Before You(84)

“Because it was important to Bre.”

“Whatever. So what do you think I should do about Bre? Can you call her for me?”

“No,” Jax said, shaking his head. “I already told you I’m done with that shit. You have to do your own dirty work.”

“Please, call her and ask her to call me. Now that she’s had some think to cool down, I think she’ll listen to me. She’s got to realize that those other women didn’t mean anything to me.”

“No,” Jax responded, slamming his glass of water onto the counter. “If she wants to talk, then she’ll call you. I’m done interfering. You used your last favor with the Anna debacle last night.”

“Fine.” The silence lengthened and realizing Jax was serious, he slid off the stool and started walking toward Jax’s front door, but he froze with his hand on the doorknob. Jax saw Cam’s back tense and his knuckles whiten. Jax’s eyes flew to his bedroom, afraid that Bre had come out of his room, but the door was still closed. Then he saw Bre’s luggage stacked neatly next to the door, and he nearly groaned out loud.

“What the hell? This is Bre’s stuff. She’s here, isn’t she?” Cam’s eyes quickly scanned the inside of Jax’s loft, stopping when his saw Jax’s closed bedroom door.

“Go home, Cam,” Jax said, walking toward his bedroom, trying to cut Cam off before he reached the door to his room. He didn’t think Cam would listen, but he had to try.

“No. I guess I came to the right place to talk to Bre. I begged you to call her for me, but now that I know she’s here, I don’t need your help.”

“This isn’t the time. She’ll call you later,” Jax replied, stepping in front of his door, effectively blocking Cam from the room.

“Bre!” Cam yelled. “I know you’re here. You can come out now.”

Jax felt the door open behind him, and he spun around, only to be greeted by Bre, standing in the doorway dressed in nothing but his t-shirt, her hand on her hips.

“Jax, it’s fine. I don’t need you to run interference. I can handle this.” She pushed her disheveled hair behind her ears and stepped in front of Jax. “Cam, what do you want?”

Cam’s eyes narrowed as he looked between Bre and Jax. “I think you guys need to explain what’s going on here,” he demanded.

“Cam,” Jax interjected, bracing his hand on the wall above his head. “I don’t think this is the time to do this.”

“No. I disagree. I think this is the perfect time.” Cam focused his attention on Bre. “I’m a little confused, Bre. Can you explain why you ran to my friend’s house after we fought last night?”

“I needed to go somewhere, and Jax is one of the only other people I know here,” Bre responded with a shrug.

“Have you ever heard of a hotel?” Cam said.

“I left my wallet at your house, so that wasn’t an option.” Bre’s eyes flashed to Jax.

Cam stood up straight and wrapped his arms across his torso. “No. That’s not what I meant. I’ll spell it out for you. Why would my-half dressed girlfriend be hanging out with my half-dressed friend in his bedroom when I stop by unannounced?”

“I’m not your girlfriend, and what I do is none of your business. We broke up last week, and I only agreed to this visit to see if we could fix our relationship, but like I said last night, we were over a long time ago, and apparently, I was the only one who didn’t know it.”

“So we have a fight, and that gives you the right to crawl into bed with my friend? Because from where I’m standing, that’s what this looks like. Can you tell me that’s not the case?”

Bre looked away, shame apparent in her every movement and Jax reached out to reassure her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Cam. Neither of us meant to hurt you.” Her voice cracked.

Cam grabbed Bre’s wrist and leaned toward her, his red face only inches away from hers. “You never meant to hurt me? Are you serious? Was this a one time thing or is Jax the guy you refused to name last night?”

Jax put a hand on Cam’s shoulder. “Back off, Cam. You’re scaring her.”

Throwing Jax’s hand off his shoulder, Cam said, “Fuck you, Jax. What kind of friend are you? Screwing my girlfriend behind my back. That’s low even for a selfish asshat like you.”

“I’m the selfish one?” Jax responded, his expression incredulous. “Are you capable of self-reflection or does your ego always get in the way?”

“Whatever. If you cared about Bre, you wouldn’t be dragging her into this mess. We all know you aren’t capable of caring about anyone but yourself,” Cam spat.