Saved By A Bad Boy

[42]. Confessions...

Maya had slept over that night...and Ethan and Milo almost did, except Jax kicked them out sometime around one o'clock in the morning. I stayed with her, because she was still grieving. Even though, her "grieving" had been extremely reduced after yesterday. It turned out that her brother, Jax, and Ethan were actually helpful. They kept everything light and airy.

We had both dozed off on the couch. When the morning's first rays of sunlight crept in through the windows, I awoke to find her practically on top of me.

"Maya..." I grumbled, gently pushing her off me (or maybe not-so-gently, I was tired). She mumbled something and rolled over, her face pressed into one of the throw pillows. I slid off the sofa and ambled toward the upstairs bathroom, where I had a toothbrush (Jax kept one in there for me, just in case). When I walked in, I was surprised to see Jax standing on the other side, shirtless (of course) and wiping a towel over his face. I had to turn around and stare at the sink, just so I wouldn't stand there gawking at him.

"Hey," he said to me without looking, as if he simply sensed my presence. Suddenly, he was behind me (still shirtless) as I brushed my teeth, so I had no choice but to look at him in the big mirror. His hair was wet, so I figured that he just got out of the shower. Yup. He smelled like he just got out of the shower. Keep it together, Alyssa. Just brush your teeth.

I spat out my toothpaste and rinsed my mouth.

"Hey," I echoed.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked. I thought back to last night. I had woken up in a cold sweat twice, gasping for air and nearly in tears. But at least I hadn't screamed.

"Good," I lied. A smile played about his lips.

"How'd Maya sleep?"

"Like the dead," I muttered. He pulled me into his arms, and I felt my stomach dip. "Did you work out again today?"

"Yes," he whispered with a grin. I wanted to roll my eyes. In fact, I did roll my eyes. I could never understand his devotion to exercise. I nearly died just from training with him once.

"Well, I'm hungry. We should make something," I suggested. "For Maya. Breakfast in bed."

"Uh, no. I'll make Maya breakfast, but she has to eat it in the kitchen. She leaves crumbs everywhere when she eats," he said, and I laughed. He threw on a t-shirt, to my utter relief, but it wasn't like it did much to cover up his rolling muscles.

We went downstairs, to the kitchen, where I pulled out my Fruity Pebbles, and Jax just shook his head.

"No, you need to eat something with some sort of nutritional value," he said.

"Ugh, when did you become my personal trainer?" I said, which only got me a smirk from him.

"When I realized that you live off of Snickers bars and Fruity Pebbles," he replied. I sighed dramatically and walked over to his fridge. There were at least seven cartons of eggs in there.

"Jax, do you own a thousand chickens?" I asked, trying to scan it for something yummier, like cheesecake.

"Eggs are good for protein," he told me, reaching past me to grab one of the cartons.

"What about Fruity Pebbles? What are those good for?" I asked.

"Diabetes."

"Well what if I happen to like diabetes?" I asked. Jax rolled his eyes and cracked some eggs into a skillet.

"Then I think we have more problems than I thought," he said. "You can have an omelette, or scrambled eggs, or yogurt."

"Can I have pancakes?" I asked.