Jax's Little Obsession

Chapter 25

Maya’s Pov

I stared up at Jax, my heart hammering against my ribs as his confession sank into my mind. I wanted to push him away. I wanted to laugh, to throw his own arrogant words back in his face, to tell him he was out of his mind. But looking into his dark, steady eyes, I knew he meant every single syllable. He wasn't playing a game anymore.

"You don't mean that," I whispered, my voice barely audible as I took a half step back from him.

"I have never been more serious about anything in my life," Jax replied, his hands sliding down my arms before dropping slowly to his sides, as if he were forcing himself to give me space.

I turned around, walking over to the large window that overlooked the dark gardens outside. My hands were shaking, and I folded them tightly across my chest. Briar’s warning echoed in my brain, twisting together with Jax's words until I couldn't tell where the threat ended and the romance began. He will throw you away just like everything else.

"That's the problem, Jax," I said to the glass, watching my own reflection blur in the night. "That's why this scares me. You're used to keeping things until you get bored. But I'm not a car part. I'm not a project you can just put back on a shelf when you're done tinkering with it. What happens when your family forces you into some corporate marriage? What happens when I become inconvenient?"

Jax was behind me in an instant. I didn't hear him move, but I felt the sudden heat of his body close to mine, the familiar scent of cedar and clean rain wrapping around me. He didn't touch me, but he stood close enough that I could feel the electricity radiating off his skin.

"My family doesn't choose my life anymore," Jax said, his voice dropping into a low, rough growl that sent shivers straight down my spine. "And you will never be inconvenient, Maya."

"You say that now," I snapped, spinning around to face him, the panic finally breaking through my defenses. "You say that because right now it's fun! It's a rebellion! It's you fighting against your father and your boring life! But what happens when the real world catches up to us? What happens when I'm just the poor mechanic girl holding you back?"

"Stop it," Jax commanded, his dark eyes flashing with sudden, sharp anger. He reached out, his hands gripping my shoulders, holding me steady. "Stop trying to write an ending to something we haven't even started yet. Do you think I care about what my father wants? Do you think I give a damn about what the board thinks? I spent my entire life doing what was expected of me, Maya. For the first time, I am doing what I want. And I want you."

The raw honesty in his voice hit me like a physical blow. My breath hitched. Every defense mechanism I had spent my entire life building—every wall, every sarcastic comment, every bit of armor—was crumbling away under the intensity of his gaze. I had spent months trying to protect myself from him, trying to prove I wouldn't become another casualty of his wealthy world. But looking at him now, standing there willing to burn his own life down just to keep me, I realized the terrifying truth.

The danger wasn't that Jax would get bored and throw me away.

The real danger was that he was already becoming the most important part of my life, and I didn't have a single way to stop it.

I swallowed hard, trying to find my voice, trying to push back against the tide of emotions threatening to drown me. "You're crazy, Jax Worth."

A slow, tired, but genuine smile touched the corners of his lips. He lifted one hand, his fingers gently brushing a stray lock of hair away from my forehead, his touch softer than it had ever been before. "I know," he whispered.

He didn't try to kiss me. He didn't push me for an answer. He just let his hand rest against my cheek for a long moment, letting me feel the warmth of his skin, before stepping back and letting me breathe.

"Go to your room, Maya," he said quietly, turning toward the desk. "Get some sleep. We have classes tomorrow."

I didn't argue. I turned around and walked out of the study, my legs feeling like lead. I walked up the grand staircase and down the long hallway to my room, closing the heavy wooden door behind me. I dropped my backpack on the floor and walked over to the bed, collapsing onto the mattress without even turning on the lights.

The room was pitch black, but all I could see was his face.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, staring out the window at the pale moonlight cutting across the floorboards. For eighteen years, I had relied on myself and nobody else. My father taught me how to fix broken things because people always left, but engines stayed put if you treated them right. I knew how wrenches worked. I knew how circuits worked. I understood friction, torque, and pressure.

I did not understand this.

I did not understand how a billionaire heir who used to treat me like an interesting puzzle had somehow become the only person I wanted to talk to at the end of a long day. I did not understand how his voice could make my heart race or how the thought of him walking away could ache so badly.

Briar was wrong about one thing. Jax wasn't playing with me. But she was right about the stakes. The higher I let him climb, the further I had to fall. If the Calloway family found out how much power I held over him, they would crush me without a second thought. And worse—if Jax ever decided I was too much trouble, I wouldn't just be hurt. I would be shattered.

My chest tightened, a sharp wave of fear washing over me. I rolled over, burying my face in the pillow, trying to block out the thoughts, trying to force my brain to go back to gears and blueprints and schoolwork. But it was no use. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard his voice echoing in the dark.

Because you're the first person I've wanted to keep after getting to know.

Hours passed, the digital clock on the nightstand glowing red in the dark, ticking past two in the morning, then three. Sleep refused to come. My mind was racing, turning over every word, every look, every touch we had shared over the last few weeks.