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Axell throws the covers off his body and charges down the hallway to confirm what I just said.

He re-enters our bedroom mumbling a string of curse words while grabbing his phone off the charger from the nightstand.

Between the two of us we quickly rule out him being at any of the brother’s houses or at Monrowe’s, but we did discover she too is missing.

Minutes later Bowie, Jagger, and Ace enter the house, joining Axell as they go in search of their youngest James brother. Axell presses a kiss to the top of my head. “We’ll be back. Try not to worry.”

I watch as they all leave. He can tell me not to worry, but I will. An hour later but what feels like an eternity, they return helping a very drunk Jovi through the front door. “He’s going to regret this tomorrow,” Jagger says, as he and Axell walk him to the bathroom.

Bowie stops in the hallway and shakes his head.

“Damn kid, Apparently, he and Monrowe had been on the phone and they got into an argument, so he went over to her place. She didn’t want to wake her parents, so she snuck out and they ended up at the beach.

She claimed she didn’t know where he got the beer since he already had it when he picked her up.

She took the keys from him afraid that he’d try to drive. ”

I nod, trying to absorb that Jovi is drunk. I never thought I’d see that day or at least not for a while. “Where’s Ace?” I ask, just realizing that he’s not with them

“He went to get Kynlee, so she could drive Jovi’s car back. Monrowe’s parents came and picked her up,” Bowie explains.

I hear the shower start to run and Jovi cursing like a madman once he’s pushed under the stream of water, no doubt that it’s still cold.

Bowie walks down the hallway to join his brothers in the bathroom while I go to the kitchen to find some Tylenol and water.

As I’m heading to Jovi’s room, I hear the distinct sound of vomiting.

Ace and Kynlee walk in. “Where’s his dumbass?” Ace asks, as he passes by the bedroom.

“The bathroom, but why don’t you wait until tomorrow to get on to him?

I’m sure you all want to because I also want to, but he won’t remember it tomorrow.

It’s better to wait and do it while he’s sober.

Also, we might want to try and figure out what brought this on.

This isn’t like him,” I tell Ace and Kynlee.

Ace shakes his head, “No, it’s not. I think that’s why I’m so angry. He’s the smart one. He’s not supposed to make the same mistakes we all did.”

I laugh. “He’s a boy and on top of that he’s a James boy, he’ll make a lot of the same mistakes you guys did, but he’ll learn quicker.”

“God, I hope so,” Ace says, while running a hand through his hair. Kynlee squeezes his bicep and it warms my heart to see how supportive she is to Ace. I worried he’d never find anyone.

The guys get Jovi into bed while I give him the Tylenol and make him drink some water.

Axell and I thank the rest for coming to help before saying good night to everyone.

Axell and I make our way back to our bedroom.

“Well, I never thought I’d have to go through that until we had a kid of our own.

Jovi just always seemed so together, I think it shocked all of us for a minute.

I mean, I don’t think the damn kid has ever broken a rule. ”

We must have fallen asleep at some point last night, because I wake up on Axell’s side of the bed without him. Rolling over, I see him up and pacing the floor with coffee in his hand. “You okay?”

He stops and turns to look at me, “Yeah, I’m okay.

Just trying to think of how we are going to handle this.

” I get up from the bed and walk over to Axell wrapping my arms around him.

After a few moments he presses a kiss to the top of my head and leaves the bedroom.

Grabbing my robe, I quickly follow. Axell barges into Jovi’s room and yanks the shades open.

“Rise and shine!” his voice booms as he claps his hands loudly.

Jovi rolls over and groans. “Really? You have to be kidding me!”

Axell chuckles. “I kid you not baby brother. Get your ass out of bed. You are going to shower, take your mom to lunch like you planned, then you are coming home and working around the house the rest of this week.”

Jovi is sitting up. “What work around the house?”

“I’ll make you a damn list and after you’re done here you will work extra at the shop.”

“Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Jovi asks.

“No!” Axell’s voice booms so loudly that even I cringe away from it. “You scared the hell out of us last night. You are grounded until further notice. Now, get up and get ready.”

Jovi stands, but he doesn’t look happy about it. “Will you get off my case?”

A harsh laugh escapes from Axell “Are you going to tell that to your drill sergeant, because I’m pretty sure if you do, you won’t last longer than a week in the Marines. Maybe you should consider a different path if you don’t like someone on your case.

“Marines?” I ask, as if that could change the words I just heard. Jovi wants to join the Marines? That’s why he wanted to go to lunch. He mentioned he wanted to tell me something.

Jovi throws his hands up in the air. “Great, thanks a lot!” Jovi storms out of the bedroom, past me, and straight to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

“He wants to join the Marines?” I ask Axell.

Axell rubs his hands over his face. “Yes, I’m sorry I shouldn’t have done that. He didn’t want to tell you like that and I had no right to do that.”

“Are you okay with him enlisting?”

“Yeah, I am. If that’s what he really wants then yes,” Axell replies.

I shake my head. “But it’s dangerous.”

“Sadie, it’s just as dangerous here. If he’s here he’ll start racing, it’s in his blood.

He’s been itching to race for years now.

I’m surprised we’ve managed to hold him off this long.

At least in the Marines he’s being paid, getting an education, and creating a future for himself in the midst of that danger. ”

I don’t know if I can handle the thought of Jovi enlisting. “I have to go see Seth and try to fix things with him. Tell Jovi I’ll come by and pick him up for lunch.”