Page 86 of From Us, Forever

“Ah, fuck. Sorry, man, sorry.” Raphy withered under Jay’s hold, pouting. “I swear I’ll be a good kid.” He folded his hands into a prayer pose. “Please, let me go.Please,” he whined.

Mikey and I were rolling on the couch, fighting for air as we giggled, watching those two.

“Say you’re sorry,” Jay commanded, his stance like a strict teacher looking down on a boy.

“Sorry,” Raphy mumbled, faking a sorry face.

The minute Jay let him go, instead of going for his guitar, Raphy came at me and flicked my nose with his finger, winking before he glanced over his shoulders at the murderous man ready to send him to his grave.

“You’re dead.” Jay took a thundering step forward, but before he could commit some serious sin, I stepped in front of him and held him in a stare.

All the fight left his body as his eyes softened. “Come here,” he muttered, pulling me to his chest.

A collective “aw” sounded behind us, and I rolled my eyes. “I still am not over what you said.”

Jay’s brows furrowed adorably. “What did I say?”

I pretended to be offended. “You told me to go to my room, Jay.”

“Is that bad?”

“You don’t tell a girl that.”

“Really? Why?” His nose scrunched.

He was clueless, wasn’t he? “You just don’t.” I decided to let him go. I leaped onto the balls of my feet and kissed his cheek. “You boys have fun. I’m going to make some lunch. What do you want?” I tilted my head, smiling like an idiot.

“I’ll eat whatever you make me, woman.” He planted a heated kiss on my lips.

Shaking my head, I walked off to the kitchen.

Popping on an upbeat playlist, I inventoried the fridge, nodding my head to the music as I gathered all the ingredients to make a chicken potpie—those adorable individual ones.

Cubing the carrots, my mind drifted over all that had happened last week. White was officially arrested, but since she wasn’t fit for prison or court at the moment, they admitted her to a hospital. The police were able to compile a solid case against her. During the investigation, they found my old phone which was stolen from my apartment in her possession. Nathan admitted to keeping tabs on us for her, so I assumed she must have arranged for someone to sweep my apartment for evidence that could be held against her, and my old phone had it all.

When the phone was returned, Jay shut off for a couple of days after hearing my voicemail from the day I was attacked and reading all the messages she sent to me. He took it pretty badly, swearing that he or the girls received any of it. Silas had all their old phones checked and found out they were alltampered with—my number was blocked and replaced with a dummy number. Well, everyone except Mikey, probably because he hated her guts and wouldn’t let her anywhere near him.

Even thinking about it felt like diving into a deep black hole that just kept getting weirder and weirder the farther we got. On the outside, I knew all of it was over and behind us, but on the inside, there was this nagging feeling that it just wasn’t, and there was more to the picture. Call it my feminine intuition, but I just couldn’t let it go.

An hour later, lunch was ready. I arranged the ramekins on a tray and a side of buttery green beans with almonds to carry to the dining room.

“Mmm, smells incredible.” Jay’s hand wrapped around me from behind as he propped his chin on my shoulders.

I smiled, gesturing to the one with a tiny heart carved on top. “Made this one for you.”

“You’re just making this harder being this gorgeous, sweetheart,” he groaned, trailing soft kisses on the side of my neck.

“Enough.” I swatted him away just as Mikey and Raphy sauntered in. “Time for lunch, boys.”

A solid grip tugged my hand when I reached to raise the tray.

“Go and sit your pretty ass at the table. I’ll bring everything,” Jay ordered, and Mikey agreed, already lifting the plate of green beans.

I nodded, letting the boys do the hard labor while I settled myself in the dining room. My eyes focused on the expansive floor-length window to the right, taking up the entire wall. Itwas a calm day with fluffy white clouds and just the right amount of sunshine.

The sound of footsteps jerked my attention to the boys.

Jay and Mikey carried the food and drinks while Raphy sulked behind—his arms full of glassware and dishes.

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