Deciding Love (13 page)

I gave an awkward laugh as I created more space between us, lest he go insane again. I didn’t want another cold, wet beer kiss - ever.

“I think maybe it’s time to call it a night,” I suggested.

He nodded. “Yeah sure. Do you still want me to drive you home?”

Crap. I’d forgotten he was supposed to drive me. Suddenly him getting drunk pissed me off. How could he be so irresponsible? Not that I couldn’t ask Colt, but if you agree to drive someone, you’d think you’d forgo alcohol.

“I don’t really think you’re in any shape to drive,” I pointed out.

“I’m fine, Chloe. I promise.”

I shook my head. “I don’t really feel comfortable letting you drive me, Jax. Nor do I think you should be driving yourself.”

He laughed. “Don’t worry,
Mom
, I’m perfectly fine.”

I took a deep breath to calm my rising anger. “I’m not trying to be your mom, Jax. I just don’t want you hurting yourself, or anyone else for that matter.”

“Why don’t we hang out for a bit then, and I’ll sober up?”

I bit my lip, thinking that was unlikely to happen. But it would give me an opportunity to find another drive, so I nodded, accepting his hand as he led us back to the others.

This was a disaster. We’d rejoined the others, only for Rannon to throw Jax another beer - which he took! Three beers later, and his speech was slurred so badly I didn’t understand half of it. I couldn’t believe he hadn’t done what he said he would. On the contrary, he had done the complete opposite and got even more drunk!

I stood watching Jax laugh along with some other guys I didn’t know, wondering how I was going to get him home safely now. I felt responsible for him since I’d been the one to invite him.

Part of me wanted to just let him figure it out on his own, since he’d been the one to drink so much. Obviously he wasn’t concerned about me or how I’d be getting home.

I sighed. As much as I was annoyed, I knew I wasn’t going to leave without making sure he made it home safely. If anything bad happened I would never forgive myself. And I just couldn’t turn my back on a friend.

Jax must have felt me watching him, because he suddenly caught my eye and headed over.

“Hey, sexy,” he said, tripping slightly on his way over.

I cringed at the endearment - if it could even be called that.

“I think I’m about ready to go home,” I told him. “I still have some assignments to do before school.”

“Ok. Let me just say goodbye to everyone and we can go.”

“I’m going to call my dad, Jax,” I said. “Is there someone you can get to drive you home?”

“What? Why? Babe, I can drive you home. I’m perfectly fine.”

“You’re not fine, you’re drunk. I’m not getting in a car with you. And I don’t think you should be driving yourself either.”

He reached out, gripping my arm. “Let’s just go to my car and talk there. I’ll prove to you I’m fine.”

“I said no, Jax. I’ll find another ride and so can you.”

“Who the hell am I going to get to drive me? You’re acting ridiculous. I’ve driven home after drinking way more than I did today, and I was fine.”

“I’ll drive you.”

My mouth dropped open as Jax’s face turned angry, his hand gripping my arm now painfully.

“Jax,” I said, pulling on his hand with mine. He didn’t seem to notice, his eyes focused on Kyle.

“Of course you’re going to show up and offer,” Jax said angrily.

Kyle shoved his hands in his pockets, looking as though Jax were nothing but some petulant child. He was as scared of Jax’s obvious anger as I was a piece of fluff. My cheeks burned with embarrassment for him.

“Jax,” I said again, more urgently.

“Seems to me like you’ve had too much to drink,” Kyle said evenly. “So either I drive you both home, and you can grab your car another time. Or I can drive Chloe home, and you can get your fucking hand off her before I throw you across this yard.”

Jax blinked, his gaze going to where he gripped my arm, my hand still trying to remove it.

He instantly let go, taking a step back. “Shit,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I didn’t realize.”

“It’s fine,” I murmured, massaging my reddened skin.

“Fine, you can drive us home,” Jax said, turning to Kyle. “But you drop me off last,” he said, pointing his finger at Kyle’s chest. Kyle simply smirked at him.

Needless to say, he didn’t listen.

14

Kyle

I threw Jax in the back seat, making Chloe sit up front. Which had seemed like a good idea at the time, until I realized how difficult it was to concentrate on driving with her thighs bared as her dress rose when she sat.

My eyes kept glancing down, my body tense with the urge to feel if her skin was as soft as it looked. Jax lasted about five minutes before he crashed. Thank God. I’d been two seconds away from knocking the asshole out after the way he’d held onto Chloe. Not to mention he’d gone and gotten drunk, and then insisted he could still drive Chloe home.

My anger started to bubble at the thought of all the things that could have happened.

“Your man can’t hold his liquor,” I said a little sharper than I’d intended. Chloe should be smarter than to pick a guy like him.

“He’s not my man,” she said immediately.

I raised my eyebrows at that. “You’ve been getting in his truck every day and invited him to this party. It sure seems like he’s your man.” Even saying those words left a sour taste in my mouth.

She shrugged, shifting uncomfortably. “We’re friends,” she said, sounding unsure. I sensed her turn her head to look at me. “I got in your car for a week and that didn’t mean you were my man.”

My breath escaped me in a whoosh. “That wasn’t the same, and you know it,” I said.

“It’s all about perception though, isn’t it?”

I didn’t know what to say to that, my mind still replaying her words,
you were my man
.

“It’s not like he’s ever asked me to be official or anything,” she said suddenly.

“Well if he’s not your man, maybe you should tell him that, because he certainly seems to think he is.”

We reverted back to silence as I pulled into Jax’s driveway. I put the car into park and sat there for a second.

“You deserve better than some guy who’s going to get wasted at a party and leave you stranded,” I said into the silence. “Or worse, put you at risk by actually getting behind the wheel like this.”

I couldn’t look at her to see her reaction. The words just hung between us and she finally spoke softly.

“I know.” Then she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “Everyone makes mistakes though,” she continued. “This doesn’t make Jax a bad guy.”

She was defending him, giving him the benefit out of the doubt. She was forgiving him even though he screwed up. For some reason it pissed me off, but I didn’t say anything.

Popping open the door, I got out, pulling the seat forward so I could drag an unconscious Jax out of my car. I grunted, straining to remove him from the small space.

“Jesus, how much did he drink?” I said, gritting my teeth as I shouldered all his weight. The fucker was completely out of it, and he weighed a ton.

Chloe had gotten out of the car too, coming around to try and help, not that she could do much. The back seat was small, and there was only room enough for me. A few more tugs finally got him out enough that I could grip him under his shoulders, lifting him so he was on his feet.

I swung one of his arms around my shoulders as Chloe did the same with the other.

“Your man needs to lose a few pounds,” I grunted.

She grimaced. “He’s really out of it,” she said. Great, now she was even concerned for him. This just kept getting better and better. Chloe was far too kind for this jackass.

We both struggled to get him to his front door. I looked over at her.

“Are you going to knock?” I sure as hell wasn’t. She didn’t look too eager either.

“This is so embarrassing,” she muttered. At that moment Jax let out a loud snore, mumbling something under his breath before dropping his head forward again.

Our eyes met and we both laughed. There was nothing better than seeing Chloe laugh.

“Do you think he’s going to remember any of this when he wakes up?” She asked once her laughter subsided.

“I hope so,” I said, grunting as I shifted him. “If I were him, I’d be feeling like an idiot for it too. He couldn’t handle hanging with the big boys.” I smirked at her as she rolled her eyes, unable to hide the grin that lifted her lips.

“Your ego knows no bounds,” she said.

I winked at her. “Damn straight.” I shifted him again. “My strength does though, so can you hurry this up? Your boyfriend weighs a lot and my back is about to give out.”

She huffed, stepping up to the door. “He’s not my boyfriend,” I heard her say under her breath.

I drove Chloe home after passing Jax off to his frazzled mom. Something told me he was going to be in shit when he finally came around. Not my problem though. All I cared about was making sure Chloe got home safe.

Pulling into her driveway a short time later, disappointment suddenly washed over me knowing I probably wouldn’t get alone time with her again for a long time - if ever. I doubted I’d be driving her home, despite Jax’s behavior today.

“Thanks for giving me a lift,” Chloe said, awarding me with a sweet smile. One hand was already on the door, as though she couldn’t wait to get away from me.

“Anytime,” I said, tampering my emotions. I didn’t want her running from me even though I knew that was exactly what she should be doing.

She nodded, looking as if she would say something else, but thinking better of it.

“I mean that, Chloe,” I called out. She bent down to look at me from outside. “If you find yourself in that kind of situation again, or anything that you need help with, you can always call me.”

I could at least do that, right? I might not be able to make her happy, but I could ensure she was always safe.

She did that thing again where I thought she’d say something, but instead just nodded her head before slamming the door shut.

I watched her walk into her house, reluctant to leave. Just as she stepped inside, she glanced over her shoulder at me with an expression I couldn’t read. Our eyes met for a moment before she shut the door.

Blowing out a deep breath, I pulled out and headed home, eager to rid myself of today’s events. I’d almost screwed up again with the incident in the kitchen.

That had been exactly why I wasn’t safe to be around her. It was hard to control my actions when all I wanted to do was touch her and be close to her when she was near. Chloe Morgan tempted me more than any other girl. I could only imagine what it would be like if I allowed myself to act on the feelings that overwhelmed me.

Watching from the sidelines would have to be enough. It was the best thing - for both of us.

Pulling up to the curb, I spotted Cat’s head over the top of the gate at the side of the house. Getting out of the car, I headed her way instead of the front door, finding her standing in the middle of the yard with her hands on her hips. Her lips were pursed as she surveyed the little garden she must have planted this afternoon.

She glanced over at me disinterestedly, before going back to whatever dilemma she was having inside that head of hers. I stood next to her, looking at the plants and thinking it actually looked pretty good. Not that I knew much when it came to gardening.

“You’re home early,” she said, almost as an afterthought, her hand now rubbing her chin in contemplation.

“Yeah, well I have work in the morning.”

She snorted. “Responsible, Kyle Briggs. Someone alert the media.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said with a chuckle. “Do you want to tell me what you’re doing?”

She sighed. “I think it needs more green,” she answered, tapping the tip of her index finger on her lip. “What do you think?”

I nodded. “It needs more green.” It was always best just to go with Cat in these matters.

She snapped her fingers. “Just what I suspected. Looks like I need to head back to the nursery.”

I looked up at the sun, now low in the sky. “Maybe you should leave it for another day,” I suggested.

Finally she looked directly at me and then up at the sky. “Maybe you’re right.”

“I usually am.”

She harrumphed. “Let’s not get carried away.” She turned and started to clean up her gardening tools as I started toward the back doors.

“How was the barbecue anyway?” She called out.

“It was...okay.”

“Jax was there.”

This sounded more like she was stating a fact than asking me. “Is there a question in there?” I said, stopping just at the doors.

“No.”

“Okay then.” My sister could be so cryptic, I felt sorry for whoever dated her.

“He posted a pic of him and Chloe online earlier.”

What was she getting at? I remained quiet. Finally she looked back at me.

“How was that for you?”

I shoved my hands in my pockets, tilting my head to the side. “It had nothing to do with me,” I answered.