Page 15 of Wildly Inappropriate

“Oh, shoot, man. Well, let me know if there is anything I can help with, okay?”

“Okay,” I say.

“And, JT?”

“Yeah?”

“Please just stay there with Lila. I know you guys don’t get along anymore, but at one point you spent almost as much time with her as you did with me.”

“She was a kid then,” I say quickly.

“I know, but she’s moving to a new place, starting a new job, and while she would kill me for saying it, I know she’s anxious about it all. Please just stay there and try to be there for her?”

Well, shit. How am I supposed to leave now? Especially without telling him about us hooking up the last two times we were together in the same place, let alone the same room. No, Jameson can never find out about that. He might be cool with it at the time, but the first sign of things going south, and I’d lose the only real friend I’ve ever had.

Chapter eight

Lila

“You need to leave,”I say as JT walks into the living room. I’m sitting on the couch, trying to force my heart rate to slow, but the thought of him staying here keeps ratcheting it back up. The last thing I need while I’m starting a new job—one I had never even heard of before I met Kelsey—and trying to integrate myself into a new community is JT Johnson messing with my head.

He casually strolls to the armchair. “No, I don’t think I will,” he says as he sits down.

I want to punch him in the face, but that would be admitting he’s getting to me, which I can’t allow to happen.

“You need to leave,” I repeat, narrowing my eyes as JT lounges in the armchair like he owns the place. The audacity.

He leans back, resting his ankle casually on his knee, and smirks. “Sorry, but Jameo invited me. You know, the guy who actually pays for the place.”

I glare at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “Well, Jameson isn’t here right now, so technically, as his blood, this is my territory.”

He tilts his head, pretending to consider my words. “Territory? What are we, wolves?”

“Considering how you’ve all but peed on that chair, yeah, I’d say so,” I shoot back. “Now, unless you want me to call Jameson and let him know you’re harassing his little sister, I suggest you find somewhere else to be. Like maybe your house. Or Siberia. I truly don’t care as long as it’s not the one place I am.”

JT chuckles, low and infuriatingly confident. “Harassing? I’m just sitting here, Lila. You’re the one getting all worked up.”

“I’m not worked up,” I lie, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks.

He raises an eyebrow. “Oh really? You’ve been glaring at me like you want to rip my head off since I walked in.”

“Because you’re infuriating,” I bite out.

He shrugs. “Some might call it charming.”

“They would be idiots.”

He grins, that infuriating, cocky grin that makes me want to simultaneously scream and—no, I’m not going there.

“No, you’re definitely not," he says. "You’ve always been…special.”

I narrow my eyes. “Special? That’s rich, coming from the guy who thinks he’s God’s gift to golf.”

He laughs, a genuine sound that throws me off for a second. “Not even I can convince myself of that these days.”

For a moment, there’s a strange silence between us, filled with the tension of unspoken words and too many shared memories. I shake my head, determined not to let it affect me.

“Seriously, JT, just go. I’ve got work to do, and I don’t need you lurking around, distracting me.”

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