Page 19 of His Pretty Little Lies
“What are you going to give me?” Curiosity glimmers from her. I, too, want to know what he’s about to offer up. Jax really is about his deals.
“She’s my girl.” Oh shit. Did he really say that?
“I knew it.” Cosima clasps her hands together, giving a small bounce on her heels. She has to be in her forties, but she doesn’t look it.
“All right, sweetness.” Z steps outside behind his wife, wrapping an arm around her. I have seen him at the football games, too. Z and Cosima oddly fit. She has that whole cheerleader vibe, and he’s the bad boy. “I need your attention.” He gives me a half smile in acknowledgement, and I return it. “Let them be.”
“But she only just got here and—” Z scoops her up into his arms. “Hey,” Cosima huffs as he carries her back into the house. “I’ll see you later,” she shouts over his shoulder.
“Sorry.” Jax shakes her head. “My mom is…”
“Sweet,” I tell him. The term "sweetness" works for her. I can’t help but smile even if it makes my chest ache. I tell myself that how my parents are doesn’t bother me, but when I see a mom who adores her kids, it hits me hard.
“Come on.” Jax still has a hold of my wrist as he tugs for me to come with him. I don’t really have much of a choice as he leads me into his home.
I’m not sure I really want to. My own curiosity is always getting the best of me.
Chapter Eleven
JAX
It’s hard to be pissed about what happened at the warehouse when it led to Kinsley sitting on my bed in my room. Her eyes are taking everything in. I’m sure she’ll scribble it all down in her notebook later.
“So.” Her tongue comes out, swiping across her bottom lip. “Now what?”
“I sent a few messages out to my cousin, and Damon is looking into a few things as well, so right now, we wait.”
“Wait? I’m not good at waiting.” Kinsley hops up from my bed, and all I want to do is grab her and press her back down onto it. She starts pacing back and forth. “This room is really big. The whole house is actually.”
“We’re not in the city. You have more room out here to build.” I don’t want her to be uncomfortable, but I know she comes from money. Still, there is a difference between being rich and being wealthy.
“Right.” She rolls her eyes while shaking her head at me. “This is more than that.”
“It doesn’t matter, though.” Kinsley stops pacing.
“I suppose not. I’m rambling.” She nibbles on her bottom lip.
“Is that what you want to do? Ramble?” She nods, so I give it to her. “Mom built the house years ago. I think her plan was to make it big enough so we’d want to stay, and then one day when we have families of our own, we’d still have our rooms to come back home for the holidays and such.”
Kinsley stops pacing. “That’s really sweet. It’s not what I expected. Well, maybe it is. I don’t know. You hear this or that about the Marinos, but then I see you all, and it’s like you’re not the same people.” I’m sure it’s what most people think about my family, considering our reputation, so I can’t really blame her. We can be ruthless if we need to be. If you make the moves to push us there, then you’ll pay that price.
“I get that.” Kinsley ventures over to my desk, running her fingers along it. I'm sure they are itching to open the drawers.
"Do you want me to pretend to use the bathroom so you can snoop?" I ask, making her fight a smirk.
"You'd do that?"
"If you wanted, you could snoop while I'm here." There isn't anything worth finding in there. Kinsley pulls open the top drawer, and I hear the pens inside rattle. There are a couple of books in there and a picture. One she picks up.
"Why do you have this?" She holds up her picture. It's the one that was taken this year for student IDs.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Jax, really?"
"I told you already." Starting to think she doesn't believe my infatuation with her. It might be for the best if she comes to terms with it more slowly. Then it won't freak her out. Still freaks me out sometimes. She sets the picture back down on my desk.
"That you've had a thing for me for years."
