Page 78 of No Place Like Home

“Jessamine!” she yelled.

“Ooooh, Jess is in trouble.” Rosie, who had been in one of the other rooms, came running.

She had a smirk on her face as she came to watch what I was supposedly in trouble for.

I didn’t care; I just wanted to stay here for as long as possible. I wasn’t looking forward to facing Juliet and Jake. Mostly Jake, for some reason.

It was illogical and stupid of me, but lately, I’d been doing many irrational and stupid things. It wasn’t not like they could tell me anything. I paid for all my bills, and they weren’t my parents.

Juliet stepped into the living room with Paisley on her hip. Although she wasn’t my family, she was someone I respected and admired.

“Jess, you came,” Juliet said with a surprised smile.

Yeah, no more hickey on my neck. It was one thing for them to be aware I was sexually active, another for them to know the person to blame for that activeness.

I wasnotgoing to freak out when I saw Jake. Nope, he wasn’t my dad. Sex was basic human nature. It was all good in the hood. I had this under control.

“Jess,” Jake greeted me as he came from the same direction as Juliet.

Yep, I did not have this. There was no way I could have a meal across from him after that incident.

I turned around, ready to leave this crazy house, when I bumped into something—or someone.

The smell, it was expensive. The muscle build, well-defined, and then some.

There was no way. Simply no fucking way.

Slowly, my head started to tip up, and sure enough, I saw gorgeous dark skin with bright green eyes looking down at me.

Could someone explain to me why the guy I did the nasty with was here at the family meeting? No, actually, that waasn’t the concerning part. He was here when someone other thanmehadinvited him.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed.

Quincy smiled, turned me around, and proceeded to wrap a hand around my shoulder.

“I went get some coffee, and Juliet was there. We chatted. I told her about the other day.”

“The other day?” I paled.

I could feel my blood rushing to my feet. No one needed a recap of the other day…especially not me. It was supposed to be an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of thing.

Quincy raised his arm and scratched behind his head. He looked bashful. “It’s no secret I’ve been struggling. Jess took care of my dog—”

“But you said his dog ate people?” Rosie exclaimed.

I glared at her. This wasnothelping my case.

“—after Clark left, I started to go through my emails. It got me in a dark mood, Jess watched me lose it, and she let me stay because I was in no condition to be going anywhere.”

He kept going, and I stopped listening. It was such a good lie, even I almost believed it.

I didn’t dare to look up to see if anyone else had bought it. I mean, Clark wasn’t here, so there was a chance no one would question Quincy.

“That’s our Jess. Always taking care of everyone. I know she keeps my little Blakey in line.”

Quincy’s grip on my shoulder got tighter.

I wriggled my way out of Quincy’s hold. Everyone was staring at us when I looked up, except I couldn’t read any of their facial expressions. Apparently, everyone mastered their pa-pa-pa-poker face.

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