Southern Storms (Compass 1)

“How many times did he miss the wall and hurt you?”

He went silent.

That made me want to cry.

“I’m so, so sorry, Jax.” It took a certain kind of monster to lay their hands against a child. Jax didn’t deserve that treatment. No child in the whole world deserved to be hurt by the ones who were supposed to protect their lives.

He shrugged. “It was a long time ago.”

“Still,” I said, “I’m sorry.”

He gave me a halfhearted smile before leading me to his bedroom to pack a suitcase.

When I entered the room, I froze as I saw two large, open boxes sitting on his desk. “What is that?” I asked, rushing over to see what was inside of them, even though I was already certain I knew.

He glanced over and turned a bit sheepish. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“But I did.” I dug through the boxes and shook my head as a small laugh left my lips. “I know you said you bought one of my books for the library, but it seems you brought all five of my books,” I said, stunned. “Five times over!”

“I wanted to support you.”

I laughed. “One book would’ve been effective.”

“What if I accidentally spilled something on said book? I wanted to have a few backups. One day, I’m going to build a library with all of your books on the shelves.”

He was the sweetest man I’d ever crossed paths with, and I was so thankful he was back in my life. “By the way things are going, these are going to be the only books I have,” I joked.

He shook his head, extremely certain of the opposite. “You’ll get there, Kennedy. One day at a time.”

I hoped he was right.

That night we made love, and then fell asleep in each other’s arms. When morning came, I wasn’t ready to say goodbye. As we stood in front of his truck, guilt filled me up inside.

“I’m sorry I can’t drive you to the airport. I wish I was better than this. I wish I didn’t have all of my issues.” What was wrong with me? I should’ve been able to do it. I should’ve been able to get into the truck and take him to the airport, like a normal person. I wished I could’ve been my old, normal self again.

He leaned in and kissed my lips and then my forehead. “You’ll get there, Kennedy,” he repeated like the previous night about my novels. “One day at a time.”

When he drove off, I already began to miss him, and I selfishly started counting down the hours until he’d be back.

28

Jax

There was no way to get around the fact that my brother Derek was very well off. He was a successful businessman who worked his ass off throughout the years to climb the corporate ladder. If you’d asked me what he did exactly, I’d shrug the hell out of my shoulders, but I knew he made a good living doing it.

As he pulled up to the Chicago O’hare International Airport to pick me up in his BMW, I was reminded just how well he’d been doing.

“Well, if it isn’t my favorite little brother,” Derek smirked, hopping out of his car. He walked over to me, placed his hands on my shoulders, and shook his head. “You’re looking bigger than the last time I saw you. You’re going to make me have to get in the gym and start pumping some iron.”

“If you did that, you might not fit into your designer suits anymore,” I joked.

“That’s what tailors and alterations are for, brother.”

He pulled me into a hug, and I’d be a liar if I said it didn’t feel good. It always felt good to touch down in Chicago to see Derek. Sometimes, it felt like I was seeing Mom, too, looking at his face. She would’ve been so proud of the man he’d become.

After we broke up our hug, I was shocked when a woman climbed out of the passenger seat of his car. She was a very pretty girl with the brightest smile I’d ever seen—other than Kennedy’s. That was a first for my trips to visit Derek. It was no secret that my brother had a bit of a playboy persona. He’d slept with a lot of women, but he never let them stick around to ride in his BMW.

And he definitely didn’t have them come with him to pick me up from the airport.

“Hi, there!” She smiled. “I’m Stacey. Derek’s—”

“Fiancée,” Derek jumped in. Stacey giggled and nudged Derek in the side. “You’re supposed to let me say it!”

“Sorry, I can’t get enough of saying it out loud,” he said, kissing her forehead.

“Fiancée?” I asked, trying my best not to sound surprised. “I didn’t know there was even a girlfriend.”

“Yes, well, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind,” Stacey grinned. “We’ve only been talking for about two months, and last night bam! Proposal!”