CHAPTER 173: CHAD

The moment Mari woke up the next morning she smiled as she stretched out on her bed, already thinking about how to spend her day with Jax without any interruption.

She put on her glasses as she got out of bed and quickly went to the bathroom to freshen up, excited to begin the day.

As she freshened up she thought about all the ways she could frustrate him and get him to talk and smile or laugh.

After showering she put on a matching tank top and shorts, and as she walked out of her room she couldn’t help but wonder how long it would take before her parents would reach out to talk to her.

Did they really think she hadn’t already figured out that they sent Jax to protect her? She wondered with a roll of her eyes.

She contemplated between waiting for Jax in the kitchen and going to get him from his room, then decided that she couldn’t wait for him.

But just as she headed for the stairs she heard movements in the kitchen. She grinned, guessing that he was awake already and fixing breakfast.

Was he planning to bring her breakfast in bed? She wondered, liking the thought of it.

Walking into the kitchen, she saw him standing by the coffee maker with his back to her.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt and he was barefooted. All he was wearing was a jeans trouser that rode low on his waist without a belt, revealing his briefs.

Mari raised a brow, wondering why he was dressed like that. She had never seen him that way.

Wanting to startle him, she tiptoed over to where he stood and before he could turn around, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Good morning, baby," she greeted in a teasing tone.

He froze for a moment, and then he relaxed and turned to face her, causing Mari to take a step back.

Mari grinned at him, waiting for him to glare or scowl at her, but the blue eyes that met hers wasn’t weary. They weren’t as cool as they usually were either.

He looked her over slowly and smirked, "Good morning, little mermaid," he drawled as he leaned forward and brushed his lips on hers.

Mari frowned as she took another step back and stared at him, "Little mermaid?"

"Yup. Just a new nickname I picked for you. Like it?" he asked as he picked up his mug of coffee and took a sip, his eyes trained on her over the rim of the cup.

"Hmm. Something seems off about you today," she observed, looking him over.

He chuckled. "Really? What is off? Please tell me."

Mari looked at him in confusion, "I can’t tell," she said with a shake of her head as she walked away from him and went to sit on the island.

He followed her to the island and took the seat closest to her, "Did you sleep well?"

"I did. What’s for breakfast?" Mari asked, watching him while still trying to figure out what was off about him.

"It depends on what you want. What do you want?" He asked, looking at her with an amused glint in his eyes.

Why did he keep smiling as though he was laughing at a secret joke she did not know about? She wondered with a frown.

Perhaps he woke up with a plan to frustrate her today? She wondered, wanting to see how far he would go.

"You. I want you for breakfast," she said, grinning at him.

To her surprise he chuckled.

"Well, I’m right here. How do you want me? Toast? Fried? Boiled?"

It was almost like he was an entirely different person with the same face, Mari thought as she listened to him yet she couldn’t pick out what was wrong.

"Jax, what is up with you?" Mari asked, unable to keep up with the change in his personality.

Did he perhaps suffer from dissociative personality disorder, and this was one of his personalities? Emily had written a romance novel on that.

Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Where is Jax?"

He chuckled. "What do you mean where is Jax? I’m right here."

"No. You’re not Jax. Where is Jax?" Mari asked in a firmer tone, convinced now than before that he wasn’t Jax.

"Tell me where he is or I’m going to break your head," Mari threatened and he laughed even more.

"Where else could he be? I am Jax."

"What personality are you? Are you like the evil personality? Or the goofy one?" Mari asked, and his brows pulled together.

"What are you talking about?" He asked in confusion.

"I’m assuming you’re one of the personalities in that body. Jax is likely the host. I like Jax. I prefer him to you. So go back and let Jax come out," Mari said, and he chuckled when it dawned on him.

"So, you prefer Jax to me? Why? You haven’t even gotten to know me yet. I am more charming than Jax," he said, and she rolled her eyes.

"I’m sure you’re a cute one. But Jax is more my cup of tea. I like his personality. No offense. Maybe whenever Jax becomes annoying I will send for you," she said with a sweet smile.

"Send for me?" He asked with a chuckle.

"Yup. How can I make you know when I want you to come out? Wait. How do you guys operate in there? What’s your name?" She asked, and he grinned.

"Sorry. You hurt my feelings already so I’m not telling you my name. I’m just going to go off and ask Jax to take over that his darling wants him," he said, and before Mari could say anything he shut his eyes and pretended to slump, resting his head on the counter.

Mari raised a brow as she waited, curious to see how it works.

His eyes opened a moment later and he looked at her. "Good morning, baby," he said in a cool tone but his eyes remained the same.

"You’re not Jax. That’s still you," Mari said, and just as he opened his mouth to speak again, someone else spoke.

"Cut it out, Chad," Jax, who had been listening to the conversation, said as he walked into the kitchen.

Mari’s jaw dropped as she turned to look at Jax, and then back at the idiot, who had been messing with her.

Chad chuckled, "Why did you have to come in now you shithead?"

Mari gasped, "You’re twins? Like identical twins?" She asked, looking from Jax, who was dressed in a black shirt and black sweatpants, to Chad, who was grinning at her.

"No. We are two personalities..."

"Shut up," Mari said, making him laugh.

"I like you. You have a very overactive imagination," he said, grinning at her.

Jax stared at her, wondering how she could easily tell that he wasn’t the one. Other people often fell for Chad’s tricks all the time.

"Gee! Thanks, Chad. It’s nice to meet you," Mari said, smiling at him.

"When did you get in?" Jax asked Chad.

"An hour ago. I heard from Diva. She said you threw her out because of some bitch," Chad said, glancing at Mari.

"Let’s talk about her later..."

"I’m the bitch," Mari said and Chad smiled at her.

"I figured."

"I didn’t throw her out because of anyone. I..."

"I know you didn’t," Chad said easily and then rose.

"Do you live here too? Or are you visiting?" Mari asked Chad curiously.

"Both. But I’ll be around for two weeks if you’re asking to know how long I’ll be here," he said, and Mari pressed a hand to her chest.

"How can I be so lucky to be in the midst of two handsome men? It’s going to be so tough choosing between you both," she said dramatically, and Jax raised a brow at that, while Chad laughed.

"I hope you choose me," Chad said with a wink, and Mari grinned.

"Seeing how you both are talking to me and not to each other, I should excuse myself. I need to sleep for a while..."

"You’re taking coffee and you want to sleep?" Mari asked, and he smiled.

"This amount of Caffeine doesn’t affect my circadian rhythm. I’m going to sleep just fine," he assured her as he picked up his cup and headed for the door.

"We will catch up after I’m well rested, little mermaid," Chad told her without turning back.

"Little mermaid?" Jax asked, and Mari simply shrugged.

Jax waited a second and then two, just staring at her without a word, and just as she wanted to speak, he spoke, "Chad quit eavesdropping."

Mari wanted to say Chad left already, but then she heard his chuckle just outside the door as he walked away.

"How did you know I wasn’t the one?" Jax asked.

"You’re both very different. Why didn’t mention you had an identical twin brother?" she asked, and he looked at her.

"My apologies. I didn’t realize I was supposed to share my family history with my hostage," he said dryly.

Mari pouted, "I thought our relationship has progressed beyond that?"

"Beyond what?" Jax asked with a raised brow.

"Beyond the kidnapper and hostage thing. Did you sleep well?" Mari asked, changing the subject.

"I did. You?"

"Same, baby. But I would have slept even better beside you," she said with a sweet smile.

Jax sighed deeply. It was too early to face her. He didn’t have the energy yet.

"What do you want for breakfast?" He asked as he went to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"You," she said with a grin.

Jax’s lip twitched though he didn’t turn to look at her.

"How do you want me? Toast? Fried? Boiled?" He joked, and she laughed out loud.

"You heard that?" She asked, watching him with amusement.

"Yeah."

"Just how long were you standing there? Did you see him kiss me?" She asked, wanting to see his reaction to that.

Jax raised a brow as he turned to look at her, "Chad kissed you?"

"Yup. After I hugged him from behind," she said with a grin.

"You touched him?" Jax asked, and she bobbed her head, liking the displeasure on his face.

"I thought he was you. The same way you thought I was Diva," she said with a sweet smile. "Thankfully it didn’t go further than..."

Before she could finish, Jax walked out of the room to go find Chad.