Beautiful Broken Rules (Broken, Series #1)(55)

“When did it happen?”

“When we were seventeen, he went on a business trip to Colorado and his plane had engine failure and went down. Jaxon went a little wild after that; our mom kind of let him get away with murder because she knew he was grieving. He’s gotten a lot better though. He seemed really happy when we got here, a lot happier than I’ve ever seen him. I can’t help but wonder if it had anything to do with a certain frustrating blonde though,” he laughed and nudged me.

“My parents died when I was fifteen. I can understand going wild after something like that,” I replied morosely.

He ran his hand through his hair like I’d seen Jaxon do a million times. “Shit, Em, I had no idea, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it wasn’t your fault.”

“Have you told Jax?”

I shook my head and continued to stare at the ceiling.

“You guys really need to talk more,” he replied.

“Has she been staying there?” I knew that I didn’t need to clarify whom I was talking about. It wasn’t any of my business, but I was hoping Jace could help me out.

“Em, earlier you said you had some assumptions of what would happen when you got back here, and those obviously didn’t pan out,” he said, ignoring my question. “Did you come back to make up with Jaxon?” His voice had taken on a serious tone, but his face didn’t look upset at that prospect.

I rolled over onto my stomach to hide my face in the crook of my elbow. I just wanted to forget this whole Jaxon thing ever happened. I wish that I could ignore the fact that I had developed all these feelings for him, that I had decided to let down my guard and now the door was being slammed in my face. I knew Jace wasn’t going to let it go.

“It’s okay if you did,” he said, interrupting my thoughts. “I think you need to talk to him; he really needs to hear what you have to say.”

“Like you said earlier, he’s busy,” I replied in a clipped tone.

“Call him, text him, meet up with him somewhere. Please just tell him. I don’t know why Audrey’s here, but she’s bad news, and he doesn’t need her in his life again.”

“We live right next to each other and we have classes together. I’m sure I’ll run into him at some point. In the meantime, promise me you won’t tell him I’m back? That’s if he even noticed I was gone in the first place.”

“Oh, he noticed.” He collapsed onto his back and his arms shot up in the air. “I don’t understand girls. I thought I did, but California girls are on a whole other level it seems,” he grumbled.

“I don’t think we understand ourselves either. I sure as hell don’t know what to do about myself.” I patted his chest and sat up.

“He asked about you every day.”

I nodded my head, “I figured that’s why you texted me.”

“I texted you because you’re my friend, Em, but he also needed some peace of mind.”

I patted his leg, “It’s fine, Jace.”

“Mind if I hang out over here for a little longer? I need to study and Audrey’s voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me.”

“Of course, we don’t mind. Sleep on the couch if you want to.” I didn’t like the idea of Jaxon having the whole apartment alone with her, but I couldn’t throw Jace to the wolves.

“Sweet, thanks, Em,” he smiled.



Chapter Ten

Dropping a Bombshell

Somehow I managed to avoid Jaxon for three more days. I didn’t know if I just knew how to evade well, or if he was just busy with Audrey; I hoped it was the first one. I showed up late to our classes and managed to snag a seat in the back. I always had my bag packed and ready to leave before the class was over so I could sneak out without him seeing me. I had no idea if he knew I was back or not. Jace never told me if he asked.