Page 163 of Stick It
I’d been surprised to see him on the other side of my door last night. He claimed he was just checking on me. Making sure I had everything for the night, but even after I confirmed I was fine, he lingered, like he couldn’t bring himself to walk away.
So I invited him inside.
I thought we’d maybe watch TV for a bit, then I’d pass out and he’d leave, but we ended up talking for hours—about nothing and everything. He didn’t make a move or try to touch me, but he made an effort to get to know me, to connect. I learned more about the enigma that is Ethan Maddox in one night than I have in several months of living together. He’s so reserved, keeping to himself, that it can make it difficult to get to know him. Truthfully, all of the guys are a little like that. Jax would be the most forthcoming.
In the predawn hours, we must have passed out from exhaustion. I don’t even remember climbing beneath the covers. I hadn’t intended for Ethan to spend the night sleeping beside me, but then again, I hadn’t intended to nearly mount Finn yesterday or get hot and heavy with Griffin and Jax on the dance floor like some kind of reckless exhibitionist.
My brain might still be guarded, but my body’s clearly staging a rebellion.
It’s just…when they touch me, I melt. When they look at me like that, I lean in. Every time I tell myself to hold the line, I find myself caving anyway.
And then there are the letters.
For weeks, I’ve been wondering who’s been sending them.Leaving folded words of color and quiet devotion tucked inside my locker or slipped into my notebook. I thought maybe Ethan. Jax, even. But never Finn. He was last on my list of potentials.
He’s the one who’s pushed me away the most. Who’s been hot and cold like it’s a sport. And yet I saw the resignation on his face when Kyle outed him yesterday.
All of them came from him.
Every note that has made me smile after a long practice or preen after we’ve won a game, that has picked me up when I’ve had a crappy day…every single one came from Finn.
From the boy who fought tooth and nail to keep me at arm’s length. To push me away at every turn.
Kyle claims he’s incapable of sticking to one girl, but those notes, the things he said to me in the hotel room yesterday, they paint a picture of a very different man from the one Kyle claims to know.
Maybe Kyle never knew Finn at all.
TherealFinn.
The one who’s been trying to protect me in his own maddening, roundabout way.
Another knock on my door, this one more persistent, jolts me out of my thoughts, and I scramble out of bed, careful not to wake Ethan. Creeping across the carpet in my bare feet, I crack the door.
Jax is right there, arm resting above the doorframe, pools of brown instantly pulling me in. His gaze rakes over me, a crooked smile lifting his lips. I immediately lift a hand to try and flatten my obvious bedhead.
“How can you look so…alive this early in the morning?” I grumble, glaring at him.
He chuckles. “I know it’s early, but I wanna take you somewhere before the bus leaves.”
My eyebrows hitch. “Where?”
“It’s a surprise,” is all he says, still smiling.
My eyes narrow on him, but he simply shoos me away to get changed. Closing the door on him, I hurry to grab my clothes and change quickly in the bathroom, before slipping back out of the room and leaving Ethan asleep in my bed.
“Musical beds?” Jax muses, noticing me silently closing the door behind me before we take off down the hall.
“Mm?” I’m still only half awake. I couldn’t have gotten more than a handful of hours’ sleep last night, and I’m already hoping I can conk out on the bus on the way home.
“Griffin keep you up all night?” There’s a velvety undertone to his words, and I wonder if he’s remembering our tryst on the dance floor. “Now I’m regretting being a gentleman and not joining you, but I wanted to show you what I have planned for today before we go any further.” Slipping his hand into mine, he says softly, “I’m hoping today helps show you how serious I am. That I want you in my life, as a part of my future.”
My eyes widen, but I can’t deny my hand feels perfect in his. I love how easy it is to be around Jax. He’s closed off to most of the world, but he’s never really been that way with me. Not since that night we first played video games together. He dropped a wall that night, and it hasn’t been erected around me since.
“It was Ethan, actually, in my bed last night.”
His eyebrows shoot up. “Seriously? I assumed he’d slept in Griffin and Finn’s room to keep an eye on Finn.”
I shrug, stepping into the elevator. He follows, pushing the button for the ground floor. “He just crashed. We talked.”
