The rich kid with a perfect life is challenged to make the bad boy with a bad temper fall in love with him - and things get messy when he finds himself enjoying the little imperfections this brings in his life.
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-Jax-
I didn't believe even for a second that Nic's father would leave him alone after the party. That man was only acting cooperative just to get what he wanted. That party probably was important to him, but not important enough that he'd give up the control over the son he'd manipulated for almost eighteen years. He was not giving that up. Not now when Nic was about to start college. I had my concerns since Nic actually believed the man, but that was why he had me. I'd take care of him. I wasn't going to let that man reel Nic back in. He would try, that was for sure.
I didn't say anything to Nic about it because he was already hurt over his dad's assholery, and we were supposed to have a fun date night at home. His dad would show his true colors eventually, and by that time, I hoped Nic had distanced himself from him enough to not really care anymore.
We started watching a movie while we ate, enjoying our little date. I did my best to keep Nic's mood as high as possible and divert his thoughts away from his family issues by giving him all the attention he wanted. He needed a lot of it, but I didn't blame him. I assumed he wanted to be reminded he still had people who cared about him.
Turned out that I wasn't the only person reminding him of that.
Nic's phone started ringing, and at first, his expression dropped, but when he saw the caller ID, he cheered up.
"Jess! What's up?" he answered the phone. I couldn't quite hear what she was saying, only a few words here and there, but I understood she was asking him to hang out with them. "Oh, uh, actually, Jax and I are watching a movie."
"We can finish it later," I said with a shrug. "If you want to go."
"Are you sure?" he asked me. "They're going to the river. To swim."
"Oh..." I said, immediately feeling anxious.
"I mean we don't have to swim," Nic said. "We can bring music and drinks and stuff."
I let out a breath and nodded. "As long as no one tries to make me swim."
"I'll make sure of that," he said, kissed my check, and turned his attention back to Jess. "What time are you guys going?"
We agreed to meet with Nic's friends at the river in an hour. I had my doubts about going, but I kept them to myself. It was a nice, warm day, and everyone else was going to swim. And if they had the guts, they would try to convince me to join them.
As we were grabbing sodas, I secretly pulled up my sleeve when Nic wasn't watching. The familiar, negative feelings emerged when I saw my scars. It was going to get really annoying if Nic's friends tried to convince me to swim. I couldn't even remember the last time I swam...
Ugh... It's not that big of a deal...
So what if they wanted to make me swim? Sure, it would be annoying, but nothing I couldn't handle. And they wouldn't even try to annoy me, Jax the Snake. They would ask once and leave it at that, so why was I making such a big deal out of this?
