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“Ohhh man, Jazz is feisty today,” Rico teased before biting into the offering. “These are good. Just close your eyes and take a bite, Al.”
“Fuck it, I’m not going to let cookies go uneaten,” Russo declared as he reached in and grabbed two of the treats. “I don’t care if they’ve got frosted pubes.”
After Russo caved, most of the guys dug into the cooler. A couple of them laughed over the detail that Jazz had fussed over when icing them.
She was just getting ready to ask what the group consensus was when her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Checking the screen, she grimaced at the picture of her mother that was displayed. Jazz held up the phone to Leo so he could see who was calling. “I’m going to step outside for a minute to take this.”
He nodded. “Everything ok?”
“Yeah, she’s probably just calling to ask if I’m coming to visit this weekend or not.” Jazz hit the button to answer the call as she cleared the doorway to the hall.
“Mother, give me a second so I can find someplace quiet.” She walked out the front of the station and sat down on the bench that one of the guys had built at the beginning of the summer. “What’s going on? Everything ok?”
“Things are fine. I was wanting to know if we should expect you for dinner tonight?” Victoria Kingsford’s voice came over the phone loud and clear despite the small amount of traffic driving in front of the station.
“I planned to stay in tonight since I drove to the city yesterday for the ceremony. Is that okay?” She was only asking out of politeness. She had absolutely no desire to drive almost two hours just so she could sit at a cold dinner table with her parents.
“Of course, dear. By the way, your father wanted me to let you know that he would like your input on your graduation present.”
She rolled her eyes, annoyed that this conversation had come around again. “Can you please help him understand that I don’t need a new car right now?”
“Jasmine Jane, your father wants to reward your hard work and you are acting extremely ungrateful. There are people out there who would love to have what your father is trying to buy for you.”
Jazz took in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. “Of course I’m grateful for you guys. It’s just that my car is totally fine. It doesn’t need to be replaced. I don’t even want to go into how much car tags would run me for what Dad is wanting to buy. I can barely afford the tags for Silvy as it is.”
“We could cover all of that for you,” her mom argued.
She ignored that offer and continued. “I don’t want to worry about a shiny, new, expensive car in the parking lot at my apartment. The students who live around me don’t care if they ding doors and last summer there was a bunch of break-ins. My little car is perfect for where I live and what I need. If Dad is really set on getting me a gift, then maybe instead of a car we could talk about an account for a down payment on a little house here.”
Jazz stayed silent while her words were processed. She was more than grateful that her parents wanted to spend seventy-five-thousand-dollars on her; she just preferred the money be put toward something that benefit her more.
“Fine. I’ll talk to him, and we can go over a couple properties that might work—”
“In Lawrence,” she interrupted.
“Jasmine Jane,” her mother protested.
“Mother, I want to stay here in Lawrence,” she reiterated, her voice firm. It was a conversation they’d had more than once already. “I love it here. It’s big enough that I have everything I need, but small enough that I don’t have to worry about the problems of living in the city. I love KC, but Lawrence is close enough for me to drive in and enjoy it without living there.”
“We will discuss this later,” her mother snapped swiftly, most likely wanting to hold off on the rest of this conversation until Jazz’s father could be there to back her up. “I will let you get back to whatever you were doing. Call tomorrow sometime and we can plan dinner for next week.”
Jazz rubbed the bridge of her nose, already knowing that the dinner her mom was suggesting was probably going to be another blitz attack between courses. Her parents were nothing if not predictable. “Okay, mother. Have a good day and I’ll call you later.”
Just as she was getting ready to say, “I love you,” she heard the click indicating her mother had already hung up.
“Cocksucker motherfucker.”
“Excuse me?” Nix’s voice came from behind her.
Turning to look at him, Jazz smiled. Phoenix “Nix” Jones was built like a Viking god with a slightly polished edge. She hadn’t talked to him very much, mostly because she never knew what to say around him. For some reason, he’d always intimidated her. The man was just as ridiculously hot as the rest of the guys Will worked with. but she’d never taken to the idea of exploring things. The big firefighter was too intense for her. The best way to explain it was that Nix not only gave off the alpha vibe, but his presence screamed dominant to the core.
“Hi, Nix.” Jazz licked her lips nervously, noting that he watched the action as if he were memorizing every second of it.
That wasn’t good.
“Do you mind if we talk for a minute?”
Chapter 15
