Page 91 of Holly Jolly July

Jax lets the phone ring in his hand as his mouth slowly falls open, eyeing me.

“You gonna answer that, big boy?”Big boy? Gross.

Clearing his throat, Jax tears his gaze away and answers it. “Hey, I’m just a little—whoa.”

I can hear Ellie’s sultry voice on the other end of the line and catch occasional words, likemoistandbend me overandspank me. It takes everything in my power to keep from laughing, especially as Jax’s face shifts from surprised, to turned on, to concerned about me overhearing.

“Uh, sorry, this is important.” He turns and makes his way down the hall to the bedroom, shutting his door.

I get up quickly and unlock the front door, letting Ellie in as she hangs up on Jax. I point down the hall, and she books it into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Two seconds later, Jax comes out of his room looking down at his phone, confused.

“Who was that?” I feign innocence.

“Just my mom.” He shrugs, nonchalant. “She wanted to know if I was going to the store on my way over to see her tomorrow. She doesn’t drive, so I take care of a lot of things for her.”

I have no idea where truth ends and lies begin with that story, but I don’t trust a single thing he says. I force a smile to my face. “You’re such a good son. I can think of so many ways I want to reward you for your good behaviour.”

He bites his lip. “Is that so? In that case, you think of all the sexy things you want to do, I’ll be right back.” He heads down the hall to the bathroom where Ellie is hiding.

Oh, fuck, our cover is going to be blown before we even begin!Panicking, I shout, “Have a nice shit!” to warn her.

Jax pauses and turns. “I just have to pee?”

I laugh it off, trying to hide the horrified look on my face.

The second he’s in the bathroom I jump up and pace the room.Shitshitshit!He’s going to find her!Will he call the cops? Will we be locked up and have to call my parents to bail us out? I’ll lose my job, Ellie will lose her job, then we’ll have to—

The toilet flushes and Jax is back in the hall—sans washed hands, I note. I exhale a deep sigh of relief.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, uh, you just made me realize I have to pee, too.” I brush past him down the hall and into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. The room seems normal.Where the fuck is Ellie?

I glance around for a second, then pull the shower curtain back and scream in surprise at Ellie standing there like an axe murderer. She grabs me and clamps a hand over my mouth.

“Everything okay?” Jax asks through the door.

Ellie gives me a wide-eyed look, then removes her hand.

“Uh... yeah,” I say, scrambling. “Just... got my period!”

Ellie mouths,What the hell?

I shrug, mouthing back,I don’t know!

“Oh. There are some pads and tampons in the drawer next to the toilet if you need anything,” he says.

“That’s actually super considerate,” Ellie whispers.

“Thanks,” I say loudly to Jax. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

His footsteps retreat, and both my and Ellie’s shoulders slump.

“This was a bad idea,” I whisper to Ellie.

“It’s fine,” she whispers back. “Get your head in the game and help me with this.” She unzips her backpack, which is fully stocked.

“What’s all this?” I whisper. “Is this for pranks? I thought we were doing psychological warfare?”

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