Caged

[Twenty]

*WARNING* There is mention of drug and alcohol use in this chapter.

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I had given up on trying to text and call Jace. He didn't reply to any of the texts, and the phone calls were ignored. He even pretended to be busy at work, so I didn't have many opportunities to take him aside. Not that I would be able to in front of everyone anyway.

It's been three days since Jax forgave me, so I at least had my best friend, but I missed Jace. A lot more than I had ever expected. I had seriously started falling for him, and even began thinking that maybe we would eventually become a couple.

Having him not talking to me was hurting. I decided that I needed to try one more time. I texted him, asking him to meet me at the beach after work. He didn't reply, but he did look up at me.

"You okay, baby girl?" Jax asked, coming up next to me behind the counter. When I only shrugged, he squeezed my shoulder. "He'll come around eventually. I did. I mean, once I gave you the chance to explain."

I had been saying that same thing to myself for the past couple of days, but it was probably just wishful thinking. "But you're my best friend, Jax. The relationships are completely different. Maybe he just doesn't like me as much as I like him."

That thought brought on feeling that I had never felt before. My crush on Micah had never brought up these feelings. I guess now I know the difference between a crush and a love interest.

"I've tried so hard to get in contact with him and try to explain things, but he won't give me the time of day." If anyone took a look at my phone records, they would probably think that I was stalking him.

"Well," Jax said, looking at an invisible watch on his wrist. "At the moment, the time of day is 10:45am." I know he was only trying to make me feel better, and I understood the hidden'I'll always give you the time of day' message. I just wasn't in the joking mood.

"I texted him just now, asking him to meet me at the beach after work," I told him. He probably didn't care all that much. After all, who really wants to hear about their best friend's love life?

But, it was my way of showing him that I wasn't going to keep anything from him anymore. "You could come too. You know… If you want." I shrugged with one shoulder and tried to act like it was no big deal. I only ended up looking pathetic, and Jax saw right through it.

"Sounds good. An afternoon at the beach would be awesome. But, as soon as you two start getting all cutesy and sweet enough to give me a toothache, which you will," he said, giving me a pointed look. "I am so outta there."

The 'never-been-kissed' part of me had me internally cringing at the thought of the cutesy-lovey stuff. But the twenty year old woman who had romantic feelings for someone, was jumping for joy at the possibility of it. "Trust me, there will be none of that.

I was certain that Jax had at least one romantic bone in his body. So far all I had seen around him was lust and sexual tension. "We're quite an odd friendship aren't we? If we were to write a book about ourselves, we'd probably call it 'The Slut And The Virgin'."

"Excuse moi?" Jax said with a hand on his heart, pretending to be insulted. "I'll have you know, that I'm pretty much the second virgin Mary."

Not being able to resist anymore, I wrapped my arms around him in the tightest hug possible. Which only prompted Jenny to walk past and say, "So desperate that you have to go after the gay ones now?"

"Oh please, at least she doesn't have to pretend to be someone she's not. You're so fake that Barbie is jealous," Jax retorted as he made his way back to work.