Before You (Before You #1)(19)
So, his eyes lazily surveyed the pool, and he defaulted to the destructive pattern that he’d abandoned months ago. Abruptly he stood up, and said, “Katie, we’re not together. We aren’t dating, and we sure as hell are never getting married, so stop making plans with me. If I’m interested in hooking up, I’ll call you. Until then, don’t bother me.”
Leaving Katie sputtering unflattering names in his wake, he strolled over to a blonde in a barely there bikini and wrapped his arm around her waist. As she gushed about how much she loved the party and his band, Jax felt Bre’s eyes burning a hole in his head. Some sick part of him enjoyed that he had her full attention, and he used it to his advantage. He ran his fingers up the leg of the woman whose name he would be hard pressed to recall, and played with the strings on her bikini. She leaned into him, pressing her chest against him, and he kissed her hard. He hated that she tasted like beer and cigarettes, but he had to get Bre out of his head. Dragging her onto his lap, he ran his hands down her sides.
When he pulled away from her, he looked around for Bre, disgusted that his first thought was of her, but she and Cam had disappeared. Katie, on the other hand, was crying and ranting to her friends by the bar. Kissing the blonde certainly didn’t make him feel any better, but at least it bought him a momentary reprieve from Katie. He knew from experience that his bad behavior would only further entrench her efforts to win him over. Unfortunately, kissing the nameless woman didn’t offer him a reprieve from his relentless thoughts of Bre.
He heard the blonde suggest that they go somewhere to get to know each other better. Fleetingly, the thought crossed his mind that it would be too much work to pretend that he was interested in her, but then so was drinking enough to forget about Bre, and he definitely needed to forget about Bre. He could lose everything he’d worked so hard to achieve if he couldn’t keep his hands off of her. Sighing, he pulled the woman by her arm and guided her into his father’s office, mildly amused by the idea of desecrating his father’s sacred workspace with a meaningless encounter.
Bre’s eyes followed Jax as he left the pool area with some woman. Sick was the only way she could describe the way she felt at the moment. Sick from drinking too much, sick that she let Jax kiss her even though it didn’t last much longer than a couple minutes, sick that Jax abandoned her without a thought the minute Katie showed up, and sick that Jax had now moved on to another woman.
“I thought Jax was dating Katie?” Bre said to Cam, the words falling off her tongue with a little more disgust than she intended.
Cam laughed. “Jax is never dating anyone. Katie thinks they have some sort of relationship. She tells people they’re going to get married once the band gets signed, but Jax doesn’t do relationships. Katie’s a nice girl, but she’s delusional if she believes she can force Jax to settle down anytime soon, especially now that the band is so close to being signed.”
“What does being signed have to do with anything?” Bre commented, her eyes trained on the door where Jax had disappeared with that woman.
“Everything. Once we hit it big, women will be hanging all over the band, even more than they already do. You can’t fault a man for succumbing to the craziness of that scene.”
“Interesting. Is this your not so subtle way of telling me that you’re going to dump me when the band gets signed so you can take advantage of readily available women?”
Cam pulled her tight to him and swung her around in a circle. “Never. You know there’s only one girl for me.”
Chapter Eight
Early the next morning, Bre rolled over, pushing Cam’s limp arm off her waist. Staring down at him, she could smell the alcohol seeping out of his pores, and she wondered what time he finally made it to bed last night. As the night progressed, Cam had morphed into a drunken mess. It was like college all over again, and she knew once Cam started he didn’t stop until he collapsed. At least he made it back to their bed rather than the floor or sofa.
After she had showered, she opened her door in search of some food. Almost immediately upon stepping out of her room, the smell of coffee assaulted her noise, and she smiled, giving thanks for small wonders.
When she found the kitchen, it was empty, but the Miele coffee machine was ready to deliver a coffee with the press of the button. When she located the coffee mugs on the top shelf of an upper cabinet out of her reach, she pressed her hands on the countertop and threw one of her legs on the cold white marble surface.
“Do you need some help with that?” Jax’s deep, sleep roughened voice startled her concentration, nearly causing her to lose her balance.
Coming up behind her, he put one hand around her waist, gently pulling her off the countertop and grabbing a mug with the other hand.
“Thanks,” she said, adjusting the hem of her t-shirt that left her stomach exposed in her attempt to reach the mugs.
Hoping Jax wasn’t going to say anything about the incident in his room, she busied herself with her coffee selection.
“So what are you doing up so early?” she asked as she watched the deep brown espresso fill her mug. If she ignored the whole incident and acted as though nothing happened, he would have no choice but to follow her lead.
Jax leaned his hip on the counter next to her, his arm resting against hers. “Well, I distinctly remember you wanted to learn to surf this morning, and since there’s absolutely no possibility that Reed will drag his butt out of bed this morning, I thought I could teach you.”