Nova 05 Ruin Me by Jessica Sorensen Read Free Book Online Page B

you might be onto something. This entire time, all the logging he’s been doing was actually to keep track of all the people he put curses on with his pet chickens.”
     
    “Roosters.” He cranks the wheel and pulls the Jeep forward onto the road while giving me a wink. “Jesus Clara, get it right.”
     
    “I’m so sorry.” I melodramatically press my hand to my chest, glad I didn’t fight the ride. Like always, whenever I’m around Jax, I feel way more like my old self. The Clara who freely bounced through life, made jokes whenever she could, and didn’t have to worry about the bills piling up on the kitchen counter. “But, to be fair, you did kind of make the incorrect reference first.”
     
    “I blame that on my nephew.” He steers the car up the main street lined with quaint stores that sell items like beachwear, seashell wind chimes, and homemade baskets. “He’s always confusing animals.”
     
    “How is Mason doing?” I prop my boots up on the dash and relax back in the seat.
     
    “He’s doing well. Getting bigger and smarter by the day,” he says as he turns toward a small drive-thru coffee shop located about a mile from the college. “You should come over sometime and see him.”
     
    “Maybe one day.” I force a stiff smile, feeling like an asshole for lying. The truth is, I’ll never go over to Jax’s house. He lives with his sister and nephew and going there means meeting his family. And meeting his family feels way too personal for friends who mess around on the weekends.
     
    Jax knows me too well and sighs, reading through my bullshit. “So, do you work tonight?” he asks as he pulls up to the order menu.
     
    “Not until Wednesday.” I lean over the console to scan the list of beverages. This close to him, I catch a whiff of his cologne and a hint of cigarette smoke. “I thought you quit smoking.”
     
    “I did, but I messed up this morning.”
     
    “Why?”
     
    He shrugs. “Just one of those days.”
     
    I’m about to press for more, worried something might be wrong, but he speaks first.
     
    “I don’t know why you look at the menu,” he teases. “You always get the same thing.”
     
    “Hey, maybe I’m planning on mixing it up,” I retort, swatting his arm. “Perhaps I’ve decided to become adventurous today and live life on the wild side.”
     
    He glances at me as the lady through the intercom asks what she can get him. We’re so close our lips almost brush, but he doesn’t lean away. He elevates his brows, challenging me. “Alright, Miss Adventurous, what’ll you have?”
     
    I think about kissing him, planting a big, wet kiss right on his mouth. Three years ago I would have. Three years ago I was Miss Adventurous.
     
    But not anymore. I’ve become Miss Routine.
     
    I end up ordering a Vanilla Cappuccino with an extra shot, just like I always do. When I lean back in my seat, Jax looks mildly disappointed, but doesn’t comment. Instead, he traces a finger down the brim of my nose.
     
    “So, what’s on the agenda for this weekend?”
     
    “Well, I can only go out for about two hours,” I tell him as he pulls up to the window. “I have work and stuff.”
     
    He mulls something over as he hands the cashier a ten. “What other stuff?”
     
    “Just stuff.” Mom stuff, like doctor appointments and making sure she’s taken care of.
     
    “Could you maybe get some time off from work? I want to spend a little more time with you this weekend.”
     
    “More time to do what? I mean we only need like two hours for us to,” I gesture between the two of us and shimmy my hips, “make bow-chicka-bow-wow.”
     
    He chuckles under his breath. “You know, the really amusing thing is that you make the joke and make yourself blush.” He grazes his finger along the corner of my eye, causing me to shiver. “But I don’t just want to make bow-chicka-bow-wow this weekend.”
     
    My brows knit. “What else would we do?” School’s out, so