Dirty little secrets

Chapter9

~Ava~Eventually Riley wore me down and I climbed on her shoulders awkward as hell, nearly slipping twice. Jax and Chloe came at us fast, her leaning forward, hands out, laughing the whole time.

We lasted maybe ten seconds before Jax basically bulldozed us and Riley dumped me straight into the water.

I came up sputtering, hair in my face, and Chloe was already celebrating, arms around Jax’s neck from up top, kissing his cheek. “We win!”

He grinned, hands still on her legs. “Told you.”

I swam to the steps and got out without a word.

Riley followed me. “You okay?”

“No.”

“Thought so.”

We wrapped towels around ourselves and sat on the edge while the adults started eating. Chloe fed Jax a bite of her burger, wiped sauce off his lip with her thumb, then licked it off.

I looked away so fast I got whiplash.

Mom sat down next to me with a plate. “You’re quiet today, honey.”

“Tired.”

“You sure? You barely ate.”

“I’m fine, Mom.”

Chloe called over, “Ava, try the potato salad! It’s so good!”

I shoveled some in my mouth just to shut everyone up.

After eating, Mom declared it was board game time inside because “the sun is brutal.” Everyone migrated to the living room, big sectional, coffee table already set up with Monopoly, because apparently we’re that family.

Chloe clapped. “I love Monopoly! I’m always the dog.”

Jax smirked. “You’re always bankrupt in twenty minutes.”

“Rude but true.”

They picked teams obviously Chloe and Jax together, Mom and Richard, then me and Riley.

Riley leaned over as we set up. “We’re destroying them.”

“Whatever.”

The game started normally enough. Chloe kept landing on Jax’s properties and fake-pouting, him letting her off rent half the time because “she’s cute.” Mom thought it was adorable. Richard made dad jokes. Riley stole from the bank when no one was looking and whispered, “For emotional damages.”

I mostly stayed quiet, moving my piece, paying rent, trying not to look at Jax’s arm around Chloe’s shoulders the whole time.

At one point Chloe landed on my Boardwalk with a hotel and actually groaned. “Nooo, Ava, you’re killing me!”

I shrugged. “Pay up.”

She handed over the cash, then reached across the table and squeezed my hand. “You’re ruthless. I love it.”

Her hand was warm. Soft. I wanted to scream.

Jax watched the whole thing, eyes on where her fingers touched mine, then flicked up to my face. He didn’t say anything, but his jaw tightened for a second.

Riley noticed too. Whispered, “Interesting.”

“Shut up.”

Halfway through, Chloe got up to “help Mrs. S with dessert” and dragged Mom to the kitchen, leaving the rest of us.

Richard went to take a call. Riley announced she had to pee and disappeared.

Suddenly it was just me and Jax across the coffee table, fake money scattered everywhere.

He leaned back, arms spread along the couch, staring at me.

I pretended to count my cash.

“You having fun?” he asked, voice low.

“Loads.”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

I glared up at him. “What do you want me to say, Jax? That I’m thrilled your perfect girlfriend is here and everyone loves her and you two are disgustingly cute together?”

He didn’t answer right away. Just looked at me.

Then, “You’re jealous.”

“f**k off.”

“You are.”

“I’m not… ” I stopped, lowered my voice because voices carried in this house. “I’m not anything. You have a girlfriend. Great. Congrats. Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you know exactly what you’re doing.”

He smirked. “Maybe I do.”

I wanted to throw the dog piece at his head.

Chloe came back then, carrying a tray of brownies, Mom behind her with ice cream. “Dessert break!”

Jax’s eyes stayed on me for one more second before he turned to Chloe, took a brownie from her hand, bit into it slowly.

“Thanks, babe.”

She kissed his cheek again.

I stood up fast. “I’m gonna… yeah. Bathroom.”

Riley caught me in the hallway, grabbed my arm. “You’re bright red.”

“I hate him.”

“You want him.”

“Both.”

She sighed. “This weekend’s gonna kill you.”

“Already dead.”

We went back in, finished the game Riley and I won because Chloe went bankrupt and Jax stopped trying after that. Everyone cheered, Chloe hugged me again like I hadn’t just financially ruined her.

“You’re savage,” she laughed. “Next time I’m on your team.”

Next time.

I smiled with all my teeth. “Can’t wait.”

Later, when the sun went down and everyone was inside watching some movie Richard picked, Jax and Chloe disappeared to the pool house again “to grab her charger.”

I sat on the couch between Mom and Riley, staring at the TV without seeing it, hearing Chloe’s laugh float in from outside, then go quiet.

Riley squeezed my knee under the blanket.

I didn’t move.

I just sat there, burning, while everyone else laughed at the movie and acted like the world wasn’t ending.

This was fine.

Totally fine.