Chapter 3

3.

"Uh… Mr. Superstar? Are you… at the wrong house?"

I was genuinely baffled. He knew my name, but I didn't remember knowing a guy this attractive.

I'm a total sucker for a pretty face. I only dated Caleb because he was decent-looking, but he was a peasant compared to this man. If I had known someone this hot, there's no way he would've escaped my clutches.

Jax didn't answer. He saw the tear stains on my face and the tissue in my hand, and his eyes filled with rage and regret.

"Are you crying? Did he make you cry? I knew it! He doesn't really love you!"

"It's my fault. I came back too late. If I had been brave enough to find you sooner, I would never have let you marry him…"

"Wait a minute!" I interrupted his monologue. I looked around the hallway suspiciously. "Is this a prank show? Are there hidden cameras?"

Jax looked completely speechless.

I had zero interest in being on a reality show or looking like a mess on national television. Even if it meant being in the same frame as a hottie.

I moved to shut the door, but he quickly blocked it with his hand. He looked at me like a kicked puppy.

"Riley, it's me, Jax! Do you really not remember me?"

Wait. Jax? Little Jaxie? The chubby kid who used to follow me everywhere?

My jaw hit the floor.

I hit my growth spurt early as a kid, so I was always half a head taller than everyone else. I was the girl no one messed with because I had a zero-tolerance policy for bullies. If someone poked me, I slapped them twice.

Jax was my neighbor. We were born the same year, though I'm a month older. Since our moms were best friends, we were in the same class all through elementary school.

Back then, Jax loved sweets. He was a soft, pale, chubby little thing with cheeks that were incredibly fun to squeeze. Every day on the way to school, I'd pinch his face and make him call me "big sister."

He hated it at first. That changed the day I caught a group of older punks cornering him in an alley, trying to steal his lunch money.