Chapter 3

Vanessa's POV

Brielle didn't say anything at first. She just stood by the door, her arms loosely crossed over her chest as she stared at me.

"So," she said, her voice dropping into a quiet, almost casual tone. "Exactly what the hell is going on between you and my boyfriend?"

I swallowed hard, gripping the edges of the wooden bench I was on. "Nothing," I muttered, trying my absolute best to keep my voice steady. "I lost my footing on the trail and slipped down the dirt ledge, and Jax just happened to hear me screaming and dragged me up. That’s it. It was just an accident."

Brielle tilted her head, her eyes scanning me for a minute before rolling her eyes and throwing her hair backward. She looked at me mockingly.

"An accident," she repeated, stepping a little closer until she was standing right over me. "Right. Because every time a girl slips in the woods, Jax carries her into a dark, private shed, locks the door, and starts blowing on her bare skin. Is that a normal thing for you, Vanessa?"

My face burned with embarrassment as she repeated what happened. "I told you, I couldn't walk. He was just trying to help—"

"I know exactly what he was doing," she interrupted. "Jax has a big heart. He looks at someone like you—someone clumsy, someone who clearly doesn’t know how to carry themselves—and his immediate instinct is to play the hero. He does it for stray dogs, too."

"What? You don’t get to talk to me like—"

"Yes, I do. And let's just be completely real for a second," Brielle continued, leaning down just an inch closer so only I could hear her. "Jax has a massive professional hockey career waiting for him the second we graduate. His entire life is already planned out, and it requires a very specific kind of partner. So I'm gonna warn you early, little bitch. Stop acting on purpose to attract my man. Whatever little crush you're harboring? Swallow it. Because you’re only going to embarrass yourself."

Before I could even process the sting of her words or reply, the door of the little house banged open. Jax and Leo burst inside, completely out of breath and carrying a plastic first-aid kit.

"V! Oh my God," Leo breathed, dropping to his knees right in front of me. His face was completely pale, covered in a sheen of sweat. "Are you okay? What the hell happened out there?"

"She’s in shock, Leo. Let's just get her back up to the house first," Jax said while Brielle stepped back a bit to give them space.

Without waiting for a response, Jax leaned down and easily scooped me back up into his arms again. I tapped him a bit to get down. "I can walk on my own, Jax. It was just a little fall. I'm fine."

He didn’t respond. Leo carried my phone and other stuff while Jax turned around, looking over his shoulder. Brielle was still standing there, looking all red with anger.

The walk back to the beach house was completely miserable, especially when you're in Jax's arms.

When we got there, everyone just looked at me in concern, and the loud music had been turned off while Jax carried me up the steps. Did they… I thought. I hope they didn't cut the beach party because of me, because why were speakers being packed into the team van?

I could feel every single pair of eyes on my dirty, scratched-up body, and I wanted nothing more than to just disappear into the ground.

Jax carried me straight up the stairs, into my bedroom, and gently set me down on the edge of the unmade bed. Addison immediately rushed in right behind us with a bowl of warm water and some clean towels, panicking.

"I've got her," Leo told Jax and Addison, his tone sounding too quiet, like how he always sounds when he's mad. "Everyone else can go back downstairs. Let me talk to my sister alone."

Jax lingered by the doorframe for a fraction of a second, his grey eyes locked on mine with a worried look, before Brielle, who I didn't notice had followed us all the way up here, gently touched his elbow and pulled him away into the hallway.

Addison gave my shoulder a quick, supportive squeeze and followed them out, closing the door quietly behind her.

The second the door clicked shut, everything in the villa room felt so unbearable and quiet.

"I promise, Leo, I was just walk—"

"It’s okay, V." Leo let out a loud, frustrated breath and sat down on a chair in front of me, grabbing a wet towel to start wiping the dirt off my shins.

"What the hell were you thinking, Vanessa?" he finally snapped, his voice rising. "Walking off into the pitch black by yourself past midnight? Are you completely out of your mind?"

"I just needed some air, Leo! Why are you screaming at me?" I snapped back, a fresh wave of angry tears hitting my eyes. "It was just a stupid accident. I didn't know the dirt path ended there!"

Fuck, I just knew he was going to be overprotective even over a little thing like this.

"That's exactly the point! You never know, because you never look where you're going!" Leo threw the dirty towel back into the bowl, the water splashing over the sides and soaking the rug. He stood up, his face bright red. "You just get upset, shut down, and run away into the dark without thinking about what's going to happen next! What if something had happened to you? What if Jax didn't appear at the right time? Think how badly you would have hurt yourself!"

"It's just a few scratches, it's not that big of a deal!" I cried out, my voice cracking.

"It is a big deal!" Leo yelled back now, his voice suddenly shaking. He looked down at me, his eyes swimming with unshed tears that completely threw me off.

Why was he even being so dramatic?

"Mom thought it wasn't a big deal either, Vanessa. If you've forgotten too early, she got into that stupid argument with Dad, ran off into the dark woods behind our old house, and she never came back. She died because she ran away into the dark without looking. And you are doing the exact same thing."

I sat there totally frozen, my mouth slightly open, my chest aching so bad. Leo had never talked about the night Mom died like that. We never spoke about it at all. To hear him throw it in my face felt like a physical slap.

"Leo..." I whispered, my voice completely breaking.

He rubbed a hand over his face, breathing heavily as he tried to calm himself down. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. But you terrified me tonight, V. I can't protect you if you keep running away from your problems." He took a deep breath, looking down at his sneakers. "Which brings me to the other thing. Our summer plans are changing."

I blinked away my tears, completely confused by his sudden shift in tone. "What do you mean?"

"The coach called an emergency meeting while Jax was out looking for you in the woods," Leo explained. "Our official varsity training sessions got moved up by a month. I'm being transferred to train with another school's roster across the state. I have to pack my bags and leave tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?" I sat up, panicking so much that I forgot about the cuts on my legs. "But what about me? I can't stay at this beach house alone with the rest of the hockey guys."

"You aren't staying here," Leo said simply. "Since Dad and Jax's dad are still best friends, his family gave us the keys to their private apartment back in the city while they are traveling for the summer. I already talked to Jax. He’s heading back to the city tomorrow too to train at the local facility."

Leo looked me straight in the eyes, dropping the final bomb without a single bit of hesitation.

"Since your leg is messed up and you can't be on your own right now, you're coming back to the city with him. You’re going to be staying under the same roof as Jax for the next month."

My heart stopped beating entirely. I stared at my twin brother, my brain completely short-circuiting. Trapped in a quiet apartment with the guy I was secretly in love with, while his perfect girlfriend hovered around us.

"What?!" I choked out.

No, no, this can’t be happening.