Page 172 of One Bad Idea

He was quiet for a long moment. And then, he said, "Not great. But Morgan, she'll be alright, as soon as she figures out what she wants."

I pulled back to meet his gaze. "Oh,Iknow what she wants, or rather,whoshe wants."

But already, Jaden was shaking his head. "Nah. She just thinks that's what she wants. Trust me, I'd make her as miserable as Jax did." He grimaced. "And shit, who wants sloppy seconds after their brother?"

He looked so disturbed that it made me laugh. "Sorry," I said. "It's just the look on your face."

"If you thinkthislook is bad," he said, "you should've seen me when I found her."

I winced. "That bad, huh?"

"Well, it wasn't good."

"Can I ask you a question?" I said. "Why'd you leave the mask in the first place?"

"You mean in my office?"

I shook my head. "No. Notyouroffice.Myoffice."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I found it on my desk that night, so I guess I'm just wondering what the joke was."

"The joke?"

"Well, you know how we were leaving things on each other's desks. I guess when it came to the mask, I didn't quite get it."

"That's because it was no joke."

"What?"

"You want the truth?"

I nodded.

He gave me the hint of a smile. "I didn't know I left it."

I stared up at him. "So youdidn'tleave it on my desk? Is that what you're saying?"

"No. If you say it was there, I believe you. I'm just saying, I don't remember leaving it."

"So who did?"

He gave a rueful laugh. "Probably me."

"But wait, you just told me—"

"That I didn’trememberleaving it. But that night, Iwasin there."

"You mean in my office?"

His voice grew quiet. "Yeah."

"So, what am I missing?"

"That Friday, you know what Jax and I did, right?"

It was funny to think that we'd never discussed this. But I knew exactly why. Everything about that whole weekend had been such a nightmare that I hadn't really wanted to re-live it.