CHAPTER 5: NUMB AND SOAKED

Austin POV

I stayed outside,my back against the wall, until Jax’s truck pulled up. 

The orange Hermès boxes and the black Graff case were still inside where I’d dropped them like forgotten props from a life that no longer existed.

When Jax’s headlights swept over me, I pushed myself up on my shaking legs, left everything behind, and walked to the truck I climbed into the passenger seat without a word. 

The door shut with a heavy thud.

Jax glanced over at me then put the truck in drive without asking anything stupid.

Ten minutes of silence with streetlights sliding across the windshield in slow streaks.

He finally spoke in a low voice as if trying not to upset me. “You wanna crash at mine?”

I nodded. That was all I had left in me.

His apartment was dark when we walked in. He flicked on one lamp in the living room, the kind with the warm amber bulb that doesn't blind you. 

He goes to the fridge and comes back with a bear handing it to me. I took it but didn't open it. 

Instead I held the cold glass against my forehead to stop the pounding and just maybe I could stop the looping reel playing in my head the image of Lila’s hips rolling, Marcus’s hands on her, her voice telling me “He’s better than you. Always has been.” The way she shoved me aside like I was nothing.

Jax sat across from me on the coffee table, elbows on his knees, watching me. After a long minute he leaned forward.

“Talk to me when you’re ready,” he said quietly. “Or don’t. Either way, I’m not going anywhere tonight.”

I swallowed hard. My throat felt raw as I open my mouth to speak. I feel tears well up in my eyes. My voice came out hoarse “She said… she said he listens. That I’m never there. That the gifts are just… trinkets to replace me.”

Jax exhaled loudly. “She’s wrong. You know that, right? You’ve been building a whole future for her—every trip, every late night on calls, every dollar you spent wasn’t to buy her silence. It was because you love her so much it hurts. She chose to twist that into something ugly tonight. That’s on her, not you.”

I stared at the unopened beer. Condensation dripping onto my jeans. “I punched him. Hard and slammed him into the dresser there was blood everywhere.”

“Good,” Jax said without hesitation. “He deserved worse.”

A broken laugh escaped me. It sounded more like a sob than a laugh.

Jax reached over, gripped my shoulder firmly. “Listen to me, man. You’re allowed to fall apart right now. You don’t have to be strong, you don’t have to fix it tonight, you don’t have to pretend it doesn’t feel like someone ripped your fucking chest open. Just… breathe. One second at a time. I’ve got you.”

I nodded, eyes burning again. I didn't trust my voice.

He squeezed once more, then stood up slowly. “But I can’t sit here and watch you drown in your own head all night. You need air. Noise. Something to remind you the world’s still moving outside that bedroom door.”

I looked up at him. “Where?”

“Velvet Night. Hotel and club in the same tower. Neutral ground I've been dying for us buddies to go there together but you never had time ... .you were either too busy with work or too in love to join me. The best part is there's no one we know, no memories, just bass and bodies. You don’t have to drink, don’t have to talk. Just sit in the dark with me until your brain stops screaming.”

I didn’t have the energy to argue but sitting here replaying what I saw tonight would kill me slowly.

We left everything the house headed for where velvet night was. It thumped from half a block away. Jax seemed to know his way around here so he paid the huge men at the door bypassing the cue 

He steered us past the pulsing main dance floor to a quieter corner booth tucked against the far wall of the club. 

The bass vibrated through the leather seat but not loud enough to drown the loop in my head.

He ordered shots I don't touch.. but he sat close enough that his shoulders brushed mine like a silent anchor I didn't realize I needed.

I stared at the scarred tabletop.My mind is still stuck on repeat;her moaning his name, the blood on my knuckles, the way her eyes went cold when she told me to get out.

I didn’t notice the server until cold, sticky liquid splashed across my chest and lap.

“Shit—sorry!” A girl in a glittery top spun around, empty glass in hand, already wincing. “I didn’t see you there—fuck, that’s everywhere.”

I stood fast, wiping down my shirt but the fabric was already clinging to my chest. “It’s fine.”

Jax stood up ready to tear into her but I held him back. “You good?”

“Yeah. Just… need to get this off me.” I say before turning and walking away.I pushed through the crowd toward the bar. The bartender is a guy with dark hair tied back, sleeve tattoos curling up his forearms looked up at me when I leaned 

“Bathroom? Please” I asked.

He shook his head. “Down the hall, but it’s a shitshow tonight there's a line out the door, and someone puked in one stall. Are you staying the night? If you are,just go upstairs?

I glanced back at Jax still in the booth, watching me. Then down at the soaked cotton plastered to my chest. 

I couldn’t sit there reeking of someone else’s drink while Lila’s words kept carving deeper wounds into my heart. And going back to Jax’s place sitting in that silence with just me and my thoughts felt like stepping into quicksand.

“Room,” I said. “Just for tonight. I need to shower and crash.”

He nodded. “Standard king on the sixth floor is $320. Cash, card, whatever. I’ll comp the club entry since you got soaked on our floor.”

I pulled out my wallet, slid my card across the bar. He ran it through the handheld terminal, handed me the receipt to sign then rabbed a black keycard from the drawer behind him.

“Room 612. Sixth floor. Elevator’s to the left. Checkout’s at 11 a.m. Housekeeping can bring up a fresh shirt or whatever if you need just call down.”

I signed, took the card, and nodded. “Thanks.”

I texted Jax quickly. I just got a room. 612. I need a shower. Meet me in the lobby later?

His reply came almost instantly. Take as long as you need. I’ll be here. Text if you want company or anything.

The elevator dinged and opened up to the Sixth floor.

The hallway is dimly lit with numbers glowing faintly 610… 611… 612.

I tap the key card and the door opens up with a click.

The room is dark and the cool air conditioner was humming low with a wide bed in the center.

I didn’t turn on the main light….just flicked the bathroom switch as I passed. A soft yellow glow spilled out into the bedroom.

I peeled off the soaked shirt, and toss it aside, kicking off shoes, socks, and jeans. Everything reeked of pineapple and betrayal.Leaving it in a pile by the door before stepping into the shower 

I crank the shower to scalding and stood under the spray,head bowed, letting the water hit my shoulders,the heat burned away the stickiness, losing the tense knot on my shoulders but not the hollow ache in my chest.

I closed my eyes letting the roar of the water drown the memories for a few precious seconds.

Then I heard the faint creak of the door swinging open.