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"Glad you're out, man," Carter tells me.
I grunt. "Why? Your guilt eating you alive?"
He rolls his eyes but says nothing else as we climb into Paige's SUV. She hands Carter the keys and gets into the back with me. I wrap my arm around her and watch as Carter drives away and the jail vanishes in the distance.
Good riddance.
PULLING UP TO MY house, there are already a few officers waiting for me. I walk inside and toss my jacket onto the bannister as Finn approaches. He wraps his arms around me and pats me on the back.
"Careful," I groan.
He removes his hands immediately. "Sorry, sorry. Just glad you're home."
"Thanks. So am I."
One of the officers comes into the foyer with an ankle monitor and starts attaching it to my leg as another starts explaining the details. "Okay, Mr. London. The device being placed around your ankle is designed to know where you are at all times. It needs to stay within 150 feet of the receiver at all times. We placed this in a pretty centralized part of the house, so you should be fine in here, but you won't be able to get very far outside without it going off."
He hits a button, and the device starts blinking red and beeping. "If you go out of range of the receiver, it will notify our department as well as the court. Fail to comply with the terms of home confinement, and you will be brought back into custody. Do you understand?"
I nod. "But what about my appointments?"
"Your lawyer will need to file paperwork with the court. Time frames and locations are permitted on a case by case basis." He hands me a clipboard with a form attached. "Please sign here stating that I explained the device and how it works to you, as well as the terms of your confinement."
I sign my name on the dotted line, and the officers shake my dad's hand before leaving. As soon as they're gone, everyone comes over to hug me and tell me how glad they are that I made bail, but don't they all realize that this isn't over? That I'm more than likely going to prison for the rest of my life?
All the happiness and commotion only seems to irritate me, and by the time my mom mentions my aunt coming over, I'm completely on edge.
"Stop," I snap. "Just stop."
"Jace," Paige breathes, putting her hand on my arm to try to calm me down.
"No. Everyone needs to just stop." I look around at everyone who seems to be in such a jolly fucking mood while my life is falling apart. "This isn't a win. This isn't even the start of a win. All it means is that I'm grounded to my fucking bedroom until the time comes where they make me go to prison."
"You can't think like that, son," Finn tells me. "You need to stay positive."
A huff of sarcastic laughter bubbles out. "Positive. Right, okay. I'm positive that I'm going to be found guilty because Davianna's father will make sure of that, no matter what. I'm positive that I will be spending the rest of my life in a five-by-five cell with a guy named Bubba who wants to trade protection for anal sex. And I'm positive that you're all celebrating for nothing because I...am...fucked." The corner of my mouth raises in a pissed-off smirk. "How's that for being positive?"
"Jace Michael," my dad chastises.
"What?" I growl. "It's not like I'm wrong. You guys can do what you want, but I won't sit here and pretend to be happy about my life going to shit. You can't make me."
My dad pinches the bridge of his nose as I head up the stairs to my bedroom. Just as I almost reach the top, however, I heard Carter.
"Let me talk to him," he says and goes to follow me.
I stop, turning to face him. "You stay the fuck away from me."
"Babe," Paige gets my attention softly. "He's only trying to help."
"Help," I sneer and focus my attention fully on Carter. "That's funny. He had every chance to help for who knows how long, and he did nothing. Now he wants to help?"
I look him up and down, sizing him up like the selfish prick he is.
"I don't want it."
Two weeks go by, and with each day that passes, Jace loses a little more hope that he's going to win this. I think he's going stir crazy, being stuck in his house all the time, but I do my best to spend as much time with him as I can.
It's been tough trying to juggle being with both Jace and my dad, especially since I can't just have them both in the same room. Maybe it would be easier if Carter and I could both fill Jace's time to keep his spirits up, but that's not an option. Since the day Jace got home from jail, he made one thing very clear.
