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“Passed out? Can’t you guys hold your drink yet?”
Jaxon laughed. “I can. Your lot never could. It doesn’t matter, anyway. Dave’s off on Thursdays, remember? Besides, I can’t get drunk like I used to on weeknights. I have work tomorrow.”
She glanced at the clock on the wall. Itwastomorrow. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”
“I will be once we return this car and get back to my place.”
“I’m staying with you?” she mused aloud, even though that’s exactly what she’d asked for.
“Aren’t you?” he asked, laughing. “Your other option is to crash at Brad’s and explain to your sure-to-be-hungover brother why you’re there and where you came from, which if you choose that route, clue me in on the lie you’re telling, so I don’t fuck things up, okay?”
She supposed she could ask him to come back here after he got his car, but there was something off about her apartment tonight. She really didn’t want to be here. With someone or alone.
“I guess you’re right…” She pressed her lips together, watching his back as he finished up the front windows. “Is there a place for me to sleep at yours?”
Jaxon usually lived in houses he was fixing up while he worked on them and until he sold them. They were in all levels of disarray. It was a valid question.
“You could probably bring a blanket with you,” he replied with a shrug. Teagan went back to her bedroom and tossed a change of clothes, a pillow, and a throw blanket into an overnight bag. If Jaxon was admitting she’d need a blanket, she’d likely need a few extra things as well.
She also packed her toothbrush and toothpaste.
When she reemerged, he was just finishing up. “This is done. Are you ready to leave?” he asked.
“Yeah, I am,” she replied, shouldering both her bag and her purse.
Jaxon smirked a little when he saw her bag. “Moving in, are you?”
“It’s mostly pillow,” she informed him haughtily.
“Ah. Yeah, you’ll probably need one of those now that I’m thinking about it.”
She followed him out the door, and he used the new keys to lock the deadbolt. He handed them to her, and she quickly added them to her key ring while slowly following him to the car.
He doubled back and took her overnight bag for her, slipping one arm around her shoulders to hurry her along.
“I’ll drop you off at your car at the college, and you can follow me to your brother's place.”
“Okay,” she replied, her stomach twisting in knots as she fully realized what was happening right now. She’d spent the night with Jaxon in the room before. But neverjustJaxon. She needed to get a grip. She ducked into Dave’s car and Jaxon started the engine, glancing behind him before backing out.
The drive was again longer than it needed to be, but it gave her time to think some more. “Is there anything else I should do?” she asked meekly.
“You’ll need to come back and deep-clean that entire apartment tomorrow.”
She nodded. “Sounds like a job for eight-hours-from-now-Teagan. Not me.”
He chuckled a little at that as they pulled into the university parking lot nearest the library. She pointed out her car and Jaxon pulled in behind it. Climbing out of Dave’s, she got into her car, revving the engine before backing out and following him to Brad and Dave’s place.
Brad had chosen a house in a rather pleasant suburb once he could actually afford something back there. Before that, he’d lived at home throughout University because while her parents loved him, they definitely didn’t trust him with a place by himself back then.
In retrospect, seeing as she’d had hers taken by a drug dealer, perhaps they shouldn’t have trusted her either. The sick flutters in her stomach multiplied, and she took a deep breath to squash them down.
Jaxon idled Dave’s car, pulled his own truck out of the driveway, and then pulled Dave’s into its space.
He ran the keys inside and came promptly back out to climb into his truck again. His stupid logo glistened in the street lamps as he pulled into the driveway and turned around. Teagan did the same after he’d cleared out and idled in the middle of the road, waiting for her.
The place Jaxon was flipping was just a few streets over, in a slightly worse neighborhood. Not much worse, just slightly. And as Teagan parked her car behind his in the driveway, she glanced around, actually impressed. The house itself didn’t look terrible upon first inspection.
Well, the exterior didn’t.
