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“What are you talking about? Many girls I’ve talked to have wished me a happy Valentine’s Day before. Sometimes I even get gifts.”
“Charming,” I stated. His laugh came through the phone, and it felt good to be back in this place with him again—even if that place was me longing for more.
“Are you up for a drive?” I asked again.
“Where to?”
“Honestly, I don’t care. I need out of this apartment for a little while,” I said as the violin intro of Rascal Flatt’s “What Hurts the Most” pierced my ear drums. “Can you be here in five?”
“Minutes?” Jaxon laughed. “Yes, I will roll right through campus for you, Mace.”
“Perfect,” I beamed. “See you soon.”
* * *
It wasn’thard to bypass Chase in the living room. I shot him a quick wave and a promise to be back soon. He just nodded and sunk deeper into the couch. I had never seen him like this. He was usually active, confident, and alert. This version of him was such an unattractive sight.
Jaxon’s Jeep rolled into the parking lot a few minutes after I made it downstairs. It was a rare day in February when the sun made an appearance, so I was comfortable in jeans and a hoodie. I exhaled loudly at the sight of Jaxon behind the wheel of his Jeep, wearing mirrored aviators and a backward snapback. He was just too hot to look at sometimes.
Just as I expected, I was hit with a wave of his cologne when I climbed into the passenger seat.
“What’s up, Mace?” He smiled behind his aviators and waited until I shut the door so he could peel out of the lot.
I sighed and leaned back in my seat. “Thanks for coming.”
Once we hit Main Street, Jaxon made a right. He kept stealing glances in my direction while I steadied my eyes on the road in front of us.
“Are you gonna fill me in on what you’re stewing about over there?” He finally asked and rested his right hand on the gearshift.
“I am not stewing,” I argued. “Long story short, Chase is starting to drive our apartment a little nuts.”
“He’s only been there for a few days. Didn’t you tell him he could come here ‘judgment free’?” he mimicked my quote.
“There is still no judgment!” I exclaimed. “But it has been a nonstop show of sappy country songs and cocktails, and I’m not sure how much more I can take before I end up exploding on him anyways!”
Jaxon moved his sunglasses so they rested on the top of his hat. “Do you think you only feel this way because you disagree with what he did?”
My mouth formed a straight line, and I stared at him. “What do you mean?”
“I mean. . .” he said slowly and looked at me for permission to keep going. “If he would’ve just broken up with Trey, like mutually, would you be this impatient with how he is handling it?”
I stared back at the road and pondered Jaxon’s point.
My gut response was no. I knew my lack of patience stemmed from Chase putting himself in this situation. Of course, I didn’t know the whole story yet because he hadn’t filled me in, but until I heard his side, I had nothing else to go on. At first glance, Chase was sulking in a situation he chose to be in when he chose to cheat. In my head, it was really that simple.
“No,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t be this impatient. But isn’t it my job to make him see something from a different perspective?”
“You meanyourperspective,” Jaxon corrected. He tightened his lips to hold back his smile.
My mouth curved into a grin. “No. I just want him to see that if he expects something to change from this, he has to decide to do something about it. Sitting around and listening to Rascal Flatts and George Strait is not going to make things better with Trey.”
“I don’t know either of those people,” Jaxon muttered. “But I do know that it’s okay to take some time and figure out what you want.”
“But he wants to be with Trey.”
“That’s what he said when you asked him?” Jaxon pushed but kept his tone casual. I knew there was something else he wanted to say.
“He wouldn’t be so upset unless he still wanted to be with Trey,” I explained.
