A Hidden Truth

Jaxon's Day Part 2

[Jaxon]

    Fifteen minutes after Gary left, there was a knock at our door. I got up to look out the peephole. Two young women were standing there. I didn’t recognize them. They knocked again. I went back to the table.

    “There are two girls out there.” I whispered.

    “That’s better room service than I ever got from this place.” Reg chuckled.

    “Let’s get into the other room. You guys, get ready to answer it and see what they want. Maybe they just went to the wrong room.” Trace said.

    He, Reg, and Carson exited. I looked at Teddy and shrugged. He pulled his shirt off and unbuckled his belt, leaving it open, but his pants buttoned and zipped. He’d taken off his shoes and socks an hour ago, saying he thought better barefoot. I followed his lead and went to open the door. Their knocking had become very persistent.

    When the door opened, they looked me up and down slowly and grinned. One was a brunette in black and red, the other a blonde in pink. I smiled back.

    “Can I help you?” I asked.

    The little blonde bounced. “We came to see Teddy and meet you.”

    “Amber?” Teddy said coming to the door.

    The girls gaped at us as their eyes grew large.

    “Teddy? Who are these… girls?” I inquired.

    “Juni’s friends. Bubblegum blondie is Amber and the mistress of the night is Kelly. Shoo, girls. I’m busy.” He scowled.

    Gary came back at that moment. He froze for a second, his eyes lingering on Teddy, then entered his room right next door.

    “f**k! Get in here. Everyone can see us if we stand in the doorway.” I growled.

    They rushed in past us and I closed the door. Teddy gave me a ‘what are you doing’ look. I didn’t want too much attention while we dealt with this.

    “What are you two doin’ here? How’d you even know I was here?” He demanded.

    I’d never seen Teddy as fierce or serious as this. Even when he was talking about killing Hank, it was a fairly relaxed tone. He was probably still working through his feelings on the Carson thing, and every moment we took away from our discussion could lead to Juniper being hurt by Hank.

    “I was walkin’ into town and saw your sexy boyfriend pull you into the room. Juni told us not to come embarrass you, but I couldn’t help myself. You know how much we love you.” Amber said as she sat in one of the chairs.

    “You little perverts need to leave me be. I told Juni to keep you away from me. You know she’d gonna be pissed you came here.” Teddy scolded. “You get out of here and leave us alone.”

    “We just wanted to meet your boyfriend and make sure he’s treatin’ you right.” Kelly pouted.

    I shrugged it didn’t matter. I needed to get the girls to leave.

    “I’m Jaxon Boone. Just here for the summer. Teddy knows that.” I looked at him. “A summer fling. Right, babe?”

    He smiled and put his arm around my waist. “Right. Then back to my borin’ life.”

    “You’ll be okay; you just need to get out more.” I winked.

    “Like to come see you at school?” He purred into my ear.

    “That would be amazing, babe. f**k, you’re gorgeous.” I traced my finger down his chest.

    There was a high pitch squeak and I looked over to see the girls watching with intense stares. He’d called them perverts… They certainly were liking the show.

    “You girls need to go. You’ve met me. We’re busy. I don’t want Teddy to be late for his sister’s birthday and I have a few more things planned for him this afternoon.” I told them.

    “Umm… right. We needed to talk to you about what happened while we were at lunch. That’s the real reason we came. The rest was kind of a joke. Sorry.” Amber said, chewing her lip.

    “What happened? Is Juni okay?” Teddy let me go and stepped toward the girls.

    “She’s upset. Physically fine, for now, but once Becca Shaw hears what happened, she won’t be.” Kelly answered.

    “What does that mean? Tell us what happened. This isn’t the time for games.” I said sternly. “Now.”

    “Clayton Reed came up to us while we were havin’ lunch. He tried to flirt with her, but she wasn’t havin’ it and told him not to talk to her. Then he says her brother said she was lyin’ and she liked him. We were all pissed at you for a minute, until he says it was Carson. She flew straight off the handle. Screamed at him, threatened to kick his ass. Tammy’s family removed him from the restaurant. Becca’s already been harassin’ and warnin’ Juni away. This is gonna start some shit.” Amber responded.

    I was going to kill the little f**k. He took a conversation, which didn’t need airing, and used it to try and do something with Juniper. Teddy looked just as angry. He looked at the adjoining door.

    “Don’t, Teddy.” I warned.

    “Don’t you fuckin’ ‘don’t Teddy’ me. You tried to get me to make up with him and he did this s**t? That kid is the most arrogant, self-absorbed, asshole in town. Juni doesn’t see it, though, because she remembers the boy she used to ride and train with. Carson shouldn’t’ve been talkin’ outta turn.” He growled and headed to the adjoining door.

    I tried to stop him, but he pushed me away. There was no stopping him without hurting him. I went to stand in front of the door to the room instead. They weren’t going to leave until I knew they were going to stay quiet and there was plenty of protection for Carson in the other room.

    Teddy jerked the door open and found Trace standing there. He tried to push past, but Trace wouldn’t let him. They struggled for a while and the girls sat wide eyed, not knowing what was going on. The girls leaned in close to each other and whispered something I couldn’t hear over the men fighting.

    “I can’t believe you told Clayton, Juni liked him! Do you know how much you hurt her now, Carson?!” Teddy shouted.

    “I swear I didn’t say she liked him, Teddy! I just said she was lyin’ about not starin’ because she always makes fun of people when she gets caught out. Just like dad. It’s true and you know it.” Carson called out.

    “She doesn’t do that anymore. Not after Hank figured it out. Now she just gives up. Now she’s always givin’ up.” He sagged heavily against Trace. “How could you talk about our Juni-bug to that little f**k? After everythin’ she has to live with? You weren’t there these last few years!”

    “I know and I’m sorry, Teddy. I didn’t realize he’d go get in her face about it. Really.” Carson implored.

    “You never think, Carson.” Teddy said standing up and pushing against Trace. “You hurt her. She lost her temper in public. Do you have any idea what he’s gonna do to her for embarrassin’ him?!”

    “Oh, God. I didn’t think about that. Why would it matter to her if Clay knew she had a crush on him, though? I don’t get why she’d lose her temper.”

    “Because of you.” Kelly said loudly. “Because you left. Because you told someone somethin’ about her that was personal. That, on top of Clayton bein’ an ass, set her off. Teddy, why are you meetin’ with Carson? We thought y’all hated him.”

    “I didn’t mean to meet with him. I was tricked into it. Jaxon. I want to go home. I’ll figure this out myself. None of you are really workin’ for her. You’re all just ashamed you didn’t see what was goin’ on.” Teddy growled.

    There was a pounding knock on the door. What fresh hell was coming to our door? I sighed deeply and looked out the peephole again. There was another girl out there. This one looked pissed. I turned to the room.

    “Umm… there’s another girl out there.” I said.

    “And you better let her in or she’s gonna break down that door and kick all y’all’s asses.” Amber announced, crossing her arms and glaring.

    “Do it. That’s Tammy. Amber’s not lyin’.” Kelly confirmed.

    Teddy turned and nodded to me. I opened the door and, before I could say anything, she pushed past me with a disgusted glare. Tammy stood by Amber and looked her over.

    “Babe, you okay?” She asked.

    “There’s something goin’ on with Juni. Carson’s in the other room. They’re talkin’ like someone’s gonna hurt her.” Amber reported.

    “I’ll take care of it. You’re in trouble, though. I told you to stay away from here. So did Juniper… she… she knows about this. Whatever this is. Normally, she thinks it’s funny, but today she was trying to stop you. Why wouldn’t she tell us if she was in trouble?”

    “It’s the secret, I bet. The thing that made her change. The one she never talks about.” Kelly replied.

    The girls were obviously more knowledgeable than anyone thought they’d be. Of course, being her best friends probably helped, even if it was after it all started. Trying to get them out would take longer and could alert Hank. It was best to bring them in as experts.

    “I’ll tell you.” I said.

    Teddy turned from Trace with a horrified look.

    “No, you won’t. It’s bad enough you’ve got the sheriff and our brother in on this. She’s not gonna appreciate her friends knowin’.” He warned.

    “If we aren’t allowed to know, then we aren’t really her friends.” Tammy told him. “So you decide. Does Juniper have friends, or not?”

    I liked Tammy. She seemed sensible and protective. If she had any idea about what was happening, then she would have probably tried to kick Hank’s ass.

    “Teddy. She needs our help and this is only taking time we don’t have. Set this aside and focus on what’s important. If we get her out safely, he won’t have a chance to punish her. You and Carson can beat the s**t out of each other once we know she’s safe.” I directed.

    Teddy and I dressed as I told the girls what had been happening and what we were working on. Tammy was enraged. She tried to leave, saying she was going to go Halstead him.

    There were quite a few bruises from trying to keep her in. Reg was most effective at stopping her. If not for Amber, we probably wouldn’t have gotten her calmed down. Reg and Gary kept her busy while Amber was explaining why she shouldn’t go. Teddy just stood back and watched.