Page 59

"Why. Tell me why you did it."

He honestly seems confused. "What do you mean? She was a little old lady living alone on a mountain. What kind of asshole would I have to be not to help her out?"

The kind of asshole he's always pretended to be. But I can see through the act now. He isn't. He never was.

Even though it's the right answer, I'm unsatisfied. I shake my head. "That's not it. Why?"

"You want the truth?"

"That's all I've ever wanted."

I wanted him not to pretend to hate me all through middle school. I want him not to have lied about his crush on me.

I want him to stop hiding the fact that he's actually a decent guy.

The mask, already slipping, finally cracks.

"Because she was good to me." His gaze goes distant and soft. "You wouldn't know. After you left, my family life went to shit. My dad left. My mom kept getting laid off. But your grandma would come by where I was working after school and leave me stuff. Not take the right change. Accidentally overbuy and tell me to keep the extra. Things like that. She was a nice lady, okay?"

His eyes shine, and it strikes me. This is the second most vulnerable he's ever let himself be in front of me.

The first time was when he admitted that he liked me, and I didn't react well. I was certainly within my rights to be shocked, to need some time to process. But I left him hanging.

And this guy—this asshole—this man who taunted me when I was a child…

He's just a person. Broken and uncertain, scarred by combat and loyal to his friends.

It's time for me to forgive him.

There's just one last thing I need to know.

I nudge the chip a little closer to the middle of the table. But I don't quite put it in. "What's your buy in to this game?"

He refused to tell me earlier, and there's got to be a reason for it.

He looks me straight in the eyes. Quietly, he admits, "The fact that I saved every single person in this room's life. They won't take my money from me after that."

My heart swells. My throat feels too big, and my vision goes a little hazy.

This man.

Without another moment's hesitation, I push my chip into the pile.

But then, too gruffly, Jax says, "I fold."

He pushes the huge pile my way, and that's it. That's the end of the game. I have enough money and enough skill that I'm not going to need another buy in tonight.

Which means he's offering me a choice. I can go kiss him because I want to, or the game carries on exactly how it was.

It's really no choice at all.

Without a moment's hesitation, I shove the pile of chips aside and climb up onto the table.

Cards and chips go flying as I crawl over them. Applause and congratulations ring out and—if I'm not mistaken—there are actual, honest-to-god sighs or relief.

But they all fade into the background as I position myself in front of this guy whose smirk has wound me up from day one. I reach for his collar, and his smirk turns into the most charming, happy grin. When I haul him in, he goes willingly.

I pause with him an inch from my face. "My chips all fell on the floor," I say breathily. "Think you can spot me?"