Page 32 of Anyone But Me

Bobby’s eyes dropped to the ground, where Speck was standing in between me and Jax. “And this must be the infamous Speck, huh?”

I patted Speck’s head. “It sure is.”

As Bobby and Joy got down on Speck’s level and showered him with attention, Jax and I both smiled over at each other at the exact same time.

With how intense the spark of electricity was that passed between us, there was no way I was the only one who felt it.

How could I be? It felt like I had been shocked, and the sensation ran throughout my whole body.

“Oh, sweetie, you must be starving,” Joy said as she stood to her feet, ripping my attention away from Jax and putting an abrupt end to our moment.

“Come into the kitchen. Dinner is all ready. I hope you don’t mind Thanksgiving food again.

We had so many leftovers from having family over yesterday, it felt like such a waste to make something else. ”

“Thanksgiving food sounds perfect.”

It also smelled perfect as I walked into the kitchen.

Sitting on the counter were serving bowls filled with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and corn.

If they had all of this food left over , I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much they had for Thanksgiving dinner.

I piled my plate with a little of each item, then took a seat next to Jax at their small kitchen table.

There was a dining room attached to the kitchen that had a very large table with at least ten seats surrounding it, but Jax told me they only ate there on holidays.

When it was just the three of them (or just one or two guests) they preferred the intimate setting the kitchen provided.

It turned out, Jax’s parents were two of the most down to earth older adults I ever met. It made sense why Jax was the way she was. Her parents were easy to talk to, and they seemed genuinely interested in the answers to all of the questions they asked me.

After dinner, her dad showed me his favorite room of the house, which was a home theater, complete with a projector and large screen, as well as an old-fashioned popcorn maker. Instead of movie theater style chairs, there was a very large sectional couch and two recliners.

“I know the perfect thing for us to watch,” Jax’s dad said with a grin that told me he was up to no good.

Jax must have noticed too, because she groaned loudly. “Seriously, Dad? Don’t even think about it.”

As if he didn’t hear her, Bobby continued his walk back to the computer that was currently attached to the projector.

“It’s a rite of passage for parents to embarrass their children,” he said as he scrolled through the computer, clearly on a mission to find something specific.

“Someday when you have your own children, you’ll be able to do the same to them. ”

Jax groaned again. “Please just don’t do the potty dance video.”

A wide smile spread across my face when I realized what was going on. “Oh, no, I insist. Please do the potty dance video.”

Bobby pointed at me. “She’s the guest. I have to respect her wishes.”

Jax attempted to glare at me, but she quickly cracked a smile. “I hate you.” She pointed at her upturned lips. “Don’t let this fool you. I really do.”

I looked at her lips and had to stop myself from licking my own. I forced my eyes away and smirked at Jax. “No you don’t.”

“You’re right.” Jax pointed a finger at me. “But tread lightly.”

“Everyone, please be seated,” Jax’s dad said from the back of the room.

Jax’s mom took a seat on the recliner and Jax motioned for me to follow her to the sectional.

I sat farther away from her than I normally would.

Even though the way we normally watched movies was completely innocent, it still somehow felt disrespectful to cuddle Bobby and Joy’s daughter right in front of them.

Jax’s dad started the video, which started out with just a shot of a door.

He slipped into the other recliner as little, but loud screams tore from the speakers.

The bathroom door in the video flew open and a tiny Jax proudly strolled out.

Her eyes were closed, and her head was held high.

Her bleach blonde hair was sticking out all over the place as if it had never once seen a hairbrush.

Jax’s eyes suddenly popped wide open, looking like saucers on her tiny face.

“I pooped!” She brought her hands in the hair and started waving them around while she kicked her feet and spun in circles, which appeared to be the potty dance they were talking about since she kept chanting, “I pooped! I pooped! I pooped!”

A younger, less gray Bobby joined Jax on camera and spun her around in circles, chanting with her about pooping while dipping her.

When he lifted her back up, he began to tickle her and Jax let out the cutest giggle as she tried to escape from him.

I didn’t even realize what I was doing until my body was smushed up against Jax’s.

We both smiled at each other at the same time once again, and I couldn’t stop myself from pushing a piece of hair behind her ear. “You were so cute,” I whispered.

“Was or still am?” Jax whispered back.

I stared at her for a long time, a mix of feelings swirling through my stomach. There was only one right answer, but speaking it out loud felt like crossing some line I shouldn’t be crossing. At least, not yet. Not before I was ready. I nodded my head, because that felt like the safe thing to do.

Jax chuckled lightly enough that only I could hear it. “It wasn’t a yes or no question.”

Her breath hit my ear and caused a chill to run down my spine. When I looked at Jax again, I couldn’t hold the words in anymore. “Now, you’re beautiful.”

Jax stared at me silently, and I watched her throat move up and down as she swallowed hard. “S-so are you.”

She didn’t sound as confident as usual, but that made her words come across even more sincerely.

I could tell she really meant them. I felt it in my bones.

I naturally started leaning closer to Jax, and she did the same.

Our lips were a whisper away from each other when Bobby’s booming laughter jolted us apart.

Shit. I totally forgot Jax’s parents were in the room with us.

I was in such a haze that when I tried to search for them to figure out what they had seen, it was like I was looking through a fog.

When I was finally able to focus on each of them, I saw that their eyes were glued to the large screen in front of them.

Jax’s dad clapped his hands together as he continued to laugh at Little Jax.

I settled back into the couch and took a deep breath. Damn, that was close.

We spent the rest of the night watching home videos, some from holidays and some of performances Jax had apparently insisted on putting on for her parents.

Just shy of two hours later, Jax’s parents announced they were going to bed and instructed us to get some sleep so we were ready to head to the slopes early.

“Want a tour?” Jax asked as her parents headed up to their bedroom which was apparently on the third floor.

“Sure.”

Jax decided it made the most sense to start at the top and make our way down, so she first took me up to the third floor, which had her parents’ bedroom, a sitting room, two bathrooms, and a guest room.

Jax told me this was the most boring floor of the house, so we didn’t spend much time there before heading to the second floor.

Jax started by showing me the bathroom, guest room, and two offices, before leading me to her room.

When she opened the door, I wasn’t surprised at all by what I found.

Pictures of Jax with so many different people were taped haphazardly all over her walls.

One wall in particular was covered pretty much from top to bottom with pictures that appeared to start in middle school and go through college.

As I stared at the pictures, I couldn’t believe how many different people Jax knew.

I obviously knew she was social, but this was a whole other level.

I turned to take in the rest of the room and found an unmade Queen-sized bed with a rainbow comforter. There were night stands on both sides of the bed and each was covered with cups, candy wrappers, and an assortment of other random things.

Across from the bed was a long dresser with a huge TV sitting on top of it. There was also a chair in the room, but I couldn’t tell anything about it because it was covered with clothes.

“I know, it’s a mess,” Jax said.

I shook my head. “I like it. It’s very you.”

Jax chuckled. “So, what you’re saying is that I’m a mess.”

I walked over to her and placed my hands on her arms. What the hell has come over me? Whatever it was, it was too late to stop it now. “What I’m saying is that you’re perfect just the way you are.”

Jax opened and closed her mouth a bunch of times like she couldn’t figure out how to respond to that. Apparently, I had finally rendered her speechless. After a few more seconds, she pointed her thumb toward the door. “Let me show you the best part of the house.”

I followed her downstairs where she very quickly showed me what she called the family room, which had another large TV, and a couch that looked like a cloud, and a room she called the den, with a desk, a sleeper sofa, and a small TV.

While we walked through another long hallway, I knew what was coming, because I could smell it.

The smell of chlorine became stronger the closer we got to the large glass double doors at the end of the hallway.

Inside was a pool that was the size of what you’d expect to see in someone’s backyard.

The room was completely surrounded by glass, and when Jax hit a switch, I got a view of the pool that was even bigger outside.

“Holy shit,” I said without meaning to.