Page 12 of Thrown Off Balance

I let my words hang in the air. I really want to tell her we could be happy together too. We could find our way back to each other and start dating again. We could get married and start a family, just like we wanted to before she moved.

“They’d love to see you. Everyone on Mulberry Lane would.”

“Oh, I'm sure. Should I come over for Sunday dinner?” She rolls her eyes.

“Sunday dinner? I totally think you should come to Sunday dinner!” Jax speaks up. I swear the man has super-sonic hearing when he wants to.

“Jax,” Sloan groans. “I'm not-”

“That would be awesome! We should totally go,” Jude cuts her off like the idiot he is. He’s too focused on getting closer to Jax to realize he’s ignoring his girlfriend and helping Jax push Sloan back into my arms.

“Maybe we should talk about this later,” Sloan practically growls at her boyfriend. He doesn’t even notice. He’s too busy discussing it with Jax and asking what they should bring.

“You obviously don’t have to come to Sunday dinner,” I whisper.

“Jude isn’t going to shut up about this,” she groans as she drops her face into her hands, looking more than defeated.

“I’ll deal with it.” I rub a hand up and down her back, just like I used to do when we were younger and she was stressed out about something.

“You’ll deal with my boyfriend who cares more about Jax’s feelings than mine? Yeah, no thanks. I’ll deal with him.”

“You shouldn’t have to deal with your boyfriend, Sloan.” My brows furrow, what type of person is Jude? He doesn’t seem good enough for her.

“Well, not every guy can be perfect and understand what I'm thinking without me saying a word,” she sighs and shakes her head.

“Yeah, but I could. I always knew where your head was. I think I can still read you like an open book.”

“Oh yeah? What am I thinking right now?” She arches a brow.

“You’re wondering how long it will take you to convince Jude to leave,” I whisper so no one else can hear me. “You’re thinking about how all you want to do is go home and take a nice, long bath. You know all you’re going to hear about for the next two weeks is Jax and Cody Robinson and it’s going to drive you crazy. You’re trying to decide if you just left, would Jude even notice or care.”

She stares at me for several long seconds. Her eyes narrow and she opens her mouth, but nothing comes out.

“Now you’re wondering how I still know you so well.” I smirk.

“We’ve changed, Cody,” she says softly.

“I know we have, that doesn’t mean we couldn’t still be great together.”

I stand to my full height and toss Jax my car keys. I'm done with being here, but I don’t want to leave Jax, Jude, and Sloan stranded without a car.

“You headed home?” He asks, but what he’s really asking is if I'm ok. He’s a better brother than what most people realize.

“Yeah, I'm exhausted. I’ll order a ride and you can drive my car so you can take Jude and Sloan back to get their car at the stadium.”

“Sounds good, brother.” Jax nods. He knows I want him to keep Sloan safe.

“I’m headed out too. I can drive you home,” Emma says as she stands to her full height. “Sophia has me opening at the bakery in the morning. If I go to bed right now, I might get five hours of sleep.” She grimaces at her watch.

“Jax, could you drive me home?” Bella sticks her bottom lip out in a pout.

“Of course. Come sit next to me.” Jax motions for the guys to move over and as soon as Bella’s seated next to him, he drapes his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him.

“It was nice to see you, Sloan.” I nod my head in her direction, then I follow Emma out of the pub.

“Are we going to talk about this or…” Emma trails off as she glances up at me. When I don’t say a word, she nods her head and chuckles. “Not. Right. Obviously, we won't discuss the elephant in the shape of Sloan Weathers that was in that room.”

Chapter 6