Before You (Before You #1)(73)

At a loss for words, she grabbed the t-shirt she was wearing earlier, pulled it on, and watched while Jax pulled on a pair of jeans.

“Relax, Cam. Let me get dressed. I’ll be out in a minute.”

Before Jax opened the door, he grabbed her hands, holding them gently between his. Noticing for the first time that her hands were visibly shaking, she took a deep breath and smiled uncertainly at him.

“Bre, it’s going to be okay,” he whispered into her ear, and gave her a quick, hard kiss on her lips.

***

“Hey, Cam,” Jax said, running his hands through his messy hair. “What are you doing here?”

“I need your help. I can’t find Bre. She left last night, and I’ve been trying to call her all morning, but my calls go directly to voicemail,” Cam replied, dropping his keys on the entry table.

“Do you want some coffee?” Jax asked as he walked into his kitchen, trying to lead Cam away from his bedroom.

“No. I’m good. Have you talked to her?” Cam sat on a stool behind the concrete slab counter in the kitchen.

“What happened?”

“Oh man. It was ugly.” Cam leaned his forearms on the counter, bracing his head in his hands. “She found out about some of the other women, and she walked.”

“How did she find out?”

“I don’t know. I think she just put the pieces together, but that’s not the worst part. She confessed that she cheated on me, too. Can you believe it?”

Jax just shrugged, hoping Cam didn’t realize he failed to answer his question. Sometimes when Cam started talking, he didn’t listen for a response. “So why are you here?”

“I need you to call her. Maybe she’ll tell you who the other guy is. It’s killing me. I couldn’t sleep last night. I kept trying to figure it out. I’m pretty sure I know him, otherwise she wouldn’t refuse to give me a name—don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” Jax replied, filling a clear glass with water.

“At first, I thought it was her partner in the gallery, Mitchell or whatever, but I’m pretty sure he’s gay.”

“Michael.”

“What? She’s with some guy named Michael? Who the f*ck is he?” Cam yelled.

“I didn’t say she was with him. I said his name is Michael, not Mitchell, and I think Michael is an equal opportunity type.”

“How do you know this shit?” Cam replied, clearly befuddled.

“I don’t know, Cam. I listen to Bre when she talks,” Jax replied in a patronizing tone.

“Remind me. Why, exactly, did you offer to go to that boring grand opening again?”

“Because it was important to Bre.”

“Whatever. So what do you think I should do about Bre? Can you call her for me?”

“No,” Jax said, shaking his head. “I already told you I’m done with that shit. You have to do your own dirty work.”

“Please, call her and ask her to call me. Now that she’s had some think to cool down, I think she’ll listen to me. She’s got to realize that those other women didn’t mean anything to me.”

“No,” Jax responded, slamming his glass of water onto the counter. “If she wants to talk, then she’ll call you. I’m done interfering. You used your last favor with the Anna debacle last night.”

“Fine.” The silence lengthened and realizing Jax was serious, he slid off the stool and started walking toward Jax’s front door, but he froze with his hand on the doorknob. Jax saw Cam’s back tense and his knuckles whiten. Jax’s eyes flew to his bedroom, afraid that Bre had come out of his room, but the door was still closed. Then he saw Bre’s luggage stacked neatly next to the door, and he nearly groaned out loud.

“What the hell? This is Bre’s stuff. She’s here, isn’t she?” Cam’s eyes quickly scanned the inside of Jax’s loft, stopping when his saw Jax’s closed bedroom door.

“Go home, Cam,” Jax said, walking toward his bedroom, trying to cut Cam off before he reached the door to his room. He didn’t think Cam would listen, but he had to try.

“No. I guess I came to the right place to talk to Bre. I begged you to call her for me, but now that I know she’s here, I don’t need your help.”

“This isn’t the time. She’ll call you later,” Jax replied, stepping in front of his door, effectively blocking Cam from the room.

“Bre!” Cam yelled. “I know you’re here. You can come out now.”

Jax felt the door open behind him, and he spun around, only to be greeted by Bre, standing in the doorway dressed in nothing but his t-shirt, her hand on her hips.

“Jax, it’s fine. I don’t need you to run interference. I can handle this.” She pushed her disheveled hair behind her ears and stepped in front of Jax. “Cam, what do you want?”

Cam’s eyes narrowed as he looked between Bre and Jax. “I think you guys need to explain what’s going on here,” he demanded.

“Cam,” Jax interjected, bracing his hand on the wall above his head. “I don’t think this is the time to do this.”

“No. I disagree. I think this is the perfect time.” Cam focused his attention on Bre. “I’m a little confused, Bre. Can you explain why you ran to my friend’s house after we fought last night?”