Jersey Six - Jewel E Ann Page 0,100
his personal life. I don’t want him to not trust me.”
“I don’t think he’s sleeping with anyone else. I really don’t.”
Jersey laughed. “It’s not about that. I know that’s hard for you to believe, but it’s not. If he found someone else to meet his needs in whatever way, I wouldn’t blame him. I tried to hurt him. He owes me nothing. But I guess I just want to know. If it’s time for me to walk, then I’ll walk. I feel like he’s holding on to me out of pity. Like he lost a bet and I’m a ratty looking dog who needs to be walked and fed every day.”
Max chuckled. “That’s not it. I don’t know what it is that’s eating at him, but I know he loves you. Even if you can’t fully wrap your head around what that means. You are the center of Ian Cooper’s world. I just think he can’t see straight at the moment. But he will.”
Jersey waited up that night for Ian. It was almost 12:30 a.m. when he came in the door.
“Hey.” She smiled, pulling her earbuds out and nodding toward the kitchen. “I have food for you. Are you hungry?”
He tossed his keys on the kitchen counter as she turned on the light over the dining room table.
“Pasta. And lots of olives.” Jersey smiled.
Ian returned a weak smile. “I just ate.”
Jersey deflated, sitting in front of her plate of lukewarm pasta. She jabbed her fork into the spaghetti and twirled it. “Know who taught me to use a knife? Who taught me to hit a target with my eyes closed?”
“Axel Smith. Ex-abused foster kid, ex-Marine turned social worker. He only showed the worst ones. Us, Jersey … we were the worst ones, the ones most badly beaten. He did it not so we’d take a life, so we could save a life.”
She lifted her gaze. “H-how do you know that?”
“Because he taught me too.”
Her head jerked back.
He looked drained, like he didn’t care if she believed him or not.
“Prove it.” She pushed out of her chair and grabbed a kitchen knife, pushing it toward his limp hand.
“I’m tired, Jersey. Not tonight.” He turned, ambling toward the stairs.
Jersey threw the knife. It landed on the cherry banister an inch from his hand. Ian grabbed the knife and shot it back at her, landing squarely into the wood floor between her feet, leaving less than an inch from each foot—perfectly centered. Bull’s-eye.
“Put the pasta away. I’ll eat it for breakfast.” He headed up the stairs.
Jersey stared at the knife for several seconds. Then she squatted, removing it from the wood. Easing back onto her butt, she bent her legs and rested her arms on them, dropping her head and closing her eyes.
They shared a roof and a bed, but Ian left her long before that. She didn’t know where he went or if he’d ever return.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
“You’ve never sounded better.” Ames grinned at Ian as they finished their third song in two weeks. “This album is dark as fuck, but I think it’s going to blow your fans away.”
Hector, their producer, nodded. “Yeah. I think we should stab you in the leg and cut off part of your ear more often.”
Ian held the headphones up to his ear and listened to the second track while glancing at Alex, Jordan, and Bryson, all tipping back beers, grinning like fools because they knew it was good. Not just good. It was their best work. And thanks to Ian’s flood of inspiration, it was effortless. They had twelve more songs to go, and no one showed signs of exhaustion. Except Ian. But he kept that buried, giving them the impression that he was on fire, smoking with the perfect lyrics, instead of burning in his own personal hell.
“Food.” Max smiled, pushing through the door of the tiny house that they used as their studio. She set the bags down, and everyone pounced. “A minute?” She nodded toward the other room.
Ian grabbed a sandwich and followed her. “What’s up?” Even with Max, he made it all look good. He thought it would eventually be good if he just kept pushing forward.
“You okay?”
“Yeah.” He took a bite of his sandwich. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
She bit her lips together, studying him for a few seconds. “Everything okay with Jersey?”
He shrugged. “Sure. You see her as much as I do. You should know.”
“Is that a problem?”
“What?” He narrowed his eyes.
“That I see her as much as you do? I