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I try not to wince.
I like shopping as much as the next girl, and I could use a couple of things.
My mother? Shelovesit. She keeps going even when our arms are full of bags and our feet, heavier than after a five-mile run. And she tends to do it in four-inch heels, too. If we didn’t look so much alike, I’d question whether we’re related. I’d question whether she’s human, for that matter.
For all that, I like spending time with my mom, so I say, “Sure.”
“Do you want me to check with Sandro to see if he has a shift for you at the restaurant?”
I consider saying yes, but after shopping with her, the last thing I’ll want would be carrying trays of drinks. “Not this weekend. If we’re doing brunch, I don’t want to go to bed too late Saturday.”
We hang up.
I notice Dad left a message to check if he can help with anything. I shoot him a quick text to let him know about the weekend.
Once that’s done, I remain in my bedroom, sitting back on my bed for a few seconds. Without anything to distract me, memories from last night flash through my mind. His hands. His tongue. Jason pinning me down under him.
I need to decorate. Change everything about this place to make it mine, and wipe Jason away from my space.
Somehow.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Jace
I lean back in my chair, eyes closed, tuning out the irritating cacophony around me. I can’t stand lunchtime at Cross. Our first few years, we sat with the rest of the football team and the cheer team, but one day last year, I got up and went to the next table to our right. Some guys I didn’t know vacated it and I claimed it. Cain followed without question—a habit of his.
Rowan bitched, naturally, but he came, too, and where Rowan goes, Maverick follows.
It’s funny that everyone thinks the four of us are such great friends. I can’t stand Rowan. He’d happily run me over with his stupid-ass Jeep if murdering me wouldn’t cost him money.
We’re business partners, end of discussion.
Cain imprinted on me like a puppy when we were kids. I can’t say I mind. I like dogs. They’re blindly loyal—and blindness is the only way to be loyal to me.
Rowan is Cain’s half brother, a fact a rare few individuals are aware of, and the only reason why the four of us were pushed together. We remained a unit because as little as I actually like any of them, I respect them.
Cain’s a genius—having one of those in my pocket has come in handy more times than I can count. Rowan’s moral compass is more skewed than mine, which in itself is an achievement. I can be cold, and perhaps cruel to achieve my aim. Rowan’s cruel for the hell of it. And Maverick has what none of the rest of us can boast of: a heart. That, too, occasionally has its uses. Mav made it his life’s mission to keep Rowan in check. Why, I’m not sure. Maybe Rowan’s good at sucking his dick—who knows.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, lighten up a little, bitch.” I don’t have to open my eyes to know Rowan’s talking to me. He’s relatively civil toward the rest of the group. “Your karma’s messing with the taste of my pizza. What's got your panties in a twist?”
Cain answers for me. “She skipped English.” He doesn’t have to elucidate on theshe.
Now I open my eyes, shooting him a pointed glare.
Cain grins, unapologetic. “What? You’ve been tetchy since then.”
“Maybe I have a headache.”
“Or maybe you need to get it over with and fuck her,” Rowan counters.
My headache’s name is Rowan.
He’s trying to get on my nerves, but I won’t take the bait.
I could have had Nadia under me, over me, any which way, days ago. Years ago, if I’d known she was here, within reach.
Fire and ice stab my chest, like they always do when I think back to the first time I saw her. The first time I touched her.
