Before You(33)

“You can stay here.”

His heart lurched at the invitation and then he cursed inwardly at his reaction. He couldn’t stay here. It was wrong for so many reasons. “I don’t know. You’ve had a long day, and I don’t want to impose.”

“It isn’t a problem. You can sleep in the guest room now that Sara is gone. I think she washed and changed the sheets this morning.”

Bre played with the hem of her skirt and Jax started to shake his head to refuse her offer. He came to Colorado to support Bre and help Cam, but staying at Bre’s house seemed too intimate after their day together.

“Before you say no, I want to say that I really would like it if you stayed.” Her voice lowered to barely above a whisper, and she shifted uncomfortably. “Sara has been with me since I got back from LA, and I’m not ready to be alone in my grandmother’s house yet.”

Jax stared at Bre, taking her in, and a strained silence fell between them. He couldn’t say no to her. No, that wasn’t true. He didn’t want to say no to her. He missed her, and the thought of leaving her right now, not knowing when he’d see her again, made him sick to his stomach. Even worse, when he saw her again, she would be with Cam.

“Okay,” he said, realizing this might be the last time they were alone together. He refused to waste the opportunity to drink her in, even if it were from a distance.

“When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow afternoon. What should we do tonight?”

“I thought we could watch a movie unless you had something else in mind.”

“Nah. What movie?”

“Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. It’s my all time favorite.”

“The original or the remake with Johnny Depp?” Jax asked as he sat on the sofa next her.

“The original, of course,” she answered, smiling widely at him.

Bre pressed play.

“I can’t believe you’re actually going to force me to watch this,” he said mockingly. “Isn’t this a kid movie?”

“Hey, it’s a classic. It has that whole kindness triumphs over greed thing going for it.”

“Right…” Jax responded, drawing out the word. “Is there any chance you’d agree to watch something more recent, like from the last decade?”

Bre folded her arms across her chest. “Not a chance.”

Jax smiled and nodded. He couldn’t fathom how he ended up sitting on the sofa watching a children’s movie except that he found it remarkably difficult to say no to anything Bre asked. “Willie Wonka it is.”

Halfway through the movie, he noticed that Bre’s eyes were closed, her dark lashes shadowing her face, and her head tucked against her chest. Without questioning his actions, he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, placing her head on top of his legs.

“No, I’m not tired,” she mumbled. “I don’t want to sleep.”

“Shh… just relax. This will be more comfortable. You can still watch the movie.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to go to bed yet. The movie’s not over.” Her voice was raspy from sleeping and her eyes were hooded, making him wonder what she would look like if he woke up next to her in the morning. He groaned inwardly at the thought. He needed to stop thinking about her as anything but his friend and Cam’s girlfriend.

Shifting slightly, he traced the side of her face down to the middle of her neck with his fingertips. She shivered a little and a faint sleep-drugged smile crossed her face. He wished she were his. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, inhaling her faint lavender scent. God, he loved the way she smelled, no cloying perfume, just fresh and clean. “Don’t worry about it, Bre. We’ll finish the movie.”

She studied him, her eyes wide. “You’re not hitting on me, are you? Because that day in your room…” Her voice drifted off as if she couldn’t say the words. “I really need a friend now, not another complication. I have enough of those.”

“Then, that’s what I am. Your friend,” he whispered, and silently added for now in his head.

“Okay.” She nestled into his lap, and he thought to himself that this is what people mean when they talk about the blurred line between pain and pleasure, because while it was painful to hold her like this, he couldn’t think of anything he’d rather be doing at that moment.

Completely ignoring the movie, he watched as her eyes became heavy and she drifted off to sleep again. He wouldn’t trade being with her, supporting her for anything, and the last thought he remembered before he fell asleep was that Cam was a fool for taking Bre for granted.