Chapter One – The Night Everything Shifted
I never liked bars, not really. The noise, the sweat, the blur of faces trying too hard to forget something—it always made my skin itch. But that night, something pulled me there. Maybe it was the silence in my apartment. Maybe it was the feeling that something in my life was about to change, and I didn’t want to be alone when it happened.
The air was thick with music and lies when I walked in. I kept to myself, ordered a drink I didn’t plan to finish, and settled into the corner booth like I was part of the furniture. I watched people instead of joining them—laughing couples, drunk friends, lonely souls pretending they weren’t.
That’s when I saw him.
He was standing at the pool table, alone but not lonely. Dark jeans, a worn black hoodie, and a face that looked like it had seen too much and still wanted more. He moved with this quiet confidence, like he didn’t need anyone to notice him, but you’d feel it if you did.
He didn’t glance my way—not at first. But somehow, I knew he knew I was watching.
Minutes passed. Maybe hours. It felt like both.
Then he was walking toward me.
No hesitation. No detour.
“You always this quiet?” he asked, sliding into the seat across from me without asking.
“Only when I’m trying to disappear.”
“You’re doing a terrible job at it.”
I raised an eyebrow. “And you’re doing a great job at being arrogant.”
He smirked. “Not arrogant. Just honest.”
There was something in his eyes—an edge, a storm he hadn’t let out yet. And I hated that it made me want to know more.
“Skye,” I said, unsure why I offered my real name.
“Jax.”
He didn’t ask if I wanted company. He just sat there like it was a given.
We talked, if you could call it that. Sparse words. More silence than anything. But it was the first silence that didn’t feel like pressure. Just… space. Safe space.
At some point, I stopped pretending I didn’t want him to stay.
At some point, he stopped pretending he didn’t already know.
When the bar closed, we stood on the sidewalk, neither of us moving. The streets were slick from a light rain. My heels pinched my feet, so I pulled them off and stood barefoot on the cold pavement.
He handed me his hoodie without a word.
I took it.
“Do you always give your clothes to strangers?” I asked, trying to break the tension I didn’t understand.
He looked at me then—really looked.
“You don’t feel like a stranger.”
And just like that, something shifted.
Not loud. Not dramatic.
Just… shifted.
Like the universe tilted a few degrees to the left, and everything that came after would feel just a little different.
That night, I didn’t give him my number. He didn’t ask. But I knew I’d see him again.
Some people crash into your life like a wrecking ball. Jax walked in quietly—and still managed to tear everything down.
And I wasn’t ready for what would rise from the rubble.
