One eyebrow rose. “The best things in life are rarely good ideas.”

My lips twitched, but I pressed them together. How did I respond to that? Jax then tugged on my hand as he turned, heading for the stairs, and I trailed after him silently, my heart racing in my chest. I didn’t put up much of a protest as he led me up the stairs, because I was too busy freaking out.

There was a hallway bathroom and two bedrooms. Both doors were open. One room had been converted into an office/workout room. Dumbbells lined the wall, stacked neatly near a bench. But we didn’t go in there. He led me straight into the other bedroom and flipped on a light.

I was having trouble breathing.

Jax didn’t seem to notice as he walked around the huge bed and started to root around in a dark oak dresser. I stood perfectly still.

I was in Jax’s bedroom.

In the middle of the night.

Muscles flexed and rolled under the shirt he wore as he straightened, and I wished I was normal. Not like that wish was the first time, and I’d wished for that for a ton of reasons, but if I was normal, I would be standing here excited instead of scared and full of hopelessness. I’d be eager and not tasting the bitter tang of dread. I’d be worrying about what kind of undies I’d put on that morning instead of thinking about the scars.

I’d just be a girl standing in the bedroom of a guy she liked. And dear God, I did like Jax. Yeah, I hadn’t known him long, but what I did know about him, I liked.

“This shirt will probably double as a nightgown on you.” He walked it over, handing it to me as I stared up at him. “That door over there leads to a bathroom. There’s fresh toothbrushes in the drawer under the sink.”

I still stared up at him.

“I’m going to make sure everything is locked up. Okay?”

Holding the borrowed clothing to my chest, I didn’t say anything or move as Jax stepped around me. He stopped, placing a hand on the small of my back and leaned in, speaking into my ear. His warm breath there felt good. “Remember what I told you?”

He’d told me a lot of things.

“I figured you haven’t spent the night at many guys’ houses before.”

My nose wrinkled. Was it that obvious? Ack.

“I like that about you,” he continued, and I thought that was a weird thing to like. “It’s cute.”

He was weird.

But there was a mushiness in my chest.

“I told you that you were safe with me.” His hand glided to my hip and squeezed tentatively. “That hasn’t changed, Calla.”

I exhaled slowly. He had said that and I did trust him. Time to pull the big girl panties on. I was staying here, sleeping in the same bed, but I wasn’t having sex with him.