Perfect Ruin

17. The Ugly Truth

Jax broke his promise.

It's 11pm and he hasn't yet come for me.

I'm sitting on the steps of the patio, my head rested on my hands as I stare at the empty driveway. I blow out a long breath and check my phone again, hoping that he'll, at the very least, reply to one of the 17 messages I left him or call me back. But the blank screen suggests otherwise.

I can't believe he just left me hanging here. He said that he'll show up.

This is fucking unbelievable.

What is taking him so long? It's just supposed to be drinks with the guys. And he hates spending time with them.

So why the hell isn't he here yet?

If he forgot about me, I will seriously kill him...

Muttering curses under my breath, I stand up, walk back inside the house to grab my car keys and set out to get him.

* *

I pull over the side of the road, a few blocks away from Jax's house. Stepping out of the car, I let the cold wind whip past my face, disrupting the curls that I've worked so hard to make earlier this evening. I shove the car door close and proceeded to make my way towards his place.

Even though Jax and I have been together for two years now, I have yet to step foot into his house.

It's an odd thing; I've always wondered why he would never invite me over. He never gave me a solid explanation and it left room for me to think of the worst possible reasons as to why I wasn't allowed in his house.

Was he embarrassed of me? Did he not want his stepdad and his mom to know about me? If so, why? I've met Jax's read dad before—Baxton—briefly. He was in town and bumped into me and Jax while we were getting drinks at Caffeinated. He was a very nice man, a little bit cocky about his fame and fortune but I just assumed that was how it usually was in the Deneris family. Even though we only talked for a couple of minutes, I was sure that he liked me. There was hesitation in his eyes, but my charm eventually won him over.

So why could I meet Baxton but not his stepdad or his mom? I often asked Jax this but he always brushed me off.

Jerk.

My mom always told me that men who keep secrets are men not worth keeping around. I always believed her and I knew that she was right. But now that I'm with someone who does exactly that, it's not all that simple. The world isn't as black and white as it seems. It's then I realize that when you factor in the fierce love that you have for that person, you'll never want to let go.

Even if he hides from you.

Even if he hurts you.

Even if he ruins you.

I'm already at the foot of the door and I brace myself to knock on it when I hear a loud crash echo throughout the entire house, shaking it to its core.

I pause, my fist an inch away from the door, as I wait for the sounds that follow after.

"Fuck you!" Jax's familiar voice thunders through the walls. Cold, hard anger bursts from within him. "I told you to stay away from her!"

"And I told you that it was none of your fucking business!" Another voice counters back fiercely, a voice that sounds foreign to me.

Jax lets out a low growl. "You hit her one more time and I'll—"

"You'll what?" A hoarse, humorless laugh radiates, shaking me to my core. "You'll kill me? I'd like to see you fucking try, boy!"

I tiptoe my way across the patio. I shouldn't pry I shouldn't pry I shouldn't pry. But god, I want to. I've been deprived on what's been happening in Jax's life for so long that I'll take anything that will provide me a glimpse into his life.