Page 23 of Thrown Off Balance

“Jax,” I growl, warning him to shut his mouth.

“He’s not wrong,” Sophia singsongs. “Sloan’s a catch and Jude…”

“Isn’t?” Charlie snorts with laughter, making everyone chuckle.

“Dang, you know he’s bad if even Charlie is dissing him.” Jax shakes his head and glances over his shoulder at Sloan.

I can’t see her since she’s sitting behind me, but I wish I knew what was going through her mind right now.

“Has he called or texted you since we left? He seemed like he had no clue where you went,” Peck says softly.

He’s such a good guy and he’s fantastic at dealing with Soph. I love my sister dearly, but she’s a handful on a good day. I'm not sure I could handle a wife like her.

“He just texted me,” she whispers.

“Well, what’d he say?” Jax spins to face her again.

“Jax, drop it.” I keep my tone quiet but firm. He meets my gaze and nods his head. He knows when he’s pushing too hard and needs to back off.

As soon as I get back to the stadium and drop everyone off at their cars, I turn towards Jax.

“Can you go with Soph? I’ll meet you at her house.”

“Yeah… Sloan, you’re welcome to come to Soph’s house too.” Jax’s gaze softens when he stares at Sloan.

“Thanks, I'm not sure that’s a good idea tonight.”

He nods his head and exits my car. A moment later Sophia’s and Charlie’s cars pull out of the parking lot.

“Can you come sit up front? I don’t like feeling like a chauffeur.”

She climbs over the center console instead of getting out of the car and I can’t help but smile. She used to always do that when we were younger.

“I’ll take you home, but do you want to talk about what happened?” I turn towards her, giving her my full attention.

“You mean other than how I'm dating a jerk?” She shakes her head, but I don’t miss the tears forming in her eyes.

“How long have you been together?”

“Around six months.” She’s staring at her hands and as much as I want to look into her eyes, I'm not going to force her. It’s probably easier to talk if she isn’t looking at me.

“Has he always been like this?” I don’t mean to sound like a jerk, but I'm genuinely curious if this is new or the normal with him.

“No,” she whispers and shakes her head. “He was a great boyfriend until a few nights ago. It was like a switch flipped when he found out I knew the amazing ‘Robinson twins’.” She rolls her eyes.

“Ouch, I could feel that eye roll in my soul.” I place my hand over my chest like she physically hurt me.

“I didn’t mean it like that, Cody. I'm sorry. You and Jax are amazing, you always were, but this is like next level crap. He instantly became like this crazy stalker. Nothing matters except seeing Jax and hanging out with him. It’s like I'm only good for getting him closer to Jax now.”

“That’s insane. Jax won't put up with it, you know that.” I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear and let my fingers trail down her neck. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Not unless we can go back in time to before the game where I saw you.” She lets out a deep sigh.

My heart squeezes uncomfortably in my chest. It’s a physical pain and reminder I'm not what she wants. She wants to go back to before we saw each other because she still wants nothing to do with me.

“What’s your address?” I ask as I straighten in my seat and focus my attention out the front window.

I need to remember who I am to Sloan. I'm just an ex-boyfriend she had no interest in seeing again. I have to stop letting myself get swept up in her and imagining she actually loves me again. Nothing but a broken heart will come from Sloan Weathers.