68 - The chapter with Jax's story

Christian

My mind seemed to go round in circles going over what Harry had told me as I returned to Rose's room. Was he right?

I decided to put this aside as I reached the door to her room, surprised to see that Rose had taken the mattresses off the two beds and put them together on the floor, spreading pillows and blankets over them. She was no longer in her pajamas; she was wearing sweatpants and a long, loose T-shirt.

" What is this?”

" It's more comfortable for us to watch, don't you think? " She smiled.

Her smile was not the provocative or sarcastic smile she usually gave. Rose just seemed happy with my company, and I was also more than happy to spend a quiet day with her.

After setting the laptop in a comfortable place for us to watch, I sat down on the mattress and she lay on my lap, smiling as I began to stroke her scalp, feeling the softness of her strands of hair.

" Your temperature has dropped," I commented.

" What can I say? I had a good nurse. And I took a quick shower after you left, I was feeling disgusting.” She turned her face up to look at me.

Without much thought, I leaned in, kissing her mouth tenderly. Is this having a girlfriend? Because if it is, it's not as bad as I imagined it would be. At least not when she is the girlfriend.

" Thank you for taking care of me," Rose declared with her lips still pressed against mine.

The two of us spent the whole morning there together, just enjoying each other's company while watching a thriller series.

But I couldn't pay attention to the plot unfolding on the laptop screen, I was torn between admiring Rose and thinking about what Harry had said earlier.

Damn it, Christian. This was not the plan!

You should just make the most of the friendship with benefits and not fall in love with her. She has always made it clear that she doesn't want any relationship!

I felt uncomfortable with this realization, but still, I did my best to spoil her, leaving only to get the tacos we had ordered for lunch, and returning to her room afterwards.

" You know, Davis, I was just thinking, you never told me what happened between you and O'Donnel," Rose commented as we sat on the floor eating.

" Ahh that. You really want to know?”

I had promised to tell Rose that story when we were in Montana, but we didn't remember to bring it up again afterwards.

" If I didn't want to, I wouldn't be asking," she smirked, making me smile.

" Okay, there's not much to tell. We both went to high school together, and we never really got along, but he still kept his distance, because of the motorcycle club and all the reputation that surrounds us," I began to explain, "but one day I saw him harassing a girl in our class, and I got involved, and we got into a big fight. Don't ask me how it happened, I don't understand it myself, but I ended up setting fire to a bench in the lab and he got a little burned. It was nothing serious, but still…”

I remembered the whole mess that had happened, and how my parents had done everything to keep me out of trouble.

" The police were called, and my parents did everything so that I wouldn't be formally charged with anything, after all, it would be a permanent blot on my record. In the end, the school and O'Donnel's parents agreed to drop the matter since my parents assured me that I would change schools and towns.”

I sighed, remembering the anger I felt when I found out that in my senior year I would have to abandon my friends and family because of a jerk.

" Change towns? Where did you move to? " She widened her eyes.

" Minneapolis, I lived with my sister and graduated from high school there. Imagine my surprise when I got accepted at Dalton University and ran into that jerk. He spread the word to everyone that I was sent to reform school, but I guess in the end he wants to avoid physical contact, since he runs away from me whenever possible.”

" Because he's a cowardly jerk," Rose commented, putting her hand on my knee.

I brought my hand to hers, feeling her soft skin under mine. I remembered her broken fingernail.

" Have you decided what you're going to do with this? " I held up the tip of her finger.

Rose sighed, pouting nonchalantly as she looked at her fingernails.

" I'm going to cut them. I was hoping to get a manicure, but I'm not going out like this. Then I don't have much choice," she shrugged.

" It's a shame," I teased, bringing her hand to my lips, "I will miss teasing you about your nails.”

" You're being so nice to me that I'm going to get used to you, Davis," she looked away with a small smile on her face.

" Hey, don't kid yourself. This is just because you're sick. The rule is clear.”

" What rule?”

" I can't be a jerk to you if you've spent the night in the hospital or have a fever over 100 degrees.”

Rose sipped the rest of the juice in her glass before placing it on the bedside table and crawling back over to my side, laying her head on my shoulder. I put my arm around her, feeling the warmth of her body next to mine.

" So it's official, we have a truce today. Tomorrow you can go back to being an insufferable asshole, and I can go back to being a deranged demon. But today we'll be nice to each other," she commented.

I couldn't help but smile at her answer, deciding to enjoy every second of that day with her.