They Rise at Dusk (Book #1) ✔️

Chapter 24: Two Truths and a Lie

"Jax!" I stepped out into the cold, catching him on the steps in front of Dorian's house. "Come on, it was a kiss. And it only happened once."

I could pretend I didn't understand his anger, pretend that I thought he was overreacting, but it would be just another lie. I knew why he was mad.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" He faced me, and the hurt in his expression almost made me stagger back.

"I was fifteen." I tried again. "I don't expect you to tell me about every single person you've kissed."

"And I don't expect you to do that either." He spoke. "But I explicitly asked you about him, I asked you if you two were lovers, and if you had said yes, I would have been alright with it."

"Jax." I repeated his name. "It was a kiss. Ten years ago. That's hardly lovers."

"Then why didn't you tell me?" He came closer, and stood a couple of steps below me. "You said you were friends. Well, friends don't kiss."

"Come on, it could have been a dare." I noted. "Or seven minutes in heaven, or some other teenage bullshit."

"Was it?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well, no."

Jax turned around.

"Wait." I reached for him, touching his upper arm in the leather jacket. "I'll tell you what happened."

Jax faced me again, his jaw clenched. He didn't believe me. Dammit, he didn't believe me I'd tell him the truth even when I promised I would. He chewed the inside of his cheek, and after a few seconds, finally sighed.

"Okay. Tell me."

I sat on the cold stone, and even though I had nothing but Cherry's t-shirt on, I wasn't cold. Every inch of me was burning, and even the jeans and sneakers I had on felt like too much fabric. Jax sat next to me, and we stared at the street ahead.

"It was Dorian's seventeenth birthday." I began, my memories taking me back to that day, or night. "And my sister, Elena, wasn't there."

"Is that the one he's engaged to?" Jax interrupted. "You could have told me that as well. And what's the deal with Cherry? God, he's more twisted than I thought."

"Just let me speak." My voice sounded rougher than intended.

Jax breathed in sharply, "Go ahead."

"Anyway, Elena wasn't there." I continued, remembering how my stomach dropped the moment she said she wouldn't be coming, how frantically I went through Libby's closet, trying to find something to wear. "And without my older sister there, I was let off the leash."

A strained chuckle left my lips. So far, so true.

"And you were fifteen?"

"Fifteen and a half." I corrected, my mind jumping back to that moment, when I'd repeated multiple times that I was indeed fifteen and a half.

If you have to say 'and a half', you're too young. Shit. I shouldn't be remembering things he said that night.

"Anyway, I got a little drunk." I brushed it all off with a chuckle. "We all did, to be honest. One thing led to another, and I ended up with the spawn of Satan in his bedroom." My face distorted, "We kissed. Once. And it hasn't happened again since. Hell, I didn't think he even knew it was me."

Jax looked at the street, and I watched his profile, lit by orange streetlight. Anger seemed to have left him, but he still looked confused, and a little jealous, which frankly, I didn't completely mind.