And then I remembered the two girls I’d seen him with a couple of years ago. And I thought of Liam, who definitely wasn’t as smart as I’d thought.

With my stomach clenching, I pushed lightly through the door and spotted both of them right away.

Separate and clothed. Thank God.

I let out a small breath and relaxed my shoulders. I didn’t know why the hell I cared, but … I swallowed.

Just not her. He couldn’t go for her.

The room was empty except for Jax and Sydney, and “Again” by Alice in Chains was playing on the CD player in the corner of the fully equipped room. I only knew the song because Tate listened to nothing but Alice in Chains when we’d first met. Two big fans were spinning from each side of the room, trying to keep it cool. The school had AC, but it was still stifling this time of year.

Jax was lying back on a black weight bench, a dumbbell in each hand as he spread his arms wide and then brought them back in and straight up over his body, flexing every muscle in his glowing, tanned arms, abs, shoulders, and pecs.

And I wanted her out of here.

He still wore the same knee-length black shorts as before, and his legs were spread, a foot resting on each side of the bench as a vision of me straddling him on that bench popped into my head.

I closed my eyes for a split second. I’m so fucking warped. I quickly swallowed the drool in my mouth before I accidentally drowned myself.

“You liked my sister.”

I heard Sydney talking, with her back to me.

Jax’s tone was clipped. “Your sister’s cool.”

“But not enough to come back for seconds,” Sydney taunted in a sexy voice, stepping up to the weight bench. “Wanna see if I’m better?” she asked.

“Jesus Christ,” Jax grumbled under his breath.

Dropping the dumbbells on the floor, he sat up and wiped his hand up his brow and over the top of his head, breathing hard.

Jax was pissed. I didn’t know him well, but I knew that about him. Whenever I’d seen him angry, he always ran his hand through his hair. It was his tell.

“Sydney,” I called, and watched both of their heads pop up to look at me. “Your friends are waiting in the parking lot. See you tomorrow.”

Sydney paused, probably trying to figure out how she could get the upper hand. Jax was frozen, glaring at me under scary black eyebrows.

Sydney arched an eyebrow before walking past me out of the door. She almost brushed my shoulder, and I could smell the anger on her. I was going to pay for that tomorrow.

Cocking my head, I gave Jax an amused look.

He shook his head, grabbing his towel off the floor. “Don’t give me that look. I didn’t ask her to come in here.”

“Like I care.” I kept my voice casual, because I so totally did care. “Half the women in town have seen you naked.”

He walked to a table, picking up a water bottle before turning his head to look at me. “That’s an exaggeration.” It sounded more like a warning instead of a statement.

And I watched him tilt his head back and gulp down mouthfuls of water.

Clearing my throat, I asked, “Why are you here? I thought you worked out at the gym.”

He brought the bottle down and stood there, and I started to wonder if he was going to answer the question or not.

“I assist the coach with lacrosse practice.”

Hmm. Well, that was cool. I hadn’t pegged him for the volunteering type, but I wasn’t sure why. He’d been in lacrosse in high school, and although he was cocky, he was also giving.

I’d noticed things like that in high school. He was generous. Generous with his time. Generous with his friends.

But shit. I let out a quiet sigh of frustration.

Jax was going to be around school a lot this summer. Damn it.

Walk. IPod. Escape. Remembering the quiet time I was looking forward to, I turned to leave, but then I remembered something.

I turned around and said, “I got a text from Liam, by the way.”

“He texted you?” he asked, his eyes laughing. “Doesn’t listen to directions very well, does he?”

“You told him not to contact me?” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I can handle him on my own, Jax. And he wasn’t texting me before. Now he is, thanks to you, so just butt out.”

A flush of anger spread down my body like a coat of paint.

“I didn’t do it for you,” he said matter-of-factly as he wiped down his body with the white towel. “Liam’s had that coming for a long time now. He needed to be humbled.”

Oh, what the …

“You’ve got some ego!” I yelled. “I mean, yeah, all of a sudden you have money. Where you get it from is too scary to even think about,” I spouted off when I really should have just shut up. “And you seem to have the town’s police in the palm of your hand. You’re clearly running the Loop now. Congratulations, Jax.” I smiled a big-ass, fake grin. “You’re the most powerful man in Shelburne Falls, Illinois!”

I planted my hands on my hips, pretty damn pleased at how good I’d gotten at putting men in their place.

But then my smile dropped and my eyes rounded. Jax’s eyes—full of challenge and amusement—narrowed on me, and he tossed his towel down, heading right for me.

Shit. I knew I should’ve listened to my mother. I talked too much.

He nodded, a grin playing at the corner of his mouth. “There she is.”

I inched back to the wall as he advanced into my space. “What are you talking about?”

“The snarky girl I met at Madoc’s house years ago.”

Yeah, the one that was slightly drunk and hella confident? My head bobbed off the wall, signaling I was at a damn dead end, and a trickle of sweat skidded down my neck. I saw Jax’s eyes flash to it, and all of a sudden I was too dumb to even remember my own name.

God, he was big. My chest vibrated with the heat of him only an inch away. He hovered over me, engulfing and consuming the space around me, making me feel as if I stood in the shadow of a tree.

Staring straight ahead, I made a conscious effort to keep my face straight. But it was almost impossible, and it was pointless. Out of all the reasons I could come up with for hating Jax—he always challenged and pushed me, and he always did whatever the hell he wanted—I could never claim that he wasn’t smart. He knew I was affected. He knew my body liked him close.

“I love it when you get mouthy,” he whispered down on me. “It makes me want to shut you up.”

Son of a bitch. I clenched my thighs together, feeling about ready to scream at the moisture I felt there.

I needed to get out of here. “I have to go.” I pushed off the wall but hit his chest, closing me in again.

“How do you like your community service?” he said low, trapping me by planting his hands on the wall on each side of my head.

Huh?

His smell was raw heat. Summer. Sticky cotton candy on a Ferris wheel and cool water on hot skin.

“What?” He’d asked me a question. What the fuck did he just ask?

He leaned on his hands, dipping his head close to mine. “Community service, K.C. How do you like it?”

I could hear the laughter in his voice. Little shit.

“I don’t,” I mumbled. “Teaching a bunch of kids who slacked off during the school year, because they didn’t get the attitude adjustment they needed, isn’t my idea of a good time.”

His arms lowered a bit, and I could hear him inhaling through his nose, as if he was smelling me.

“Your idea of a good time got you here in the first place.” His voice was calm but firm. “And those kids don’t need an attitude adjustment. You do.”

I smirked. “Well, I’m getting one, thanks to the great state of Arizona.” Then I pinned him with hard eyes. “You don’t know me, Jax.” And I pushed him away and turned for the door.

But he hooked my arm, pulling me back.

“You’re right,” he said quickly. “I don’t know you. So why don’t you enlighten me? What does K.C. stand for? What did you do at college that got you arrested?”