I squeezed his hand one last time—hard—because I never wanted to let it go, and then I yanked my hand quickly away. Jax only looked back for a second, probably to make sure I hadn’t run off.
“This is ridiculous,” I grumbled as I followed him through the kitchen. “Isn’t there a maximum capacity in a house like they have for restaurants and elevators?”
Jax ignored me as if I’d asked a rhetorical question. We slithered through the crowd, stepping aside as three young men crashed through the back doorway.
“Shane comes around quite a bit,” he said. “But don’t worry. No one messes with her.”
“Not even you?” I ventured, following him into the backyard.
Please say that you haven’t screwed my cousin. Please, please, please.
He kept walking, turning his head only slightly. “Especially not me.”
I exhaled, trying to keep my cool and my thoughts together. Until I took a look around. The backyard was insane, and I couldn’t help gawking.
“Uh, I …” Was that a Jacuzzi? “I just came to take Shane home. Back to Tate’s, I mean.”
“I figured.”
I couldn’t see his face, but I knew he was nodding. His ponytail rose and fell on his spine. “See?” He turned and gestured through the gate. “She’s fine.”
But I barely registered my cousin sitting in a lawn chair, talking closely with another girl.
“What the hell?” I burst out, my eyes burning from not blinking.
No wonder it felt as if Tate’s house was shaking! The party next door had spilled over into her backyard.
“K.C.!” Shane smiled with eyes full of mischief as she sat cross-legged on the lawn chair. I noticed that she had a Solo cup in her hand, but to be honest, my head was elsewhere now.
The old wooden fence that had separated Jared’s and Tate’s backyards was now gone.
It had been replaced with an awesome-looking wall of aged red bricks, pierced to leave small empty spaces for looking through. Each three-foot section of the brick wall was interrupted by a brick column, a lamppost sitting on top of each one. Where you would have to hop the old dowdy wooden fence before, you could now simply walk through a solid wooden gate to venture into the next backyard. Thus making two spaces into one.
Apparently Jax was using both yards for his party tonight. How had I not noticed the new fence when I got here? And how had I not noticed the party practically on top of me when I was inside Tate’s house working? And how was Jax, who was only nineteen years old, getting all this liquor? And how the hell was he paying for all this stuff!
Shane had resumed her conversation with the girl she’d been talking to, so I let her sit tight as I followed Jax into Tate’s backyard to the array of car parts spread out on a folding table. Several men sat looking over the machinery, inspecting, taking things apart, whatever.
I shook my head, in a daze. “Jax, what the hell do you have going on here?” I asked quietly.
It wasn’t my intention to sound uptight or accusing, but I was concerned. All this took money. Lots of it.
I knew Jax was skilled and smart, especially with computers, so I’d never doubted that he’d do well for himself. I’d overheard him saying once that a person’s entire life was online. You could control it or be vulnerable to it.
And you didn’t have to know Jax well to know he liked control.
But to have all this? So young?
He picked up a tool and looked to be continuing work that he’d been in the middle of. “How do you mean?” he asked.
He was caging.
Jax had never confided in me. I’d never given him reason to think I cared, but I did know that his dad was in jail for abusing him, his mom wasn’t in the picture, and he had spent much of his life in the system. Until, that is, his half brother, Jared, had started taking an active role in his life.
Shortly after, Jared’s mom assumed custody of Jax, and they’d all been a family ever since.
But now she’d remarried, moved out of town, and from the looks of it, Jax was surviving very well on his own.
Noticing lots of people sitting close by in lawn chairs, I approached the table and spoke quietly. “This house has been renovated. You have a ton of expensive electronics in there, and you have to have close to a half million dollars’ worth of cars sitting out on the street. Who the hell are all these people?”
His brother’s parties used to boast only half as many guests. It had certainly been less impressive but a lot more comfortable than this chaos.
Jax threw down a tool, picking up a Phillips-head. “They’re my friends’ cars, not mine.”
I stood there, studying him.
He looked up and locked eyes with me, letting out an annoyed sigh. “Okay, I’ll slow down, K.C. First, a friend is someone you enjoy sharing time with. Someone you’re nice to that you trust—”
“Screw you,” I said, sneering, folding my arms over my chest again.
“She gets arrested,” a girl off to the side laughed, “and she still thinks she’s so superior.”
What the hell?
I lost my breath, hearing snickers and snorts go off around the area as everyone reacted to what she’d said.
Everyone knew?
“We got a noise complaint!”
I jumped, twisting around to see two uniformed police officers standing in the open gate.
Chatter stopped, and everyone popped their heads up, eyeing the two officers dressed in black.
I swallowed the lump in my throat and felt the sweat on my forehead. Shane and I were underage at a party with alcohol. My mother would disown me if there was another call from the police.
Or maybe they’d just shut down the party. Hmm … that’d work for me. Shane safe, and me away from trouble.
“Hey,” Jax greeted, and then turned back to his work.
I narrowed my eyes, watching his long fingers work.
“Okay, you can go back to your partying now.” One of the cops waved everyone off, chuckling at his own joke, and others followed suit, laughing and beginning their conversations again.
“Hey, man.” The same cop who had just spoken came up to the table and shook Jax’s hand. “I brought Tim by to see the Evo.” He jerked his thumb to the young-looking officer behind him.
Jax spoke lightly, gesturing with his chin. “In the garage. Go ahead.”
The cops walked out, acting oblivious of the underage drinking, the packed street that had to be a fire hazard, and the huge amount of party noise coming from the house.
I turned to Jax, completely and totally confused. “What the hell is going on?”
“A lot’s changed, Juliet.”
Yeah, no shit, I thought. Jared got a ticket or two for noise complaints for his parties. Why not Jax?
He stopped working and cocked his head, taking me in. His gaze dropped down my body, over my tight pink tank top and Tate’s shortish cutoffs. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, I tucked my hair behind my ear and then shoved my hands into my pockets, averting my eyes from his scrutinizing gaze.
But then I sucked in a breath as Jax reached over and pulled my hair back out from behind my ear.
“It was perfect before.” His voice sounded gravelly as if his mouth was dry.
He held my eyes, and I swear I felt high from his presence. I wished he wouldn’t look at me. I wished he hadn’t touched me. I wished he didn’t always knock me on my ass every time we were near each other.
Tossing down his tools, he spoke loudly. “Everyone clear out for a minute. Go get another drink.”
And I watched as all the guys dropped their toys, and others stood up from their chairs, scraping the legs against the brick-paved ground. Looking over, I saw Shane watching me as she walked out, her eyebrows raised and licking her lips to hide a smile.
What did that mean?
I turned to leave, too, but Jax caught my arm. “Stay.”
He let go and walked around, coming to stand in front of me and then leaning back on the table as he spoke.
“Do you remember when we met?” His soft voice reminded me of chocolate. “I told you that I was old enough to unravel you. Do you remember that?”