Page 166 of Restless
Jaleena Davis lived with her parents and two sisters in a brick and wood, two-story home on a sloping lot. Located on a cul-de-sac in a quiet subdivision, it had high ceilings, extravagant chandeliers, three fireplaces featuring elaborate Christmas decorations, and a giant basement set up as a family room.
CJ had been to the house only once before when he picked up Jaleena for the Homecoming Dance, a few weeks ago when they’d been crowned King and Queen. That night, he hadn’t gone any farther than the foyer. Today, he was there to pick up his schoolwork, since he’d forgotten to get it from her yesterday in the aftermath of Harley’s fight. Once Outlaw announced Mom was being released, CJ hadn’t cared about much else.
He'd gone to school for the first time in days and had been utterly fucking lost. His grades were suffering. Unlike when deader-than-dead Lumbly fucked with him and failed him because he didn’t like CJ, this time the bad grades were the result of not turning in his work.
His teachers were very understanding. They all knew his mother and little sister had almost died. However, he had a lot of makeup work to do if he didn’t want to fail the semester.
Still, he’d left at lunchtime and went to the hospital to visit Jo and check on Molly. Afterwards, he’d called Jaleena to catch her before she left school, but she’d been on the way home.
CJ had wanted to pick up his work, then get back home in case Mom and Dad needed anything. Jaleena insisted he come in and hang out a bit.
Somehow “a bit” turned into two hours and counting. While he was enjoying himself, he was distracted for so many different reasons.
“I win,” Jillian, Jaleena’s ten-year-old sister, crowed.
Like his family with all the fucking ‘R’ names, Jaleena’s had a plethora of “Js”.
Smiling, CJ handed Jillian his controller and nodded. “Fair and square,” he agreed.
“My turn!” thirteen-year-old Juliana said, bouncing from foot to foot. She snatched the controllers from Jillian and held out one to CJ.
“Not!” Jaleena said with a snort, grabbing the controllers from her little sister and setting them on the TV cabinet that contained a 75-inch flat screen and several game consoles, including a Nintendo Switch, CJ’s favorite of all. “Go, you two. He’s my friend, and I haven’t had a chance to talk to him all evening.”
“You see him at school every day,” Jillian pointed out. “We don’t. We’re stuck in the Lower Hall.”
“Not my problem.” Jaleena nodded in the direction of the door. “Leave.”
“Bye, trick,” Juliana said, flipping Jaleena the bird and scooting away.
Trilling laughter, Jillian skipped behind Juliana.
“I owe you,” Jaleena yelled. Jillian slammed the door in response. “Bad ass brats.”
“You don’t know brats until you’ve met my younger brothers, J. We called them the Terrible Triplets.”
Jaleena grabbed his hand and tugged him to the sofa. “You have twinsandtriplets in your family?” she asked once they’d sat.
“Ransom is twelve, Ryder is eleven, and Axel is ten. They are just terrible little motherfuckers, especially when they put their evil little minds together.” He started to grab the cigarette behind his ear, then thought better of it.
If he had to guess, the house was at least five thousand square feet. He hadn’t been in all the rooms, but those he had entered didn’t have a single ashtray.
He sighed.
“No smoking in the house,” Jaleena said. “We can go outside if you’d like.”
“And freeze my fucking balls off? Nope. I’m good.”
She swept him with a look, then focused on his mouth and licked her lips.
Rebel’s order that he at least kiss Molly drummed through CJ’s head. To him, Molly was off-limits because of Ryan. CJ didn’t want to participate in passing her from guy to guy, no matter how much he liked her or how pretty he found her.
Jaleena, however, was a different story. Hewasattracted to her and the spark between them had only the usual hindrance:Harley. But she’d crossed several lines that he wasn’t sure they could come back from. Still, his promise to wait until she was ready, the one she constantly threw at him, served as another excuse.
“You can kiss me,” Jaleena whispered. “I won’t tell.”
Lifting his hand, he laid it against her face. Her smooth, dark brown skin complemented her almond-shaped, midnight-colored eyes. Her full lips, high cheekbones, and broad nose gave her a regal appearance. Scooting closer, she tipped her head, inviting him to taste her mouth.
His heart pounded and he bent, pressing his lips against hers and closing his eyes. Her mouth opened and he slid his tongue in, grunting at the sensation exploding in him. She smelled like roses and tasted like peppermint. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her onto his lap.
