BEAUTIFUL BROKEN MESS (Broken, Series #2)(55)

“Um…”

“Jace, you haven’t told him?” she assumes loudly and correctly.

“No. Jax is the worst when it comes to bragging about my major. How can I tell him?”

“Jace Riley, you need to stop being so concerned about your brother and what he thinks. He loves you and will support you through anything. No matter how distracted he is at the moment.”

“That’s the other reason why I haven’t told him. He can’t stay out of Em’s mouth long enough to talk to me.”

“Talk to your brother. Stop making excuses. I love you and you’re doing a great job with school. You should know by now I’ll always support your decisions.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

She keeps me on the phone for a while longer, updating me on everything happening back home, and even trying to get me to talk about any girls I’m dating. Nice try, Mom. She eases my fears about telling Jaxon and makes me realize that it really isn’t as big a deal as I’ve been making it out to be.

When I finally disconnect, I realize that the beach party started an hour ago and I was supposed to be there with Quinn and Em. I rush to get dressed and run out the door.

I pull up in the parking lot at the same time Jax’s truck is easing into a spot near the front.

“Dude, you’re just getting here?” Jax calls when I step out of my car.

He and Cole are freshly showered from practice and looking a little beat. Coach must have run them hard today. He tends to do that at Saturday practices, because he likes to try and wear them out so they won’t go out and party later that night. It usually doesn’t work though.

“Running behind. The girls here?” I ask, as I catch up to them.

“I sure as hell hope so, since they aren’t answering their phones,” Cole adds, sounding irritated.

“Ease up, jackasses, I’m sure they’re at the party. Nobody carries a damn phone with them at these things,” I explain.

I can hear the laughter and the hoots and hollers from the party. As we cross over the sand hill, I quickly spot our group standing around three lit fire pit rings. From what I’ve heard, some of these guys are out here several nights a week, just sitting around the fire. It does create a nice atmosphere, the way they’ve built the fires up as high as they can get them in the circular, concrete rings.

“There’s Quinn,” Cole says, while walking away.

“It was nice seeing you too, man,” I say to his retreating figure.

Cole shoots me the middle finger, and Jax wraps my neck in a headlock tightly.

“Aw, does my little brother need some attention?” he whines, mocking me. He knows how irritated I get when he calls me his ‘little brother.’ A two-minute difference doesn’t count in my book.

This * loves to pull the headlock move on me, and apparently he still hasn’t learned his lesson yet. With my head restrained next to his armpit, I reach behind his back and lock his opposite arm against his chest and hold it there firmly. My feet bounce into position behind his, and then I move toward the ground, bringing his body with me. He falls to my side and I’m instantly released from his lock, which allows me to trap his legs underneath me.

He laughs and strains to kick me off of him, but I lean forward and use my forearm to hold his neck down. Eventually, he’s able to get his legs wrapped around my waist. He kicks them out, forcing me to release my hold on his neck, and then manages to get my head into an arm triangle chokehold. We continue horsing around until we’re both out of breath and slowing down significantly.