Triple Dare (Sterling Shore 7)

“Who?” Jax asks, confused.

“No way,” Maverick says at the same time, eyes widening as though he can’t believe it.

“Yeah. Karma is one hell of a motherfucking bitch. It was her.”

“Who was her?” a feminine voice asks, and we all three jump and jerk around to stare at the redhead who has managed to creep up on us.

“Britt? What the hell are you doing here?” Maverick asks, then his jaw ticks. “And what the fucking hell are you wearing?”

I groan when I see her in a sports bra and a pair of shorts that could be panties.

“This is what Tria and Bella work out in. So this is what I wore.”

Jax tilts his head, and he closes his eyes as though he’s forcing himself to do it.

“Barely legal and she’s Dane’s sister,” I growl, reminding him.

“Perfectly aware of that,” he says without even opening his eyes.

I turn back toward Britt, as Maverick starts talking about lecturing Tria and Bella. He sounds like an overbearing big brother—just like I do. Never would have thought we’d be this bad.

“Britt, what are you doing here?” I ask her, considering the conversation got sidetracked to wardrobe.

“Dane thinks I need to take self-defense classes, so he signed me up for a class here. Where is it?”

Jax points toward a side door. “That one. Cody is running the class. It doesn’t start for ten more minutes.”

“I don’t need this class,” she tells us, barely acknowledging Jax. “I’ve thoroughly studied the human anatomy, and I know I could defend myself should something ever escalate to physical confrontation. I lived on my own for a long time, and never had a physical altercation of any kind. But if I had, I would have been able to handle myself.”

“Knowing the human anatomy is different than actually defending yourself,” Jax explains. “This class will be good for you. Head on in. Cody will help you out. He’s the bald guy.”

She just nods and walks away, and Maverick starts bitching about her attire.

“You two sound like old men. You do realize you chase after girls wearing the same shit,” Jax points out.

“Exactly our point,” Mav and I say in unison.

Taking a calming breath, Maverick waves his hand back and forth, as though he doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“Go back to you and Ruby. I can’t focus on how fast I’m tattling on Britt to Dane.”

Laughing, I roll my eyes.

“That’s the story. I triple dared her to forgive me. It took a while to have an easy friendship again, but that’s all she’ll ever let me be. Now you know why.”

“If you hadn’t fucked the other girl, you might have stood a chance,” Jax says, as though he’s insightful or something.

“You think?” I snark.

“I mean, it’s almost cheating.”

“I know,” I groan. “In Ruby’s mind, I couldn’t fuck her because I wasn’t attracted to her, but I was perfectly fine to fuck a girl I barely knew. Well, she didn’t know I knew her.”

“I didn’t know Chloe even went to college with Ruby,” Maverick says randomly.

“Really, Mav? That’s the part you focus on?”

“My bad,” he says while shaking his head. “Just tell Ruby the truth about what happened. You’re old enough to own your shit now. Hell, it’d be good for a laugh.”

“If he hadn’t fucked another girl,” Jax says, apparently focusing on the worst part just like I do. Maverick can’t understand, but normal people do.

“If I tell Ruby I fucked a girl all because my ego needed a boost… That I ruined what we had because of pride… That I destroyed us over something as stupid as that...”

“I get it,” Jax says on a sigh.

“I don’t,” Maverick counters.

I start to say more, but Britt is suddenly walking back toward us with a blank expression on her face. Her eyes are trained on Jax.

“Your instructor is hurt. He’s crying. I’m sorry I hurt him, but I warned you I had intricate knowledge of the human anatomy.”

The three of us exchange a look of stunned silence and fascination before Jax finally stands, and Maverick snickers as Britt walks closer. Jax jogs toward the room, and Maverick fist-bumps Britt, or tries to. Britt just stares at his fist.

Maverick takes her hand, folds it, and bumps her knuckles against his before laughing.

“What did you do to him?” I ask her.

She keeps that same void expression before facing me. “Well, I learned men have an extremely sensitive set of testicles. A knee is fairly strong, so I used it as a driving force against said testicles. It caused him to double over, and I was allowed to knee him in the face. He was bleeding. I forgot to tell Jax there was blood. He may need a blood pathogen kit instead of just a first aid kit.”

Maverick struggles between laughing and grimacing, and I reflexively grab my own groin. Fuck, that had to hurt.