Southern Storms

by Cherry, Brittainy

  After we had a little too much to drink, Jax placed his hands behind his head and looked up toward the sky. “I don’t want to be like him,” he confessed. “Like my father. Amanda said that earlier, and she said it a few weeks back, too. I’m sure people in this town think I’m like him, but I don’t want to be. He was a monster.”

  “You’re not your father.”

  He shook his head. “You haven’t known me for years. You can’t really say that.”

  “Yes, I can.”

  “How so?”

  “Because your character hasn’t changed throughout the years. You are the same gentle boy you were before. This town, these people don’t see it, though, because they are too stuck on their prejudices and judgmental ways based on a tragedy that happened years ago. What they don’t see is the kindness in your eyes, the way you help people when they aren’t looking, the way you give yourself to those who are in need, the way you care so quietly. You’re the same beautiful soul I loved all those years before, Jax, and you are nothing like your father.”

  He closed his eyes. “Promise?”

  I placed my hand on his thigh. “Promise.”

  His eyes opened quickly and fell to my hand. “Every time you do that, I feel as if I’m waking up again.”

  “Do what?”

  “Touch me.”

  I swallowed hard at his words, and I wasn’t sure if it was the whiskey or the swirl of emotions inside me that was making my mind spin. “I missed you, Moon,” I confessed.

  “I missed you more. I missed your light so damn much. I’d been living in darkness for so long…I missed you…”

  “What did you mean before when you said you tried to hate me?”

  “Because you stopped writing,” he explained. “I felt like when your letters stopped coming, I didn’t want to care about you anymore. After I lost my mother, I needed your letters, and when they stopped, I wanted to hate you. I hated myself more, though, because I was certain you stopped writing because of what I told you about what happened to my mom. I figured you thought I was a murderer.”

  I gasped and my eyes narrowed. “I never received those letters from you.”

  “What?”

  “Jax, you stopped writing me. I never received any letters about what happened to your mother, or what happened to you. I mean, hell, I kept writing you for a whole year after your letters stopped coming. I showed up to summer camp, hoping you’d be waiting there for me with answers. I would’ve never stopped writing you, and I would’ve never thought those awful things about you.”

  Confusion lined his features. “You wrote me?”

  “Yes. I was heartbroken when your letters stopped coming.” I sat up in the driver’s seat and turned toward him. “I would’ve been there for you, Jax. I would’ve forced my parents to drive me to wherever you were so I could help you grieve. I would’ve been by your side.”

  “You were my sun,” he said. “After your letters stopped, the world became that much darker.”

  I took his hands in mine and squeezed them. “I’m so sorry you went through that. I hate that you spent that time thinking I turned on you. I would never do that. You were my moon, my best friend.”

  He looked down at our interlaced hands. “Can I tell you a secret?”

  “Anything.”

  “The day I realized it was you, it turned back on.”

  “What turned back on?”

  “My heart.”

  22

  Jax

  After the drunken night in the convertible, Kennedy and I were inseparable. I began showing her all the things Havenbarrow had to offer. Oddly enough, I kind of began to enjoy the stupid-ass town, too. It was easier to find enjoyment in things when you had someone like Kennedy to experience them with.

  Each day we hung out, she forced me to go to the coffee shop to greet Marshmallow—against my better judgment. That stupid cat loved on her and hissed at me. When we weren’t together, I was planning our next adventures. I wanted her to see the world of Havenbarrow with me right beside her.

  I spent years not having Kennedy around me, and now I was determined to make up for all the lost time.

  “Favorite ice cream flavor on the count of three,” Kennedy said as we sat in the woods one Sunday morning, eating granola bars and watching the birds fly by. “One, two, three!”

  “Blue moon!” I shouted.

  “Cherry chip!” she exclaimed. She pointed my way and gasped. “Oh my gosh! Who likes blue moon? What flavor is that anyway? Honestly, blue moon? What does that even mean?”

  “It means it’s a delicious ice cream that tastes like heaven. It’s as if Froot Loops had a love child with cotton candy.”

  She laughed, and it sounded beautiful. “That sounds disgusting.”

  “You’re wrong. If you tried it, you’d be just as in love with it as I am.”

  “That sounds like a challenge, and I decided a long time ago that I’d never pass up ice cream challenges.”

  I rose to my feet and held my hand out to her. “Come on, then. The ice cream shop in town has the best blue moon in the world. Sure, it’s the only blue moon I’ve ever had, but I’m certain it’s the best.”

  She took my hand, and away we went. The night was perfect, so instead of driving into town, we chose to walk. The whole way there, Kennedy went on and on about anything and everything, and I listened to every syllable that left her mouth. When we got in line for the ice cream, I heard people around us whispering, but I didn’t think too much about it.

  I couldn’t have cared less what the smallminded thought about the idea of Kennedy hanging out with me. They no longer got to define me. Only I did.

  “Hi, we’ll take two cones with two scoops each of blue moon,” Kennedy said as we approached the front counter. She reached into her purse to pay, and when I went to pull out my credit card, she shoved it away. “Not this time, Moon. It’s on me.”

  She paid for our ice cream, and we went back to our walk. On our way, we were stopped by the twins from Stephen King’s The Shining. They were wearing matching outfits. Matching fucking outfits. Honestly, what kind of grown women were out here matching their fucking outfits?

  “Oh my, hi there, Kennedy,” Kate said in her singsong fake voice. She glanced over at me. “Jax.”

  “Kate. Louise,” I mumbled, not the least bit interested in the conversation that was about to take place.

  “Out for a little sweet treat?” Louise questioned, eyeing the cones in our hands. “That looks delicious. I might have to get me a scoop once I’m off this keto diet. Doesn’t that look delicious, Kate?”

  “It looks like a carb attack if you ask me,” her sister replied. Then she turned to Kennedy. “Now, I don’t mean to pry, but there have been a lot of rumors going around town about the two of you.”

  “Oh?” Kennedy asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

  “Why, yes it is. You’re the talk of Havenbarrow. Just like celebrities, it seems.” She giggled. Why is she giggling? “Now, I don’t want to get into your business. If anything, Louise and I pride ourselves on staying out of other people’s affairs, but is it true?”

  “Is what true?” Kennedy asked.

  Louise nudged her. “You know—that you two are in a relationship? Or is it just a fling? Maybe like sex buddies. Friends with benefits? I know he’s doing your lawn work, so perhaps you two have grown closer during that time. I’m not prying, but I am curious if the two of you are—”

  “Woof!”

  My eyes widened as I turned to Kennedy, who was looking at the twins with wide eyes. And she…barked. Fuck me sideways, Kennedy Lost was barking at the twins, and it officially became the highlight of my life.

  The look of fear on both Kate’s and Louise’s faces would be forever glued in my head.

  Kennedy kept barking at them as they began to back up slowly, completely confused by her actions.

  So I did the only thing I could think to do.

  I barked at them, too.
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br />   They scurried away like the roaches they were, and I was sure the news of said barking would be revealed at the next town meeting. For some reason, that pleased me.

  “I could’ve really used you in this town years ago,” I joked.

  “I’m not leaving any time soon, so I’ll have to work on deepening my growls.” She finally had a chance to lick at the ice cream that was beginning to melt down her hands. Her whole body froze as her eyes widened in shock. “Holy crap! That tastes like everything good in this world.”

  “I told you!”

  “No, seriously. It’s better than sex.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve been having sex with the wrong people.”

  She giggled, and her cheeks turned slightly red. “Whatever. All I’m saying is you were right.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “Wait—I need to hear you say that again. It has a nice ring to it.”

  “I’m never saying those words again, so keep them in your memories.”

  I poked at her side. “Say it again.”

  “No.” She giggled, swirling away from me. “Never.” I began tickling her side, and she squeaked. “Stop it!”

  “Not until you say it again.”

  “Neverrrr!” she dragged out as I began tickling her more and more until she surrendered. “Okay, okay, you were right!” she exclaimed, tossing her hands up in the air, and as her hand went up, so did her ice cream cone, which she released from her grip. As everyone knows, what went up had to come down.

  Right on top of my head.

  Kennedy stepped back, her face red from holding in her laughter as melted blue moon dripped down my skin, making the mess of all messes all over my head.

  Her hands landed on her hips as her chuckles began to slip out. “If that’s not the best form of instant karma, I don’t know what is.” She wiped my cheek with her finger where the ice cream was melting then licked it off.

  And if she hadn’t been so fucking adorable and sexy as she licked her finger, I might’ve had enough nerve to be upset, but I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do anything but smile like a fool.

  “You think you’re funny, huh?” I smirked, shaking my head and knocking the cone to the ground.

  “I’m a regular comedian. It’s just funny, you know, because blue moon is currently covering Moon. It’s like you two were meant to be one. It was a part of your desti—Jax!” she screamed as I smeared my cone on top of her head. For a second, I had a moment of panic that she’d be pissed about my action, but once I saw her cheeks rise higher and heard her laughter burst into the sky, my heart beat faster and faster.

  I start laughing with her, uncontrollably, to the point that my sides began to ache. What made it even funnier were the odd looks we received from everyone around us. Then, once we gathered ourselves, Kennedy looked up at me with a wide smile, placed her hands on her hips, and struck a pose.

  “How do I look?”

  “Sweet,” I replied. I stepped toward her and brushed my finger along her bottom lip, where ice cream was dripping. I did it without thought. My body simply moved toward hers as if there was a magnetic pull. I couldn’t step away. My eyes were fixated on her mouth as she slowly slid her tongue across her bottom lip, tasting the ice cream coating her skin.

  I wanted to taste it, too. I wanted to revel in the sweetness on her lips.

  Somehow I grew closer, and Kennedy’s messy hands lay against my chest, resting over my messy heart. Her eyes were on me, and I wondered if she could feel it—the crazy beating that resided inside me.

  “Jax…”

  “Yeah?”

  “Are you thinking…?”

  “Yeah. And you’re thinking…?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Within seconds, her lips were on mine, and I kissed her hard, as if I’d been waiting all these years to rediscover her mouth on mine. She tugged on my shirt, pulling me in. Everything around us went silent as I began losing myself in her kiss, in her lips, her tongue, her heartbeats.

  So sweet.

  So fucking sweet. I felt as if I were flying even though my feet remained on solid ground.

  It was a kiss made in heaven, and I was thankful for it regardless of my past sins. I needed Kennedy Lost to come back to me. I needed her to find me after all this time. Part of me felt foolish for feeling so much after living a life where I felt nothing at all. Perhaps this was all a dream, nothing more than me losing my mind and falling into a mirage of hopeful fantasy. But I didn’t care. I didn’t care if it was fake or if it was real; I just knew she was the first thing in my life that made me feel alive. I kissed her as if time was running out. I kissed her for our yesterdays, and I kissed her for tomorrow. And then I kissed her again.

  If she was a dream, I planned to sleep forever.

  * * *

  We went back to her house that night, and she invited me in to get cleaned up. We took off our shoes in the foyer, and she led me to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and took off her clothes, leaving her bra and panties on. For a second, I thought I was back in my fucked-up snowman dream as I watched her step inside the shower.

  “I figured this is the best way to get the stickiness off of our skin,” she said as my dick twitched from the sight of her.

  Yup. Any second now it was going to start snowing over our heads.

  She waved me over, and I suspiciously took off my clothes, too, only leaving my boxers on. The water raced over us, and I couldn’t stop staring at her. She was so fucking beautiful in every single way. The way her wet bra and panties clung to her skin made me want to rip them off of her body, but I controlled my desires.

  Truthfully, just standing near her felt like a gift I didn’t deserve.

  “Hands,” she said.

  I held mine out toward her. She squirted shampoo into my palms and then added some to her own, and we began shampooing each other’s hair. As the sugary ice cream melted off our skin, I wanted nothing more than to push her up against the wall and slide so deep inside of her that she’d have no other option but to cry out my name.

  Instead, I stayed still, taking my cues from her.

  When we finished rinsing the shampoo out of our hair, she tilted her head up to look at me. Her full lips were rosy and her cheeks were high as she smiled my way.

  “Basorexia?” she whispered as our lips slightly parted.

  “Basorexia,” I replied.

  Our lips fell together, and they stayed that way all night.

  23

  Jax

  “You’re happy,” Joy commented as we sat on her front porch for our morning coffee. It was going to be a busy day with plumbing jobs around town, so I was thankful to take a few moments with her to ease into the day.

  I was also thankful for being able to wake with Kennedy beside me in her bed. We hadn’t had sex, but we had stayed up late into the night talking and kissing and kissing some more. When she fell asleep in my arms, I knew I wouldn’t ever be able to let her go again.

  I smiled over at Joy and nodded. “I am.” Her eyes watered, and I laughed. “Don’t cry, Joy.”

  “Happy tears, sweetheart,” she said, patting my hand. “Just happy tears. You know, you’re like the grandson I was never able to have. You mean the world to me, and all I ever wanted was for you to be happy.”

  “Thank you, Joy, for always being there for me.”

  “That’s what family does, honey. We stay together through the good days and bad.”

  Even though she wasn’t my blood relative, Joy Jones had been the biggest part of my family over the past few years. After Derek left, I felt very alone. If it wasn’t for her, I might’ve never made it to the place I was today. I’d never be able to show her enough gratitude for the way she loved me even when I didn’t have a clue how to love myself.

  I looked down at the cup of coffee in my hands. “Part of me feels like this good feeling doesn’t belong to me…as if the universe placed it on me and is going to take it back when it realizes I don’t deserve it.”

/>   “If there’s anyone in this world who deserves this good feeling, it’s you, Jax. Don’t spoil it by thinking about what could go wrong. Don’t wash it away trying to figure out the ins and outs of the future. Be here now with life, because right now is all we have. Take it from this old fart—happiness stays where you allow it to be.”

  The sun beamed down on us as I snickered to myself and shook my head. “Is it crazy that I think I’m falling in love with her?”

  “The best thing in life that we can ever do is be brave enough to love. Fall in love with her, and then don’t you ever stop—although I will have an issue if you don’t make it over to watch The Bachelor with me. That’s when your love for Kennedy begins to cross the line.”

  I laughed until I saw the stern look on her face. The daggers Joy was shooting me were enough to scare me straight.

  I was determined to never miss an episode of The Bachelor with her for the rest of her life. Besides, it was our tradition. I didn’t have many traditions in my life; therefore, I was going to hold the ones I did have close to me.

  * * *

  Ever since I’d picked Connor up for the workday, he’d been smiling from cheek to cheek, staring at me as if I’d taken home an Olympic gold medal.

  “Why do you keep staring at me like that?” I asked.

  “You did it, didn’t you?” Connor mocked as we pulled up to our first job at Gary’s Café. “You put your lime in her coconut, didn’t you?!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger toward me.

  “What the hell are you talking about?” I grumbled, shaking my head.

  “I’m talking about you and Kennedy boning each other! I can tell by the grimace on your face.”

  I cocked an eyebrow. “You can tell by my grimace that I slept with someone? That seems backward.”

  “It might sound that way to the average person, but I for one am trained to know the grimaces of Jax Kilter—and this is a happy grimace! Plus! You let me get in your truck and put on the top forty radio station. You hate pop music, but I swore you were humming along to Taylor Swift.”