Page 109 of Reputation
“Yeah, as I was leaving yesterday, I saw you guys making out by your car.Well done, man.She’s so hot,” he said, clapping Jax on the back.
Turning away from the group, his feet propelled him toward the elevators, instinct taking over.This wasn’t good.He had to get to Eavie before she found out—before anyone else found out.Jax needed to explain that he hadn’t said anything.He could only imagine what she’d think if she believed he had betrayed her like that.He hoped she knew him well enough to trust he wouldn’t do that, especially after everything they had shared.
He only made it two steps before Brooks blocked his path.“Where are you going?The meeting is about to start, and you’ll be benched if you’re late.”
Jax stopped in his tracks, his mouth opening to say he didn’t give a fuck about being benched.Eavie was a hundred times more important, but he snapped it shut when he considered that the media would latch on to the news of him missing a game.With all the negative press he was getting, he had no doubt they would turn it into something dramatic.If they caught wind that he’d been dating someone from the Royals organization, he could only imagine the things they would say.They would shred her reputation apart.
Torn, Jax only had two choices.Blow off the meeting to find her, get benched and risk the media shitstorm, or go to the meeting and know his only chance at being able to hold on to her would be shattered.
Ultimately, it wasn’t a choice.The aftermath of a media frenzy would be far worse than not going to her.He still had a small hope of being able to explain what had happened and how he had chosen to protect her over finding her right now.Pathetically, he held out hope she would listen.
Reluctantly, Jax followed Brooks through the door and into the auditorium, sitting heavy and defeated in his chair.Staring at the clock, he hoped the meeting would be quick.He could spend his short break before flexibility hunting her down.
Just as they were about to start, the door at the top of the stairs opened.Jason and Sam entered, walking down the steps toward their usual seats.Behind them, Mandy held the door open, pausing as she looked at someone on the other side.Jax’s heart began to hammer in his chest.Finally, after five beats of his erratic pulse, Eavie—his gorgeous, perfect Cinderella—stepped through the door, Mandy by her side.
Her eyes were down, but he could see her jaw was clamped in anger.Mandy flicked her eyes over to him, and what he saw made his heart sink.
He leaned forward as Eavie passed by him.When she was only a foot away, he whispered, “Eavie” as softly as he could, hoping to soothe the tightness he saw in her posture.He needed her to know that he was coming to find her, that everything would be okay.
Her gaze shot to him when he called to her, and the shards of ice that shot from her pure blue irises buried themselves straight in his heart.
He closed his eyes as the pain laced through his chest.With that one look, he knew it was over.
Chapter Thirty Seven
Eavie
When she left the office that evening, she felt both relieved and emotionally exhausted at the same time.A part of her wished Jax had managed to find her and provide an explanation as to how their perfect bubble had been popped.But her strong, independent side knew it didn’t matter.Eavie wasn’t going to wait around for Prince Charming to save her.She would pick herself up, build up the walls of ice around her heart and carry on—after a good cry and a tub of ice cream, of course.She would give herself one night to bawl her eyes out before mending her cracked heart and moving on.
She walked through her apartment door with heavy steps and into the living room.There, her pile of clothes from last night caught her eye, and another wave of fury swept through her.
Grabbing the clothes, she marched down the hallway and opened the closet containing her washing machine.Tossing the clothes into the drum, she continued to her bedroom.She was greeted by his scent lingering on her bed sheets as she walked through the threshold.Stomping over to it, she ripped them off, removing the duvet cover and pillowcases.She gathered the items in a ball and carried them to the washer and tossed them in, too, determined to remove any traces of him, or them.Closing the door with more force than was necessary, Eavie started the machine, turning the temperature to hot and adding extra soap.
She stood there, watching the machine fill with water as it washed away the memories Eavie wished she could wash from her mind but knew she never would.
Just as it started its first spin, a knock echoed on her door.At the sound, her heart fluttered from hope that it was Jax and hope that it wasn’t.
Making her way to it, she looked through the peephole.Standing on the other side was Joyce.Breathing a sigh, Eavie opened the door to her best friend standing on her doorstep with a white plastic bag in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other.
“I brought supplies,” she said, holding up the wine.“I came as soon as I got your message.”
Joyce looked at her with so much sympathy that the gates inside her burst open.Standing in her doorway, Eavie broke down in tears.
An hour later, red-eyed and exhausted, Eavie sat on her couch covered in a blanket, a pint of Cherry Garcia ice cream on her lap.Joyce sat opposite, holding another pint of cookie dough.
Eavie had just finished telling Joyce everything that had happened, from the week of mind-blowing sex to the gift he’d left to the news that everyone knew smacking her in the face.Joyce sat there, eyes wide, mouth hanging open.
“What did Jax say?”Joyce asked when Eavie had finished.
“Nothing,” she answered.“I haven’t seen him.”
“What?He didn’t come talk to you?”Based on the look on Joyce’s face, this seemed like the worst transgression of all.
She remembered the way he’d whispered to her, as if he was trying to get a scared animal to trust him.She had been so livid that the look she shot him had him pulling back.
“No.I mean, if he tried, I didn’t see him,” Eavie answered, tucking her chin to her chest.After a moment, she looked back at her friend.“Joyce, how did this happen?”
“How did you end up sleeping with him?I mean, I feel like the answer is obvious, babe.He’s hot, and you guys had some major chemistry going on,” she replied, fanning herself with her hand.
