Beautiful Broken Mess (25 page)

Quickly, she pulls the back of my head toward her and says, “I don’t need time, Jace. I’ve been crazy about you since the day you picked me up off the sidewalk. I think I’ve loved you since you gave me my penny.” I watch as she clutches the copper coin dangling from her neck. “I love you too...so much.”

The words are a choked bubble in my throat so I mouth them to her while squeezing her.
I love you
.

She looks down at my hand that keeps gripping her arm. “You’ve done this three-squeeze-thing before. I remember you did it that night we hooked up in Texas. You also did it that night out on the beach when I told you and Jaxon what happened to me. What does it mean?”

“First of all, stop calling what we did a ‘hook-up,’ it sounds too fleeting. Second of all, I honestly don’t know where it came from. I just had all of these emotions toward you that I didn’t know how to convey out loud. I guess it means I.”
Squeeze
. “Love.”
Squeeze
. “You.”
Squeeze
.

“I’m not sure what I did to deserve you,” she whispers.

“That’s funny because I’ve been wondering the same thing about myself.”

She still has my face in between her soft hands but I push forward to capture her lips. My hands slowly graze down her body, and when I feel more skin than clothing, I remember where we are. Out in public. Audrey is still wearing her skimpy bikini and I’m sure as hell tired of the admiring eyes.

Still holding her, I quickly stand up before setting her down on her bare feet. She whimpers when our lips part and I smirk at her eagerness.

“Soon, babe,” I whisper on her lips. “But for now, you need clothes and I need to have that talk with my brother.”

“My suit is still wet, I can’t put my clothes on now,” she replies.

We help each other dust the sand off of one another’s backs. When I’m extra thorough wiping off her perfect ass, she giggles and shoves me away.

“If you’re not putting any clothes on, then neither will I,” I declare. Her eyes quickly scan my wet body, licking a trail of heat from my head to my toes. “I mean...you’re practically naked. It’s only fair...”

Slowly, I start to undo the top button of my shorts and her eyes widen. When I pull my zipper slowly down, her hand moves but she doesn’t stop me or say anything. I hook my thumbs underneath my waistband and begin to drag my shorts deliberately down my hips. I wait for the moment she realizes I’m going commando and that moment does
not
disappoint.

“JACE!” she gasps with bulging eyes, reaching for my waistband. Quickly, she pulls them back to my hips, and then hurriedly re-hooks the button and yanks the zipper back into place. “You win! You win! I’ll go grab my clothes.”

I throw my head back laughing and smack her ass to get her moving. “Hurry. I’ll meet you back at the fire pits.”

She starts slowly running away and turns back to holler, “Love you!”

I smile like a damn Cheshire cat and call back, “Love you more.”

- Fifteen -

AUDREY -

As I jog back to where I dropped my clothes earlier, I feel as if my feet are literally floating a few seconds longer in the air. My body feels lighter than it ever has before. I remember the first time Lane told me he loved me. To have that kind of connection with another person is a necessity in every human’s life. I had no idea what I was missing until I was loved.

But to be loved by your significant other...to be loved on a soul-deep level is an amazing thing. To have someone cherish your mind and your body is beyond anything I ever imagined. Some people never find it and some walk right past it. We almost missed this opportunity and what a shame that would have been. Hearing those words pass through his lips will forever be ingrained in my memory.

When I reach my clothes, I quickly pull my shorts up, put my shirt on, and tie the halter back around my neck. I catch sight of my phone in the sand, realizing it must have fallen out of my pocket. I dust it off and check the time. My heart beats wildly when I notice twenty-three missed calls. Why would anyone need to call me that many times?

Quickly, I unlock it and see that they are all from Cole, and all were made within the last twenty minutes. I slide my finger across his name and hold the phone up to my ear as I begin walking back toward the party.

“Please fucking tell me you’re with everyone!” Cole shouts into the phone.

“I’m with everyone,” I quickly say back. “Cole? What’s going on?”

Jace is standing around talking to Lane, Quinn, and Em as I walk toward them, but I must have a frightened look on my face because he begins to quickly stride in my direction.

“It’s Jaxon. Fuck!” Cole yells in a panicked tone through the phone. He continues yelling and mumbling, but I can’t keep up with a word he’s saying.

“What’s going on? You need to slow down Cole.”

“Why doesn’t anyone have their damn phones?” His voice hasn’t calmed down and I’m slowly starting to panic at his tone.

“What. Is. Going. On?” I say loudly and as clearly as I possibly can.

“Jaxon got hurt at practice,” he says, but it’s difficult to hear because there’s a lot of commotion and electronic beeping in the background of wherever he is. “I’m in the fucking ambulance with him, Audrey!” His speech begins to slow down and I hear a hitch in his breathing, almost as if he is crying or on the verge of it. “He’s not waking up. They can’t get him to wake up!”

My hand flies to my mouth to cover the gasp. “Oh God! Where are you, Cole?” I shout.

The second I yell his name, I have everyone’s full attention. I repeat Cole’s words out loud, “UCLA Medical Center.”

“The hospital?” Quinn asks in a confused tone. “What’s wrong with Cole?” she panics.

Cole continues yelling in my ear, I have four sets of eyes on me that want more information, and I still don’t know what is going on.

“It’s Jaxon,” I whisper.

“Give me the phone, Audrey,” Jace bites out harshly.

“Jaxon’s hurt,” I continue.

Em’s whole body locks up and the red plastic cup she’s holding slips from her hand, crashing to the ground and causing a wild splash at our feet. Jace lets out a string of curses and takes off at a dead sprint toward the parking lot. Sand flies out from under his feet in his hasty retreat.

Once it clicks, the rest of us look at each other and start to run for our cars as well. At the same time we reach the parking lot, Jace’s black Camaro is roaring out onto the main road.

“Girls. In my car. Now. None of you are driving,” Lane calls toward us.

Thank God for him because I don’t think we even remember where we had parked, let alone how to start the car. We swiftly scramble into his black SUV and Lane peels out in the same direction Jace is headed.

“Audrey, what did Cole say?” Em’s small voice asks from the backseat.

“He didn’t tell me much. I think we should wait until we get there to find out everything from a doctor,” I respond, trying to detour her.

“I just need to know what he said.”

I let out a sigh. “The only thing he told me was that Jaxon got hurt at practice and that...they couldn’t get him to wake up...”

I turn back in time to see her flinch and grab onto Quinn’s hand tightly. Lane softly curses and continues trying to drive as fast as he can without getting us pulled over. It takes thirty excruciatingly long minutes to get to the hospital. I can’t even begin to imagine everything that is running through Em’s head in that amount of time.

Lane pulls up to the drop-off to let us out, and I spot Jace’s Camaro parked haphazardly in a fire lane near the emergency room entrance. Quinn, Em, and I hop out and they rush inside. Lane steps out and finds an employee staring begrudgingly at the Camaro. When he sees Lane begin to leave his car, he starts shaking his head and telling him he needs to move it immediately.

“Chill, I’m going inside. I’m gonna get my buddy’s keys and I’ll move both cars. Calm down,” he says, in a tone that doesn’t allow any argument.

I’m the last of my friends to enter the emergency room and the scene is overwhelming to take in. I immediately spot my boyfriend’s large frame towering over the receptionist. I can only imagine what she’s thinking as he growls out commands at her. She probably doesn’t know whether to cry or slip him her number for later.

Lane walks up and grabs Jace’s keys from his pocket without even a sideways glance from him. Jace isn’t paying attention to anything besides getting to where his brother is.

JACE -

“Jaxon Riley,” I repeat for what feels like the hundredth time to the brainless girl at the front counter. “He’s my brother. We look exactly alike. Can’t miss him. He was brought in by...ambulance,” I swallow the last word painfully.

“I’m not seeing a Jaxon here.”

“Well try again, ma’am! Jaxon Riley. J-A-X-O-N...” I begin to spell harshly.

“Oh! Jaxon with an X. Well, that’s different,” she says nonchalantly and continues typing another million fucking words into her computer.

“Look, I hate to be a tyrant but I need back there. Like yesterday. Just open those doors and I can find him on my own.”

She continues typing away, ignoring my words. I’m sure she’s heard this a thousand times before, but this time is different. This is my brother. This is my identical twin. The only person who has been through everything with me.

“Well, since you’re family, I need you to fill out all of his medical information on this clipboard. Bring it back when you’re done and I’ll go see if they’re allowing him to have visitors,” she says, passing me a stack of papers.

“
Allowing
visitors?” I shout. “This isn’t a prison! Look, I can fill out this paperwork back there with him. This is my brother we’re talking about. I. NEED. BACK. THERE.”

She ignores my rant and taps the clipboard infuriatingly. Before I can hurl the board across the fucking emergency room, Em squeezes in front of me and grabs it out of my hands.

“I can fill this out. If you could hurry and find out where he is, I would appreciate it.” She smiles easily at the lady and I’m confounded by her calmness.

Em grabs onto my arm and digs her nails in deep. “My goal is to see Jaxon as soon as possible. I think we share a common goal here. I’m also pretty sure your mama taught you that you can catch more flies with honey. Quit being a bastard. If you piss her off and make me have to wait out here one second longer than I have to, so help me God, I
will
rip you limb from limb,” she growls in a low voice to me and stomps off to fill out my brother’s medical forms.

With nowhere else to go, I begin pacing the tile in front of the door that leads to the patients. If someone would just open this damn door, I could breathe a little easier. I pull out my phone and cringe at all of the missed calls from Cole. I can’t believe I didn’t have this on me. I tried calling him about fifteen times on my way over here, but he never answered.

My brother is somewhere back there hurt or even worse...fuck, I can’t think like that. He’s back there and this fucking metal door is keeping me from seeing if he’s okay. Small hands graze across my lower back and I flinch away from the touch. I’m strung too tight and I can’t handle soft words or pitying looks at the moment. Audrey calls out my name as I walk away in the opposite direction. Away from her. Shit, I can’t think straight.

I lean my forehead against the wall and think about what I can do. Suddenly, the door opens and a nurse comes out. Evidently she’s not new at this because she quickly shuts the door behind her. She glances around the room and does a double take when her eyes land on me. I can see the shock on her face and immediately know that she has to be Jaxon’s nurse.

“Are you Jaxon Riley’s brother?” she asks.

“Twin,” I hastily spit out. The others quickly come over to join me.

“I can take you back there, but I can’t let you see him yet. There’s an additional waiting room for family members. That’s as close as I can get you. You can wait there for a doctor to give you more information,” she instructs. “Wow, you guys are a big group. I’m technically only allowed to let four of you in.”

“I’ll hang back here,” Lane volunteers. Well, it sure as hell wasn’t going to be me.

“Nice to hear you’re claiming the twin-thing again, Jace. Not such a drag anymore, is it?” Em bites out at me as she pushes past to follow the nurse.
Ouch
. I’d take everything I said back if I could.

Quickly, we all file in behind her and my eyes dart to each door along the way, seeing if I can catch a glimpse of my brother. We round a second corner at the end of the hall, where I see Cole sitting on the ground with his back against the wall and his face in his hands. My stomach plummets as I pick up my pace toward him.

From behind, I hear Quinn gasp, “Cole.” Even though it was only a whisper, he was still able to hear her voice and his head shoots up to look at us. I hate how fucking stressed he looks and how red his eyes are. What does that mean? How bad is this going to be?