Page 15 of Anyone But Me
It felt good to laugh with someone like this.
I had friends, but they were either friends from high school or college that I mostly had a texting relationship with or work friends that I really only talked to at work and an occasional happy hour.
At this point in my life, moments like this really only happened with my family, which was kind of sad when I thought about it.
“Everything okay? I feel like you’re suddenly a million miles away.”
I felt bad about the genuinely concerned look Jax was giving me. The last thing I wanted was for her to think she did anything wrong. “Everything is great. Seriously. I’m already having a really nice time.” I didn’t have to worry about Jax catching me lying, because I wasn’t.
After getting to the hotel, Jax checked in and was told our room would be ready within an hour. We left our carry-on bags with the receptionist who promised they would be sent to our room once it was ready, then finally headed to the restaurant to have our first real meal of the day.
The menu was huge, which wasn’t helpful at all since I was so hungry I wanted everything. “I can’t decide. It all looks so good.”
“Which two things look the best to you?”
Surprisingly, I only had to study the menu for another minute to narrow it down. “Probably the lobster macaroni and cheese and the buffalo chicken sandwich.” I looked across the table at Jax, who was looking at me with a smile I couldn’t quite read. “I know. Two very different options.”
Jax shook her head, but the smile stayed plastered to her face. “That’s not why I’m smiling. I’m smiling because those were the exact two things I was between. Want to split them?”
“Are you serious?” There was no way out of all the items on the menu we had both chosen the same things. Jax was probably making it up so that I didn’t have to make a decision.
“I’m dead serious.” Jax put a hand on her heart. “I swear on my friendship with your sister. You can text her right now and ask if I would ever lie on our friendship, because I wouldn’t. It’s sacred.”
I put both hands in the air. “Say no more. I believe you.”
I had truly never seen a friendship like the one between Olivia and Jax.
The best comparison I had was the relationship between my mom and my Uncle Jamie, who were friends even before my mom and mama got together.
It was hard to compare the two though since my mom and Jamie were now family, which obviously wasn’t the case with Jax and Olivia.
“Any idea what you want to do the rest of the night?”
I had to hold in a yawn just from the thought of doing anything. I knew we didn’t have much time, and Jax most likely wanted to take advantage of every minute we were here, but I would have been happy spending the night relaxing in our hotel room and preparing for the next day.
Before I could think of what to say, Jax spoke again. “Remember—this trip is all about you. Whatever you want to do, I’m completely in. Don’t choose what you think I would want.”
“Are you sure? Because the first thing that comes to mind is watching a movie in our hotel room and going to bed early.”
Jax shook her head as if she was disappointed, but the smallest smile parted her lips. “I thought I told you not to choose what you think I’d want.”
I laughed at her joke. “I highly doubt you wanted to stay in tonight.”
Jax shrugged. “I’d be down for anything, but honestly, staying in and watching a movie sounds fantastic.”
“And you don’t think it kind of ruins the point of the list seeing as how it’s supposed to make me more exciting and fun?”
“Carter, you don’t have to be doing something all the time to be fun. You came on this trip. You trusted me to lead us with no plans, which is something I couldn’t even get Olivia to do.”
“Wait. What?” My head shot up so I could look Jax straight in the eyes to see if she was telling the truth.
Jax nodded. “For years, I tried to convince your sister we should head to the airport and go wherever we could find seats. She wouldn’t agree to it.”
“Technically, I didn’t agree to it either.” I chuckled. “I didn’t realize you had made literally no plans until we were already in our rideshare.”
“But you didn’t jump out! You also didn’t murder me when we had to run through the airport, and you even seemed to enjoy the flight. I’d call that a win. Wouldn’t you?”
Her sweet words caused a feeling of pride to shoot through my body, and I sat a little taller. “You’re right.”
“I know.” Jax winked, causing my stomach to do that annoying flip again. “I’m always right.”
After eating way more than necessary, we got the keys to our room and headed up.
We watched the guide on the TV and realized there was nothing good to watch unless we paid twenty dollars for a movie.
I was about to give up and put on a random game show when I remembered I had brought my computer along in case I was motivated to write.
“If you’re okay with the small screen, I can stream a movie on my computer.”
“I’m okay with the small screen as long as you’re okay with sharing your bed. I’m not trying to watch from across the room.”
Before I could answer, Jax leaped up onto my bed and situated herself against the pillows. I pointed to where she was lying. “Sure. Make yourself at home.”
Jax closed her eyes and laid her head back. “Ah, perfect. I thought you’d never ask.”
I joined Jax on the bed and started my computer and after a bunch of back and forth, we decided to watch Tower of Terror .
“So, this movie is based on a ride here at Disney?” Jax asked as we watched.
“Yep. I think it was the first time a movie was based off of a ride instead of the other way around.”
“That’s really cool.” Jax kept her eyes glued to my computer screen as she continued to talk to me. “So, what happens on the ride?”
“It drops a bunch of times.”
“No way!” This time, Jax did look away from the screen to fix her wide eyes on me. The hotel room lights reflected off of her eyes, causing them to become an even more stunning blue than usual and making it impossible to look away. “I can’t wait to go on it.”
The excitement written all over her face made me almost forget one very important detail.
When I remembered, my eyes burned as if tears were about to fall.
It was an extreme reaction, but Jax looked so happy, I couldn’t bear the thought of squashing her excitement.
“That ride is actually at Hollywood Studios, not Magic Kingdom. We should totally go to Hollywood Studios instead though. It wouldn’t be right to show you the movie and not give you the chance to experience the ride. ”
If I wasn’t watching Jax so closely, I probably would have missed the way her lips dipped into a frown before quickly returning to a smile. “Absolutely not. Magic Kingdom is your favorite, so that’s the one we’re doing.”
“What if we flip a coin?” I knew Jax was too stubborn to change her mind, so this might be my only chance to actually get her what she really wanted.
“Wait a second.” Jax slapped her forehead. “I have an even better idea.”
She picked up her phone and started to type rapidly.
Every time I tried to look over her shoulder, she pulled the phone away so I couldn’t see what she was doing.
After a few grueling minutes, she finally held the phone out toward me.
The screen was showing a flight for that Friday that left at 10:30 p.m.
“I’m confused. What do flight times have to do with which park we go to?”
Jax tapped the phone screen. “If we take this flight, we don’t have to decide. We can do both. We’ll do Magic Kingdom tomorrow and Hollywood Studios on Friday.”
It would have been the perfect solution if it wasn’t for Jax’s work schedule. “That won’t work. You have to be at the cafe super early on Saturday.”
Jax scoffed. “That’s no big deal. It won’t be the first time I’ve gone in after getting very little sleep. At least I won’t be hungover.”
“I don’t know. A Disney hangover might honestly be worse than an alcohol hangover.”
“Or it might just be the best kind of hangover.”
With the way Jax’s eyes were sparkling in the light, there was no way I could say no. If this was really what she wanted, it was what we were going to do. “Fine. Let’s do it.”
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Jax wrapped her arms tightly around me and pulled me close.
The heat of our bodies made the room temperature seem to shoot up, and it continued to feel that way even after Jax pulled away.
That might have had something to do with the fact that even though she wasn’t hugging me anymore, she was still sitting much closer than she had been before.
She stayed like this for the rest of the movie, and instead of focusing on what was happening on my computer screen, all I could focus on was each and every spot Jax’s body was pressed up against mine.
I held my breath, desperate for the movie to end, but once it did and Jax moved to go to her own bed, the cool air hit me, and my body longed to be close to hers once again.
Since this trip was supposed to be all about not overthinking, I decided to ignore these feelings and go to bed. There was nothing to overthink anyway. Right?