JACE-2(Lane Brothers, Book 3)(213)

Julia glared at her daughter. “We’re not going home though, are we?”

She was right. Sasha just didn’t feel safe going back to their home. She’d arranged for them to stay with Chris instead.

When she saw him, she felt so relieved. They hugged tightly. She had her best friend back.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she said. “I need you, Chris. I need you on my side.”

“I’m on your side,” he replied.

***

Chris had lived in the same house since the end of high school. He’d worked since a young age, saved up, and with some help from his parents, bought the little place at the age of eighteen. Five years later the place had become a home, filled to the brim with his trinkets. He’d played soccer in high school and won quite a few medals that were displayed proudly on a homemade shelf.

“You two can take my room,” Chris said. “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

As Sasha readied herself for bed, she remembered losing her virginity to Chris here. It had been a tender moment. They were in love, the best of friends, and they respected one another. There was nothing kinky about it, just a moment of amazement as they’d learned for the first time what it felt like to unite in that way. She’d never realized sex could be anything but a beautiful experience between people who loved one another—until she’d met Thomas and learned it could be a frantic, animalistic act between people who loathed and loved one another in equal measure.

Being with Thomas Lloyd had changed her irrevocably and entirely. She would never be the same again. She would never be the innocent girl who liked flowers and candlelit lovemaking. Something had awoken in her. She’d learned what her body was capable of and anything less than what Thomas gave her would never be enough for her again.

She realized then that her mom was wrong. She didn’t need to make her mind up about Thomas at all. She could love him then hate him then love him again. It was part of the thrill. It was part of what made their partnership unique. Her leaving him, him leaving her, her chasing him, him chasing her, her betraying him, him betraying her, it was just a rollercoaster that they were riding together. Without all the drama, it would be boring.

It hit Sasha then that she’d lived her whole life in the same way that she’d experienced her relationship with Chris. She’d always pretended that she was a risk-taker because she’d flown the nest and gone off to college, but really, she’d been taking the sensible route. She’d worked hard so she could get a good, stable job and a nice little income to buy a boring apartment and turn into Kelly drinking wine alone on Friday night with her cat. Every decision she’d made had been sensible, right up until the point she’d met Thomas Lloyd. He’d flipped everything on its head. Nothing would be the same again. And she didn’t want it to be.

Sasha waited for her mom to fall asleep then slipped out of the bedroom, along the corridor, and onto the porch. She took her cell phone with her. Thomas had called fifty times. She called him back.

“At last,” he said.

“You’re persistent.”

“I’m sorry. I wanted to make sure you found somewhere to go.”

“Don’t be sorry. Your persistence turns me on.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry?” Thomas said.

“Is this a bad line or something?” Sasha said sarcastically, repeating his words from earlier.

“Sasha, what on Earth has gotten into you?”

“Nothing. And everything.” She shook her head, trying to get her thoughts into some kind of order. “Thomas, I like what we do to each other. I like the drama. The highs and lows. It makes me feel alive.”

“Does that mean you forgive me for sleeping with Alicia?” he said.

“No. But I like hating you as much as I like loving you.”

“That’s fucked up,” came Thomas’s reply.

“But it’s true.”

She listened to the silence of Thomas mulling it over in his mind. “You’re right. Now what?”

“Now you tell me exactly what you did to Alicia. I want a blow-by-blow account. Every lick, every suck, every thrust.”

“You’re fucking crazy,” he said, but he was laughing as he said it.

“I’m comfortable with that. So. Tell me. Take it from the top.”

She heard Thomas inhale. “Well, we were at the Atomic interview. I was pissed at you, and I needed to let off some steam. So I told Alicia to pour us both some wine. I came up from behind and slid my hand inside her blouse—”

“That was me, Thomas,” Sasha interrupted. “You’re confusing it with what happened on the plane.”