Forbidden Ties

Chapter 19: Stolen kiss.

Jax's P.O.V.

Walking into the cafeteria, I felt the familiar buzz of lunchtime energy hit me—conversations bouncing off the walls, the clash of trays, and bursts of laughter from every corner. Aaron was mid-rant about some new car mod, his voice filling the space around us as Madison chimed in with a question I didn’t bother to catch.

But then I saw them.

Sam and Kyle.

Tucked away at a table near the back, their heads slightly bent toward each other. Kyle was leaning in, his face serious, his lips moving as if every word carried weight. Sam wasn’t meeting his gaze, though. She stared at the table, her fingers fidgeting with the strap of her bag.

I stopped walking, my focus narrowing until the sounds around me dulled into nothing.

“Yo, Jax, you good?” Aaron asked, pausing ahead of me, but I barely heard him.

Madison’s voice floated through the haze. “Jax, are you even listening?”

I shook them both off, my gaze locked on Sam. That’s when it happened.

She looked up.

Our eyes met across the noisy cafeteria, and for a split second, it was like the rest of the room disappeared. Her face betrayed a flicker of something—panic? Guilt? Whatever it was, it hit me like a punch to the chest.

And then she stood.

The movement was sudden, jerky. Kyle stopped mid-sentence, his mouth hanging open as she grabbed her bag and bolted toward the exit without a word.

What the hell just happened?

I took a step toward their table, instinct overriding sense, but Aaron clapped a hand on my shoulder.

“Jax, where are you going?” he asked, frowning at me.

“Nowhere,” I muttered, shrugging him off, but my attention snapped back to Kyle, who was still sitting there, stunned. His jaw tightened as he stared at the door Sam had just rushed through.

Neither of us knew what that was about. But one thing was certain—I needed to find out.

I was still standing there, rooted in place, trying to piece together what had just happened, when Kyle appeared in the cafeteria doorway. His eyes darted around, scanning the hall like he was searching for something—or someone.

“Jax!” he called out, striding over to me. His voice carried a mix of urgency and frustration.

I crossed my arms, trying to appear indifferent as he approached.

“Did you see where Sam went?” he asked, a frown creasing his brow. “She just... took off in the middle of our conversation.”

Kyle looked genuinely baffled, like he couldn’t wrap his head around why she’d bolted. For a moment, I considered telling him the truth. I knew exactly where she was. But instead, I shrugged.

“No idea,” I said flatly, leaning against the wall with practiced nonchalance. “She didn’t exactly leave me a note.”

Kyle let out a frustrated sigh, running a hand through his hair. “Seriously? She was fine a second ago. I don’t get it.”

“Maybe she just needed some air,” I offered, knowing full well that wasn’t the case.

Kyle hesitated, staring at me as if trying to decide whether to press me further. Then, with a shake of his head, he muttered something under his breath and turned back toward the cafeteria.

The second he was out of sight, I pushed off the wall and headed in the opposite direction.

The library.

I was sure that’s where she’d gone.

Sam and I hadn’t had many deep conversations—not recently, anyway—but there was one moment that stuck with me. A quiet day last spring, before all this tension between us, she’d mentioned how the library was her escape. How the stillness and the faint smell of old books always managed to calm her when things got too much.

I quickened my pace, weaving through the hallways, ignoring the curious glances from passing students. By the time I reached the library doors, my heart was pounding—not from the walk, but from the anticipation of seeing her.

Sure enough, there she was.

She sat tucked away in a corner by the tall windows, her knees pulled up to her chest, her face buried in her hands. The sunlight streaming through the glass painted soft patterns across her hair, and for a second, I just stood there, watching her.

She didn’t look up, didn’t sense me standing there. I took a deep breath, trying to steady myself before taking the next step.

“Sam,” I said quietly, stepping into the room.

Her head shot up, her wide eyes meeting mine.

Sam's P.O.V.

“There you are.”

I looked up, startled, as Jax’s voice broke the silence. He stood there, his broad frame backlit by the sunlight streaming through the library window. Before I could say a word, he slid into the chair next to me.

We didn’t speak at first. For a while, the only sounds were the muffled voices of students and the soft rustle of pages being turned in the distance. But it wasn’t awkward. Somehow, silence with Jax had always felt... comfortable.

Finally, he broke it. “What happened back there?”

I swallowed hard, my mind flashing back to the cafeteria. To Kyle’s hopeful expression, the intensity of his words. “He asked me to officially be his girlfriend,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

Jax nodded slowly, his face unreadable. “Pretending got too much for you?”

His tone was casual, but I caught the edge in it, like he was fishing for something. Testing the waters. I met his gaze and shook my head.

“I wasn’t pretending,” I said, a little too quickly. I dropped my eyes to my lap, to my hands fidgeting with the hem of my sweater. “Kyle is a great guy and everything, but he isn’t—”

The words caught in my throat. I stopped short, realizing too late that I’d said too much. My chest tightened as I felt Jax’s eyes on me, probing, waiting for me to continue.

But I couldn’t.

“So, what now?” he asked after a pause, his voice softer this time.

I sighed, leaning back in my chair. “I don’t want to hurt him, Jax.” My voice cracked, and before I could stop myself, I leaned against his shoulder. “He doesn’t deserve it.”

Jax didn’t answer right away. Instead, I felt his arm wrap around my shoulders, pulling me closer. For a moment, I let myself sink into the warmth of his embrace, the familiar scent of him grounding me in a way I hadn’t felt in weeks.

“You don’t deserve to be with someone you barely like, either,” he said finally, his voice low and steady. I looked up at him, startled by the conviction in his tone.

Before I could respond, he pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

“You deserve better than that,” he murmured.

The words hung in the air between us, heavy with meaning.

I pulled away slightly, enough to look up at him. His hand lingered on my shoulder, his thumb tracing idle circles on my arm.

“I don’t know what I’m doing anymore, Jax,” I said, my voice barely audible.

His gaze softened, the usual cocky edge replaced by something quieter, something I didn’t quite know how to name. “Neither do I,” he admitted.

For a moment, we just sat there, the space between us charged with something neither of us dared to address.

And then, like gravity had shifted, pulling us toward each other, his hand moved to my cheek, his touch hesitant at first.

“You deserve better,” he repeated, his voice lower now, barely a whisper.

Before I could think, before I could stop myself, I closed the distance between us.

The kiss was soft at first, almost cautious, like we were both afraid to shatter whatever fragile thing we’d just rebuilt. But then, his hand slid to the back of my neck, and I tilted closer, the library, the world, everything fading away.

When we finally broke apart, the weight of what had just happened settled between us.

Neither of us spoke.

I pulled back, my heart pounding, my mind racing. Jax looked at me, his expression unreadable, but there was something in his eyes—a flicker of hope, a question he didn’t dare ask.

I stood abruptly, my chair scraping against the floor. “I—”

The words failed me. Without another glance, I turned and walked out, leaving him there in the silence, the taste of regret mingling with the stolen kiss I couldn’t bring myself to take back.