Lies for Truth

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Jax felt his chest tighten; if Ariana was asking questions then he wasn’t being careful with his secret. He knew he had said too much in the car and tried to get out of there before she could pick up on it. Apparently it had only been a band aid on the problem because here were the questions.

He wanted to tell her, he wanted to tell her everything but he couldn’t risk it. He didn’t want to lose her and the truth would affect their whole family. As much as he hated it Jax had to continue to lie.

“The cut wasn’t that serious, I promise. When I was taking a walk out back I got scratched on one of the branches.”  That was the first lie of many he knew he’d have to tell her. He couldn’t realistically tell her he got that cut from when she hit him with a branch defending Charlie. “And I’m not worried about us being pregnant because when I was a kid there was an accident and the doctors told me I wouldn’t be able to have kids easily.” That made sense, he had read a book that had that in it. He had to lie because again the truth would only lead to too many more questions. He could only have children with others like him. Those with lycanthrope heritage.  

Ariana frowned as she came over and sat next to him on the bed. “You never told me and we spent a lot of time talking.” She felt bad now for pushing him into admitting what seemed like a painful truth.

On the other hand Jax felt like an ass for making her feel guilt she shouldn’t have. “It’s fine. You’re right I should’ve said something.” Jax leaned in and kissed her, wishing they could be together in all the ways he wanted. Their parents weren’t their only obstacles, there was so much in the way and he knew when the time came he had to give her up it wouldn’t be easy if at all possible.

He felt her sigh, letting go of her doubts concerning his honesty as she leaned into him. Jax ran his hand through her hair and pulled her close to his chest, his other hand moved under her skirt. It was easy for such a simple kiss to turn into more. It was as if there was never enough time between them. If he had an hour he wanted two and so on.

It wasn’t just him feeling this intense spell, she was giving just as much as her hands tugged at his shirt.

“Jax! Ariana!” Julie was calling them from the top of the staircase in the kitchen.

At the sound of her voice they pulled away as if they had been caught. “Yeah?” Jax called back.

“Dinner’s here.” His younger sister said before walking away, he heard as she retreated back to the dinning table.

“How does she know I’m in here?” Ariana asked, she was biting on her thumb as she tried to find a reasonable explanation.

Jax hated to see her stress so much over this. “She knows you come down here to talk and since you aren’t in your room she assumed. Don’t act like something is happening and they won’t suspect it either.”  He grabbed her hands as he spoke. “Once you turn eighteen they can’t force us to stay apart. We can tell them the truth then.”

“That’s more then seven months from now.”

Jax hated to see her upset and tried to come up with a better plan. “Come here.” He pulled her into a hug. “We’ll figure it out as long as we stay together.” He hoped no matter what came next, what lies unraveled, she would love him enough to stay. He could handle whatever came next as long as she was there by his side.  

A moment later they let go of each other and went upstairs to face their family.

Dinner was fried chicken and sides from a little local place downtown Ariana’s mother loved. Julie was chatting away about her day while everyone else ate. Ariana was thankful her step sister was such a talker; it distracted their parents from the rest of them.

She pushed around coleslaw on her plate while stealing hidden glances with Jax. How were they going to last eight months when every day was getting longer and longer? This dinner felt like it was tripling in time.

“Ariana?” her mother called her name.

“Yes mom?”

“You’ve been mighty quiet over there, how was school? I know you’re never excited about holiday breaks.”

Ariana forced a smile past her lips; even her own mother thought she was a nerd. “School was fine, Jolene invited me to a party.”

“Are you going to go?” Julie asked with her eyes bright with animation. She couldn’t wait to go to high school and go to parties with cute boys.

“Uh---” Ariana was trying to come up with an answer when someone else answered.

“Yeah.” Jax said. “You promised Jolene and now I don’t have to go alone.”

“Ok?” Ariana felt lost and that was one feeling she detested. She stared at him like he was nuts, a reaction everyone would expect anyway, and started to realize he must have some sort of plan he’d tell her later because he’d hate a party as much as she would. “You’re right I did promise and Jolene might plan my death if I skip out.”

Mary laughed. “Jolene is a good girl but that sense of humor she has is something else.”

“Yup.” Ariana agreed except she knew her best friend wasn’t always joking with her threats.

“I want you to go and have fun but be home by eleven and not a minute before that.” Mary obviously wanted her daughter to get out and live a little.

Ariana laughed. “Got it.” if it was up to her she’d be at the party at eight and be leaving by eight o’ five.

After dinner it was up to the kids to clean up the kitchen while the hard working parents-as they put it- went upstairs to relax.

Julie snorted. “Yeah they’re gonna relax.” For such a young girl she had a very dirty mind.

“Please shut up.” Jax groaned while covering his ears with some oven mitts.

Ariana laughed as she stood back and watched the siblings interact.

Julie rolled her eyes. “Yeah like you’re some saint who can’t fathom two married people having sex. I bet you’ve slept with a whole bunch of girls.”

Jax changed a few colors while he shared a look with Ariana before Julie turned her attention to her. “What about you Ari?” the young girl asked. “You probably want until you’re married right? I want to wait until I’m married too.”

“Thank god.” Jax groaned.

Ariana laughed except this time she was very nervous. “This is really uncomfortable.”

“Why?” Julie pushed. “We’re all family now and if it’s because of Jax and he’s a boy then think of him as a girl.”

Her nervous laugh escaped her again. She could never think of Jax as a girl, not after everything they had done together. “Please shut up and let’s get these dishes done.”

“You both are such bores.” Julie marched forward and started the sink.

After the kitchen was clean everyone parted ways. Ariana was gathering some clothes for her shower when her bedroom door opened, it was Jax. He locked it behind him. “I’m sorry my sister is annoyingly blunt.” He walked over and kissed her. “We can use the party as a cover to spend time together.”

“I was hoping you had a plan.” She wrapped her arms around his waist. “I’ll still have to go so Jolene doesn’t call here asking for me.”

“We’ll both go and put in appearances and leave early.” He started pushing her back toward the closet.

“What are you doing?” Ariana laughed as he shut the door and turned on the little light above them. The closet wasn’t that big but neither of them would mind having to be close.

“Our parents are done for the night and Julie is too busy on the computer to care about the rest of the world.” Jax explained while he flicked the button of her skit open and let the material fall to her ankles.

Ariana gasped. “You’re crazy.”

He got down on his knees and tugged at her panties. “Probably.”