Nova 05 Ruin Me (5 page)

“Hey, Nelli Bellie full of Jelly.” I make up a nickname to use back. It’s a game we play sometimes—see who can come up with the best rhyming names. “Just a quick note. She might try to convince you it’s okay, but do not, under any circumstances, let a rooster into this house.”

“Yes ma’am.” Nelli salutes me. “Now stop worrying and get going before you’re late to class.” She focuses back on my mother. “What do you think? Tea or the book first?” Her voice is gentle and my mother warms to it.

Nelli’s gentleness makes it easy to leave the house without me feeling as though I’m abandoning my mother.

“Clara, wait!” my mother calls out.

I turn around. “Yeah?”

She motions for me to come over. “I need to talk to you.”

I walk over. “What’s up?”

She gestures for me to lean closer then whispers, “Don’t forget to scatter your father’s ashes. We’re running out of time.” She presses a small piece of paper into my palm.

I look down at what she gave me—a photo of lofty, snow-covered mountains pointing toward a crystal blue sky.

“Who took this picture, Mom?” I smooth my thumb along the creased photo.
So this is where my father wants to be laid to rest. It’s pretty.

She simply smiles at me. “It’s pretty, isn’t it? Your father sure loved it there. And, if you don’t get his ashes there soon, it’ll be too late.”

“Too late for what?”

“For him to get his peace.”

I tuck the photo into the back pocket of my jeans then turn to Nelli. “Make sure she takes her pills this afternoon,” I tell her. “She’s been spitting them out a lot lately, at least when I give them to her.”

“Would you stop worrying and get going?” Nelli flicks her wrists, shooing me toward the door. “I’ve been taking care of your mother long enough to know the routine.”

I hitch the handle of my bag over my shoulder. “Sorry. The rooster thing must have stressed me out or something.”

I wave goodbye to the both of them, crack the front door open, and stick my head out. After I check for the rooster in the poorly lit hallway, I step out and cautiously walk past the numbered doors, heading toward the exit. When I make it outside without crossing paths with the crazy bird, I breathe in relief.

The sun blares down on me as I start up the sidewalk and veer toward the bus stop on the corner of the street. But I slam to a halt when a Jeep Wrangler pulls up to the curb in front of the complex. I try not to grin as Jax Hensley leans over and opens the passenger door. Grinning will only make this thing between us more complicated, make our arrangement mean more than it is. And the last thing I need in my life is another side-blinding complication.

Jax is a year and a half younger than me, although you would never guess it. Not only is he extremely responsible—one of the things that drew me to him—but he looks older too. With brown hair, hazel eyes surrounded by dark eyelashes, and full lips that I always find myself biting whenever we’re making out, he drips adorable sexiness.

“What are you doing here?” I approach the vehicle but don’t get in. I haven’t heard from him since the night he got a call from his mom. He’d sent me a text, telling me stuff went okay. He was pretty vague, but I didn’t have time to analyze it since I worked the nightshift on Saturday. “I thought we only met up on Fridays.”

“I know, but I want to pick up some stuff from the store and knew it was your last class today, so I thought, what the hell. I might as well pick her up.” He dazzles me with a charming grin, the same grin that got me into this whole mess to begin with.

The day I met him, I was a hot mess—late for class, wearing my scrubs with no makeup on. I smelled like someone who hadn’t taken a shower in four days and looked like I was riding on only three hours of sleep, which was exactly what had happened.

As I was sprinting to make it to class on time, I’d sprinted around the corner of the building and slammed into Jax. My books flew everywhere, and I just about started to cry due to exhaustion.

I clumsily bent over to grab my books and he crouched down to help me.

“Hey, I know you, right?” he asked as he handed me my Chemistry book.

I glanced up to a pair of hazel eyes studying me so intensely that I wanted to hunker down and hide.

“I don’t think so.” I grabbed the book from him and hurried down the hallway to class.

He followed me.

“What are you doing?” I hugged the book to my chest as I rushed passed people with him striding along right beside me.

“Going to class.” He seemed amused and not at all bothered by my attire. In fact, I caught him checking me out once or twice. “That is what people generally do at college.”

I stopped in front of the door of my English class, and he halted with me.

“But you’re not in this class,” I pointed out.

“Aren’t I?” he quipped. “Funny, I thought I was.”

When I gaped at him, he laughed, this full belly, crinkling-around-the-corner-of-the eyes laugh. It was probably the most beautiful sound I’d heard in a long time. Such freedom to his laughter and I envied him because of it.

“I usually sit in the back, so you probably haven’t noticed me.” He stuck out his hand. “I’m Jax Hensley.”

I shook his offered hand. “Clara McKiney.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Clara McKiney.” He gave my outfit a once over. “Cute scrubs, by the way.” His lips twitched with amusement then he swung around me and walked into class.

It seemed like I should have been insulted—scrubs aren’t cute and I looked like crap—but for some reason, I felt flattered enough to smile. After that, I started noticing Jax a lot. We quickly became friends and stayed that way for about six months.

We were tipsy the first time we fooled around, but not enough to blame what happened on the alcohol. I told myself the next morning it was a one-time thing, but then the next weekend came. We were at a party, laughing and drinking. Then we were suddenly sneaking back to one of the bedrooms and ripping off each other’s clothes. The third time happened in the backseat of his Jeep, parked out in the parking lot of my apartment. I’d realized that night that, if this thing between Jax and I was going to keep occurring, it had to be a strict friends with benefits type of arrangement because I don’t have time for a relationship. Plus, my life’s too complicated. He’d agreed to my terms, and thus began Friday nights filled with sweaty, hot sex.

“Car rides to class aren’t supposed to be part of the arrangement,” I say, but scamper into the passenger seat when I hear a piercing crow from nearby.

“Why? I used to give you rides all the time before,” he reminds me as I close the door.

“I know. Sorry I’m being a pain in the ass again. I just had an… interesting morning.” I toss my bag into the backseat, buckle up, and discreetly check him out. Today he’s wearing a fitted black shirt that shows off his lean muscles I crave to touch.

“You know, we could make our weekend start now,” he says when he notices me admiring him. “I could pick you up after class and we could go back to my place.”

I turn my head toward the window to hide the first grin that’s graced my lips since Friday. “Can’t. I already have a hot date today.”

“You’re such a liar.” His tone is playful, but also carries an edge.

Deciding not to toy with him this morning, I meet his gaze again. “Alright, I’ll play nice today, but you owe me.”

His smile conveys all kinds of naughtiness. “Oh, I plan to pay you back in full.”

My skin tingles with excitement at the things he’ll do to me, things he’s done to me, the way I’ve let him touch me.

I’ve only been with one other guy before, and that was in high school, so hooking up with Jax has been a very new, interesting experience for me. One that I’m enjoying and want to keep enjoying. As long as we follow the rules, things should work out fine.

“You’re blushing, Clara,” he teases, brushing his finger across my cheekbone.

“I’m not blushing,” I lie then roll down the window, letting in the humid May air. “It’s just hot in here.”

“Whatever you say.” His lips quirk.

I roll my eyes, but then flinch when I hear the cry of a deranged rooster.

“Is that…” Jax peers over his shoulder out the back window. “Do I hear a rooster?”

I sigh. “Yeah, I think our neighbor has one.”

He turns his head back to me with his brow arched. “Here?” He skims the two-story, indoor complex with zero lawn space. “Really?”

“Yeah, remember my crazy neighbor I told you about? The one who keeps a log of the visitors that come through the apartment?”

He nods. “What? Is he keeping chickens now?”

“Roosters.” I cup my hand around my ear. “Chickens don’t make that God awful noise.” I lower my hand to my lap. “And not only does he keep roosters, but he also kicks them out because they watch him sleep, and then my mother takes pity on them and brings home.”

“Your mother let a rooster into your place?” he asks.

I instantly realize how crazy that must sound, since Jax doesn’t know about my mother’s condition.

“She’s one of those people who loves animals.” Which is kind of true. Before the accident we had two cats, a dog, and one very obnoxious bird that repeatedly chirped, ‘I’m so sexy.’

Jax balls a fist over his mouth, his shoulders shaking as he fights to restrain his laughter.

“You can laugh. Now that it’s all over, it’s pretty funny. Although, if you’d asked me ten minutes ago when the crazy bird was in my room, and I’d have told you it was possessed.” I tap my finger against my lip. “Hmmm… Maybe Mr. Garlifed was on to something. Maybe it was watching him in his sleep. Those beady eyes did look a bit shifty.”

“Or maybe he’s into voodoo,” he jokes along with me. One of the things that drew me to Jax is his ability to not only tolerate my odd sense of humor but he can make jokes with me too.

My lips part in mock shock. “Oh, my God. I think you might be onto something. This entire time, all the logging he’s been doing was actually to keep track of all the people he put curses on with his pet chickens.”

“Roosters.” He cranks the wheel and pulls the Jeep forward onto the road while giving me a wink. “Jesus Clara, get it right.”

“I’m so sorry.” I melodramatically press my hand to my chest, glad I didn’t fight the ride. Like always, whenever I’m around Jax, I feel way more like my old self. The Clara who freely bounced through life, made jokes whenever she could, and didn’t have to worry about the bills piling up on the kitchen counter. “But, to be fair, you did kind of make the incorrect reference first.”

“I blame that on my nephew.” He steers the car up the main street lined with quaint stores that sell items like beachwear, seashell wind chimes, and homemade baskets. “He’s always confusing animals.”

“How is Mason doing?” I prop my boots up on the dash and relax back in the seat.

“He’s doing well. Getting bigger and smarter by the day,” he says as he turns toward a small drive-thru coffee shop located about a mile from the college. “You should come over sometime and see him.”

“Maybe one day.” I force a stiff smile, feeling like an asshole for lying. The truth is, I’ll never go over to Jax’s house. He lives with his sister and nephew and going there means meeting his family. And meeting his family feels way too personal for friends who mess around on the weekends.

Jax knows me too well and sighs, reading through my bullshit. “So, do you work tonight?” he asks as he pulls up to the order menu.

“Not until Wednesday.” I lean over the console to scan the list of beverages. This close to him, I catch a whiff of his cologne and a hint of cigarette smoke. “I thought you quit smoking.”

“I did, but I messed up this morning.”

“Why?”

He shrugs. “Just one of those days.”

I’m about to press for more, worried something might be wrong, but he speaks first.

“I don’t know why you look at the menu,” he teases. “You always get the same thing.”