Sam's P.O.V.
Dinner wasn’t the peaceful escape I’d hoped for. The long dining table, always a little too grand for comfort, felt like a stage tonight. I kept my head down, focusing on cutting my food into tiny, perfect bites, doing everything I could to ignore the mess swirling in my chest.
“How was school?” Jax’s father asked, his deep voice breaking the silence. His gaze flicked between me and Jax like he genuinely wanted to know.
I opened my mouth to answer, but, of course, Jax beat me to it.
“Actually, it was interesting,” he said, setting his fork down with that infuriating confidence he carried everywhere. “I’ve been spending time with someone. Madison.”
Madison. My grip tightened on my knife, but I didn’t look up. I couldn’t. Not without giving something away.
“Oh?” Jax’s fath
