Race the Storm

Chapter 24

"I can sleep on the couch."

"No, that's ridiculous."

"It's okay. It looked like a good couch." Jax frowned down at the queen-sized bed in Vern and Audrey's guest room. Audrey had shown them the room and also pointed out the bathroom on the way. He had been expecting twin beds or bunk beds or something else. Not a queen.

"We can both fit," Willa said, rolling her eyes at him. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, going through her bag, probably looking for fresh clothes. "It's not that big of a deal, is it? I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No, that's not–" Jax rubbed the back of his neck.

"I don't want you to have to sleep on the couch. Or the floor," she said. Most likely she had guessed that was going to be his next offer. She was already learning to read him, which was disconcerting. Jax had always prided himself on his poker face. "We've both had a long day."

"You had surgery on your wrist," Jax countered.

"I don't see how that means we can't share the bed," Willa said, "I'm not that big."

"You're not big at all."

Willa snorted. "Yet." Jax frowned at her–was she worried about getting big? Was she just joking? Willa stood up, clothes in hand, bumping his shoulder gently. "I'm not self-conscious about that, promise." There she went with that mind-reader thing again.

Jax still didn't know how to respond to that–it felt like he'd walked into a land mine field meant to distract him from another land mine field on the other side of his blindspot. Safest course of action: no action.

Willa seemed to get his dilemma, and apparently decided to go ahead and resolve things for him. "I'm going to go change in the bathroom, and you better be in that bed when I get back," she said, expression playful. But he knew she'd probably haul him up and threaten to whup his ass if she found him on the floor.

Jax just nodded mutely and watched as she smiled and then turned and left. Huh. After a long moment he realized he was still standing there like an idiot and hurried to grab his things and change before Willa got back. It didn't take long, so figuring her nightly routine might still be a few more minutes, he headed downstairs to grab a drink of water before bed. Maybe it'd help settle the jittery feeling he kept getting at the thought of sharing the bed with Willa in a very, very short amount of time.

Jax leaned against the counter, sipping at the water while his mind spun through the past 24 hours and jumped to the next 24. He wasn't sure he could sleep tonight, but that might not be a bad thing, considering how ill at ease he felt with being here. Better safe than sorry.

"You two make a cute couple, you know." Jax almost dropped the glass from his hand–dammit, how lost in thought had he been to not notice Audrey coming into the kitchen?

"Sorry, what?" he said, automatically stepping out of the fridge.

Audrey smiled as she poured her own glass of water. "Just saying."

"It's not...we're not..." Jax shifted uncomfortably.

"I know," Audrey said, her smile widening. She patted his arm before walking back out of the kitchen. "I just think you two have potential. Something to think about in the future maybe?" And then she left, disappearing back into her own bedroom.

The women in this house were determined to unhinge his mental state tonight. Shaking his head, Jax quickly washed out the cup, set it in the dish drying rack, and headed back upstairs–just in time to almost run into a flashing-eyed Willa about to barrel into him.