Page 24 of My Girl to Use

She exhales softly against my lips, pulling back just enough to look at me. “I really have to go.”

“I know.”

She hesitates for a second, then brushes her fingers lightly against Levi’s cheek before taking him. She secures him in the stroller. “We’ll see you later.”

“Yeah,” I nod.

She gives me one last look, then turns and walks away. I watch until she disappears down the street, my hands tucked in my pockets, my mind already somewhere else. On her. On everything I haven’t told her yet.

By the time I get back upstairs, the quiet feels different again. Empty…without her. I run a hand through my hair, exhaling slowly as I pace once, twice, trying to settle the restless feeling building in my chest.

“I should tell her,” I mutter under my breath. “All of it.”

A knock sounds at the door. I frown slightly, moving toward it, not expecting anyone. I open it to see my sister.

“Sienna? What are you doing here?”

“Checking on my very stubborn brother who still thinks disappearing solves things,” she replies, stepping past me without waiting for an invitation.

Her gaze sweeps the apartment, then lands on the crib, then the small things scattered around that definitely don’t belong to me.

Her eyes narrow slightly. “You’ve been busy.”

I shut the door, already bracing myself. “Don’t start.”

“Oh, I’m absolutely starting.” She turns to face me fully now. “Who is she?”

“None of your business.”

“That answers it,” she says immediately. “Besides, you don’t need to hide it. I saw you kissing her downstairs.” She raises an eyebrow.

I exhale sharply. “Sienna—”

“A single mother?” she cuts in, her tone shifting. “Seriously, Jax? Do you have any idea what Mom would say?”

“My life isn’t a board meeting,” I snap.

“And your choices don’t exist in a vacuum!” she fires back. “You’re already racing, which is scandal enough, according to Mom. Now this? Do you want to give her a heart attack?”

“My relationship is not her concern.”

“She’ll make it her concern.”

“Then she can deal with it.”

Sienna stares at me like she’s seeing me for the first time. “Wow. You’re serious.”

“I am.”

“And you barely know her.”

“I do.”

“That’s not how you work,” she says, shaking her head. “You don’t do impulsive. You don’t do messy. You definitely don’t do this.”

“Maybe I should have all along.”

She goes quiet for a second, studying me carefully. “You like her.”