Page 22 of His Pretty Little Lies
“I’m Kinsley.” I peek around Jax to formally introduce myself. I’m sure Cosima already filled in most of the details for Nix.
“Hi.” She gives me a quick smile. “Wait, what age did you start dating?” Oh no. I’m not being pulled into this. Thankfully, Jax steps in.
“All right, you’re done. It was the first day at school.” He pushes off the desk, walking toward her. “There isn’t anyone worth your time in there.”
“You don’t know that,” she huffs. Nix has to drop her head back to stare up at her brother. She’s not scared of him in the slightest. “You probably scared them all away.”
She is not wrong, but I keep my mouth firmly shut, which is no easy feat for me. Plus, I’m enjoying this exchange, getting a deeper glimpse into the dynamics of this family.
“I will scare off every douche that tries to get close to you.”
“This isn’t fair.”
“You know—” I chime in. Yeah, I lasted two seconds being quiet. “If your brothers can scare them off, then they aren’t worth having.”
“Exactly.” Jax smirks, his eyes locking with mine. Well, shit. That backfired to a degree, but that doesn’t make what I said wrong. If they won’t fight to be with you, then they’re not worth your time. "Now if you don't mind…"
"I do mind, actually." She folds her arms over her chest.
"Are you done?"
"When I'm ready to be." Nix stands there for another couple of seconds. "Okay, I'm done for now, and I'm leaving because I want to leave and not because you're nudging me out the door."
"Right." Jax's sarcasm can't be missed.
"It was nice meeting you." Nix gives me a little wave, wiggling her fingers. "My rudeness is purely for him."
"I get it." I don't. I grew up alone except for the hired staff, but I want to get it.
"And—" Nix lets out a loud, dramatic sigh. "While he can be annoying, as I'm sure you're aware?—"
"I am." Jax only shakes his head again.
"He's a good one. But he's a little crazy. That's just girl to girl."
"Thanks for the heads-up."
"Anytime," she chirps.
"All right, out you go." Jax ushers her out the door, shutting it and flipping the lock. Not sure what that does with a house of Marinos, but okay.
“She’s the crazy one,” Jax says with a smile.
“It’s probably just in the blood.”
“Got us there.” Jax is already clearing the space between us. “Now, where were we?”
“Nope.” I put my hands out, but that doesn’t stop him from coming closer. In fact, he doesn't stop until my hands are pressed to his chest. “Where we need to be is on this story—case. Whatever you call it.” I try to refocus.
“I have one of my cousins checking the footage from the warehouse.”
“I only saw one camera, and it was facing the wrong direction.”
“I know. We don’t have any footage of that timeframe, but we can go back to see who has been driving up and down or walking the road that runs along it. They have to have been lingering before.” That’s not a bad idea at all.
“You have cameras on the streets?”
“Nope, but the city does.”
