BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS (Broken, Series #2)(16)

Jaxon leads me inside the heavy, wooden front door, and before I can fully take in my surroundings, I ask for the bathroom. I need to take a second to compose myself before seeing Jace again.



JACE -

I hear Cole’s Porsche 911 pull away, and I get up to confront my brother about last night. After I left the party, I spent the remainder of the night in the barn, pounding the heavy bag my dad installed for me two summers ago. I tried to let all of my aggression loose, and was doing a good job of it until I split the leather and had to step away, somewhere around two in the morning. I’m pretty sure I can keep myself in check with Jax now.

As soon as I round the corner near the kitchen, I see a familiar set of beautiful brown eyes looking around, as if she doesn’t know which door to approach first. She’s wearing the same clothes I saw her in last night, and damn if that doesn’t make me grind my molars together in frustration.

I watch as her eyes grow wide the second she realizes it’s me standing in front of her. “Jace?” she breathes out.

“Well, I see that you didn’t forget who I am,” I reply. I know I sound like an *, but because I can’t help myself, I add, “Have fun with my brother last night?”

She frowns and rushes toward me, grabbing my biceps. “You never told me you had a twin.”

“What does that have to do with anything, Audrey?”

“Jace, I thought Jaxon was you. I didn’t realize my mistake ‘til this morning.” Her eyes fill up with tears and as they threaten to spill over, my gut clenches. She thought I was arguing with Mike last night, that I was the one kissing her while holding her legs around my waist? Shit.

Instantly, I stalk forward, backing her up against the wall and completely surrounding her with my body, not letting her escape. Lifting her chin, I look down into her eyes and seconds later, I devour her lips with mine.

She lets out a long sigh in between our lips and threads her fingers through my hair while grasping it roughly. My tongue flicks into her mouth and her tongue begins to flirt with mine. It takes me a solid minute to come back down from the high of having her mouth on mine again, and that’s when I think about why she’s here now and where she’s been all night.

“You slept with Jax?” I whisper, while firmly holding her face between my hands. She looks surprised, and when her bottom lip begins to quiver, I know what her answer is. I step away, conscious of the fact that I can’t hold her any longer, but I need to hear her reply. “Answer me,” I growl.

I shouldn’t have kissed her, because I can tell by the shock on her face she thought that I would get over that little part. Only focused on her, I just hadn’t fully comprehended it yet.

“Jace…” she whispers, “I thought I was with you.”

“Did you call out my name?” I ask tensely.

She shakes her head ‘no’ and shocks me by adding, “I didn’t call out anything.”

I step forward, lower my forehead to her shoulder, and groan. This only makes me want her more. She should have been with me. Audrey deserves for someone to make their name rip from her mouth, to drive her so absolutely insane it would be impossible for her to hold it in. What a f*cking shame.

“Please…” she whispers, begging me with her glistening eyes to let this go. But all I can see now is that my brother has been here.

“The fact that he even brought you here says that you mean something to him,” I say and try to brush her off.

“No--” she interrupts, but I stop her.

“I can’t, Audrey. I can’t be where my brother has been. That’s a line I’m not willing to cross.”