Chapter 4The 'Hate-Ship' Playlist: When Your Ex Is Your Muse

One should never get carried away.

Too excited from teasing Jax, I forgot I was wearing four-inch heels and twisted my ankle.

My ride, of course, broke down halfway.

I was hobbling alone through the dark underground parking garage.

It was a truly pathetic sight.

"Well, look at Ms. Shaw. Enjoying a midnight stroll barefoot?"

A black Lexus SUV stopped in front of me.

The rear window lowered.

"Stroll, my butt. Can't you see I twisted my ankle?"

Jax looked at my swollen ankle, his brow furrowing.

"No one picking you up?

"Get in."

I held onto my dress stubbornly. "I don't need your trouble. I can walk out and get a cab myself."

"Lena, are you getting in or not?"

"No."

"Fine. Tough girl. Even tougher than when you dumped me."

The next second, Jax opened his door and lifted me over his shoulder.

"You—" The sudden lift startled me. "Jax, you jerk, put me down!"

He tossed me into the back seat, roughly.

He then pulled out a tube of muscle rub from the glove compartment.

"Take your shoe off."

"What are you doing?"

"Stop talking. What do you think I'm doing? I'm going to steal your heels and sell them on eBay, okay?"

Me: "..."

Jax started applying the ointment, gently massaging the swollen area.

It felt good.

But it tickled, and I instinctively flinched.

"Why are you flinching? What part of you haven't I touched?"

"Shut up, you."

"Cough, cough, cough..." A fit of violent coughing came from the front seat.

"Jax, watch your words. I'm right here."

I leaned forward. "Leo! Is that you? Long time no see!"

Leo is Jax’s personal assistant and has been with him for years.

When Jax and I broke up, he went on a drunken bender at a bar. Leo went to pick him up, and Jax threw up all over him.

Since then, Leo's salary has tripled.

So, in a way, I was the patron saint of Leo’s career.

"Long time no see, Lena."

Leo is usually shy and reserved, but today he was unusually enthusiastic, asking about my life.

Jax kept glaring at Leo, winking and twitching his eyebrows.

I was confused. "Is your eyebrow spasming?"

"Oh!" Leo suddenly understood. "Right, Lena, do you have a boyfriend right now?"

If I said yes, I'd be lying.

If I said no, I'd look defeated in front of my ex.

I was trying to figure out how to answer.

Jax interjected snidely: "Even if she does, they probably broke up. A boyfriend who runs off before his girlfriend even leaves and can't pick her up when she twists her ankle? Useless."

I realized they were talking about Alec.

I couldn't blame Jax for the misunderstanding.

I did ask Alec to pretend to be my boyfriend once just to tick Jax off.

"We are not dating. Don't spread rumors. I don't want to be constantly trending. Got it?"

"Oh, so they did break up."

Whatever. Let him think what he wants.

I looked down at my phone and suddenly heard an uncontrollable burst of laughter beside me.

I looked up, catching a glimpse of a fleeting smile on Jax’s face.

"What are you laughing at?"

"I wasn't."

"Yes, you were! I saw it!"

"Your eyes are messed up. Go get them checked."

"Want to bet? Bet your life!"

"You get on your knees and beg me, and I'll take the bet."

...

Leo quietly raised the privacy screen in the front seat.

This is too much.