Chapter 27 Reunion
The video on my laptop screen played for the tenth time. The grainy image of Jaxson’s father kicking the door of that small, broken-down house made my stomach turn.
But it was the person in the dark hoodie, the one watching from the shadows that kept me frozen.
I stood up and ran to my bedroom door. I reached out to knock on Leo’s door, my hand shaking. I wanted to tell him. I wanted my big brother to fix this.
But then I remembered his face in the kitchen. “Dad is coming down Friday,” he had said. “He wants us both at dinner.”
If I told Leo that Jaxson’s life was being filmed by a stalker, Leo would go to the police. The police would call our father. And Arthur Vance would use the scandal to wipe Jaxson Miller off the map forever.
"I have to do this myself," I whispered, pulling my hand away from Leo's door.
I grabbed my phone and messaged Cooper.
He was the only one on the team who didn't look at me like I was a virus. We met twenty minutes later in the back of the campus library, hidden behind rows of old, dusty books.
"Cooper, look at this," I said, sliding the phone toward him.
He watched the video, his jaw dropping. "That’s Jaxson’s place. Who the hell is filming this, El?"
"I don't know," I said. "But they sent it to me. They told me if I don't stay away from the game on Friday, that man on the porch is going inside. They want Jaxson distracted. They want us to lose."
Cooper looked at the hooded figure. "It’s someone from the school. Look at the sneakers. Those are the team-issued trainers we all got last month."
My blood ran cold. It wasn't a stranger. It was someone in the locker room.
"I'm going to send money," I told him. "I have a savings account. If I pay off his dad’s debts, maybe he’ll leave. Can you get the cash to his mom? If I wire it, my dad will see the bank statement."
Cooper looked nervous, but he nodded. "I’ll do it. I’ll leave tonight. But Elena... if Leo finds out I’m helping you go behind his back, I’m dead."
"He won't find out," I promised.
The next night, I couldn't sleep. The house felt too big and too quiet. I sat by my window, watching the rain hit the glass. Every shadow in the driveway looked like a person in a hoodie.
Around 2:00 AM, a yellow taxi pulled up to the curb.
My heart skipped a beat. A tall figure stepped out, his head down against the rain. He didn't walk to the front door. Instead, he moved toward the side of the house, slipping into the dark garage through the side entrance.
I didn't think. I didn't grab a jacket. I just ran.
I flew down the stairs, my bare feet silent on the carpet. I burst into the garage, the smell of cold concrete and gasoline filling my lungs.
"Jaxson?" I breathed.
He was standing near the workbench, his back to me. He was soaking wet, his hair plastered to his forehead. When he turned around, I almost gasped. He looked like he had been through a war. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked five pounds thinner than he had two days ago.
"Elena," he rasped.
I ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck. He caught me, his wet clothes soaking through my pajamas, but I didn't care. He held me so tight I could barely breathe, his face buried in my shoulder.
"You came back," I sobbed. "I thought you were gone. I thought they broke you."
"I couldn't stay away," he whispered, his voice shaking. "I went home to save her, El. But someone... someone was already there. My dad told me a 'friend' had been calling him, telling him exactly how much money my scholarship was worth. Someone is feeding him information."
He pulled back, his hands cupping my face.
His thumbs traced the tears on my cheeks.
"I shouldn't be here," he said, his forehead resting against mine. "I’m putting a target on you just by standing here. But I missed you so much it felt like I was dying."
"I missed you too," I said. "Jax, I'm going to fix it. I sent Cooper with the money. Your mom is going to be okay."
He looked at me with so much love and pain it broke my heart. "You shouldn't have done that. You’re going to get in trouble with your father."
"I don't care about him," I said. "I only care about you."
Jaxson didn't say anything else. He just leaned in and kissed me.
It wasn't like our first kiss. It was desperate and hungry, like he was trying to memorize the taste of me before the world pulled us apart again. He tasted like rain and salt. I leaned into him, my fingers tangling in his wet hair, wishing the sun would never rise. In that dark garage, with the rain drumming on the roof, the rest of the world didn't exist.
There was no Leo, no Marcus, and no Arthur Vance. There was just us.
But then, the overhead lights flickered.
The garage was suddenly flooded with bright, white light. We sprang apart, blinking at the glare.
Leo was standing by the door, his hand still on the light switch. He wasn't wearing his usual angry expression. He looked pale. He was holding his phone in his other hand, and his eyes were fixed on the screen.
"Leo, wait—" I started, stepping in front of Jaxson to shield him.
"Be quiet, Elena," Leo said. His voice was hollow. He walked toward us, his boots clicking on the concrete. He didn't even look at Jaxson. He just held the phone out so we could both see the screen.
It was a video. Not the one I had. This one was different.
It showed the same hooded figure from the first video, but this time, the person was standing under a streetlamp. They turned their head, and for a split second, the light hit their face.
My heart stopped.
"That’s... that's Dad’s head of security," I whispered, my voice trembling. "Why is he at Jaxson's house?".
Leo looked at Jaxson, then at me. His eyes were full of a new, terrible fear.