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Reece arched a brow "Man, I don’t knohat you got going on here," he said, and my spine stiffened "But you need to stay out of any shit with Isaiah"

"I’m already in shit with Isaiah, because of this place, and you know this" Jax tilted his chin up "And it’s not my shit I’m worried about"

Oh

"Okay Who is Isaiah?" I asked, deter "And why is the word shit included with his name a lot?"

Reece’s lips formed a half smile "He’s a bit of a problem around here Usually runs in circles in Philly, but his stink has traveled far and wide"

"Drugs," Jax added, voice low

I thought about the heroin Oh shit

"I’ll have soaze to Jax "Make sure he understands that Mona is not Calla’s proble a fraction of an inch

So did I "ThanksI think"

Reece chuckled

Raising an arood closing the bar down tonight?"

She nodded "Sure"

"I’ to be here," I tossed at hiot hours left on my shift"

"Not any rabbed a bottle of brown liquor "We’re going to scratch out one of those ‘never done before’ things tonight"

"What?" I shrieked

Roxy’s grin spread into a full sht on"

Twelve

One would think that Isaiah, whohisproblem at hand, but because I specialized in duaze shifted frolasses Jax had also taken froe pain in rin that ainst the counter, well-defined arms folded across his chest

An attractive pain in ain, for probably the tenth time We’d been back at the house for about fortyhim various reasons as to why I couldn’t

Not once did he lose his patience

Not once did he get angry

Not once did heto drink

Not once did I not have to stophi out of excuses, and lasses I sed, frustrated andjust really frustrated It wasn’t like I never wanted to drink I wanted to I wanted to experience what everyone and their reat unknown to reat unknown to me

I wanted to throw myself on the floor and roll around like a toddler, likeaze flickered to his I liked it when he calledon the dumb tier cake Our eyes collided, and those thick lashes, those eyes, those eyebrows, and that face

Fuck

If being distracted by a hot guy with a beautiful face nized that about myself

"Is it because of Mona?" he asked

Whoa The force of hiht on the nail caused me to take a step back I hit the chair at the table, and its legs rattled against the floor "What?" I whispered

He pushed off the counter, ar to his side "Is it because of your mom? Because of how she is?"

Holy holes in the moon, my feet were rooted to the floor as I stared up at Jax I hadn’t known hiot it Just like that Might have so to do with the fact that he knew my mom when no one--not Teresa or Avery--had ever laid eyes on her or had a chance to experience the wonder of Mona

It was because of my mom That wasn’t a surprise to me, but to hear him hit it like that floored s when she was drunk or high I’d seen horrific and huh She never had any control when she was like that Hell, she never had any control before then, but it orse when she was drinking or popping pills She was the reason I didn’t do a lot of things and I wanted complete control, because I

I never wanted to be her

I wasn’t her

I would never be her

My feettoward the counter, I brushed past Jax and I felt hiers trelass

I turned to where Jax stood, lass to my lips

Just one shot Ha! Fa on the floor, onthe half-empty bottle of liquor to my chest My eyes were closed There was a warm, electric blanket coiled up in hsince kicked offon if I wanted to take my shirt off or not I had a tank top on underneath, but sitting up, raising my arms, seemed like it required too ht touch, traveled overthe electric blanket inin my blood to hum louder "TequilaJax, tequila is" I ran out of words, becausewell, words were so hard to think up and string together

"Aweso his hand back

I opened s stretched out in front of him with his back pressed to the couch We were only a couple of inches apart, and I didn’t re on the floor, but I do know that he’d gotten down there with me immediately

"Calla?"

"Hain He reached over, tapping ht, aren’t I?"