Misbehaving (Sea Breeze #6)(11)

Finally I found my voice. “What are y’all talking about?” I asked, slamming my hand down on the table to get their attention.

Rock stared at me like I was crazy, then looked back at Jason. The question in his eyes only confused me more.

“She left the bat in my car. I took it back to her tonight. We ended up here. We haven’t really talked about much else. We haven’t even gotten as far as last names yet,” Jason explained to Rock, then glanced back at me as if he was waiting on something to click with me.

“So you didn’t know she was my cousin until the other night?” Rock asked.

“Didn’t have a clue,” Jason replied.

Rock sighed and nodded at me. “Dude, she’s not gonna take this well. You should have told her before she waltzed in here with you.”

I was done trying to read between the lines. “Who are you?” I demanded.

Jason opened his mouth, then closed it. How hard was it for him to tell me how he knew Rock?

“Meet Jason Stone, the only brother of Jax Stone, sweetheart,” Dewayne announced loudly.

“Seriously?” Rock said, glaring over at Dewayne.

“What? He was taking for-f*cking-ever to say it. The suspense was killing me,” Dewayne replied.

Me, on the other hand—I just stood there and stared at Jason. How had I not seen it? He looked so much like Jax. I had seen Jason in tabloids and on television with Jax. He’d been seen with Star at the music awards. Everyone had talked about Star moving from one Stone brother to the next. Before that, I’d seen him in some tabloids with a girl from one of Jax’s newest music videos. They had been pretty hot and heavy at a club. I couldn’t believe this.

“I should’ve recognized you,” I said.

Jason shrugged. “I’m not Jax.”

Although his tone was void of any emotion, I could see it in his eyes. He was testing me. He hadn’t told me who he was because he assumed I would treat him differently. Truth was . . . he was probably right.

My momma didn’t raise an idiot. Sure, there were a lot of things in life I didn’t know. Like algebra, for instance. I sucked at it. But men—I knew men. I had been watching my mother manipulate them for years. Jason wanted to be normal. Fine. I’d treat him like any other guy.

“No, you’re not Jax,” I replied. I glanced over at Dewayne. “Get me a beer, please.”

I didn’t miss the way Dewayne’s pierced eyebrow lifted in surprise. I never said please. At least, not to him. That had been for Jason’s sake.

“Time to dance, island boy,” I said, shooting Jason a wink and walking toward the crowd, not waiting to see if he followed me. I had no doubt he would.

Suddenly a guy stepped in front of me and grabbed my hips. It was Will Fort, Hank’s best friend. “Hey, sugar, coming to see me?” he asked. I had only used Will once to make Hank mad. Wasn’t worth it. Will had one too many screws loose.

“Keep dreaming, Fort,” I replied, taking his hands off my hips with a shove. He stumbled backward and bumped into another couple. It wasn’t that I was that strong, it was that he was already that drunk.

He just cackled with laughter. The amusement on his face made me want to slap him. “I can play rough, sugar. Hank said that’s how you like it,” Will slurred.

I opened my mouth to tell him where I was going to kick his balls when a new hand settled on my hip. Startled, I turned to see Jason glaring at Will. This hadn’t been expected, but it sure was a nice turn of events. I was surprised he even cared.

“It’s probably best you step back and leave her alone. From the look in her eyes, the rough she’s planning on sticking you with is gonna leave you crumpled on the ground.”

Will shifted his gaze to Jason, and I could see the surprise in his eyes. It was obvious Jason wasn’t one of us. I mentally cringed. I needed to get Jason away from Will before he said anything humiliating. Normally, he went for jokes about my momma.

“Let’s go,” I said to Jason, turning to face him and move him back into the crowd.

Jason went willingly, but his eyes never left Will as he backed away. I liked the protective streak, but the truth was, even drunk Will could have beat his ass. Guys like Jason didn’t have the skills to take on a guy who had grown up being beaten by his father until he was old enough to start hitting back.

“Friend of yours?” Jason finally asked when we were deep enough into the crowd that Will was no longer in sight.

“Small town. The locals all know each other,” I replied, which wasn’t exactly true. But I didn’t want to give Jason a history lesson on my life.

There was a good chance Will would alert Hank to my being here with a guy. Hank still hadn’t paid me back for bashing his truck, and I wasn’t in the mood to face him. Especially with Jason here to see it.

“This was a bad idea,” I told him. “I have a better one.”

Jason didn’t reply, but he was curious.

“Can you swim, island boy?”

A crooked grin tugged at his lips. “Yeah.”

“Good,” I replied, grabbing his hand and pulling him through the bodies until we were at the door. “I know a place a lot less crowded.”

JASON

When Jess had asked me if I could swim, I hadn’t anticipated this. I wasn’t one for breaking the law.