beautiful home,” she commented, and then cleared her throat. “Well, I better find Cam.”

“Yep, you probably aren’t going to find him in my bedroom, or at least I hope not.” Jax shivered in mock horror.

Bre smiled. “That would be awkward.”

Jax put his guitar on the ground and walked over to the wall next to the door, leaning against it as he studied her for a few moments in silence. “So,” he smiled. “How are things with Cam?”

“I don’t know—better, I guess.”

“Did you ask him why he was late that night?”

“No. Not exactly,” she replied, twisting her interlaced hands. “He mentioned that he had to cover for another bartender at the restaurant, but I don’t know what to believe. Even if he had to work late, that doesn’t explain why he didn’t call or text me.”

He raised his eyes as if he were amused by her comment. “So you accepted his answer and decided to pretend as if nothing happened.”

“Pretty much,” Bre said sheepishly, staring down at the floor, not wanting to meet his gaze.

Jax pushed his body away from the wall and walked toward her. “Are you enjoying the party?”

“I don’t really know anyone here, but I met some guys who promised to teach me to surf in the morning.”

Jax laughed, and she smiled at him. She loved his laugh.

“How did they talk you into that?”

“They claimed it would be just like snowboarding so there wouldn’t be a steep learning curve.”

“You snowboard?” he asked, arching one eyebrow.

“Of course, I grew up in Colorado, near Aspen no less.”

“Right, sometimes I forget you and Cam grew up together. So where’s Cam? Isn’t he supposed to be introducing you to people?”

“I left him at the bar the with Marc and Alec and went for a walk. They were a little absorbed arguing about the best way to do a sound test. When I came back from the beach, I didn’t see him by the pool.”

“So you decided to wander around my house and snoop through the rooms?”

“No, hardly,” she said, twirling the bracelet on her wrist. “I needed some space, and the door was open.” She paused, remembering that Jax said he wasn’t alone. She looked toward a door that appeared to lead to an adjoined bathroom and nodded in that direction. “I should probably go before your company comes back.”

“What company?”

Bre nervously pushed her hair behind her ears. “Remember? You said you weren’t alone.”

A lopsided grin crossed his face. “I’m not. You’re with me.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want me to introduce you to some people?”

“Honestly, I wanted a break from the party. It’s kind of overwhelming.”

“Good, so do I. Do you want to play a game?”

“What do you have in mind?” Bre said, touching a hand carved wooden box on his dresser. She noticed her fingers were noticeably trembling.

“Top Card. Have you ever played that?”

“Is that the game where you use your cards to equal the card flipped from the deck and if you can’t, you have to drink?”

“Yep. Do you want to play?”

The impish gleam in his eyes compelled her to agree. “Okay, but I don’t want to drink so much that I end up passed out in your room.”

“As intriguing as that sounds, I prefer you awake, so we’ll take it slow.”

Jax grabbed the bottle of bourbon and a glass next to his guitar, and placed them in the middle of the floor. Sitting down, he dealt each of them a stack of cards and spread out the remaining cards in a circle around the glass. Jax patted the floor across from him, signaling for her to sit. Plopping down on the floor directly across from him, she picked up her stack of cards.

Jax flipped a card over, revealing a seven of diamonds. “Do you want to play a few practice rounds or do you think you know the rules?”

“I think I’ll be fine,” Bre said, dropping a five and a two on top of the seven, leaving the two on the top.

“Good thing I have a two. What about you, do you have another?”

Bre groaned lifting the glass to her mouth and drinking it in one large gulp. She drew two additional cards from the stack. “I’m not off to a good start.” Bre picked up the bottle of bourbon and refilled the glass. “You have another two in your pile of cards or maybe two aces?”