Page 55 of His Pretty Little Lies
“Can you tell me what any of these extra activities are?” I ask out of curiosity. Yeah, that always gets me. I run my fingers along my notebook that I have sitting in my lap.
“You want to exchange information again?” He lifts his brows and gives them a small wiggle. I can’t help but smile. It takes me right back to him dropping down in the chair next to me onthe first day of class. Then again, as I look back, Jax was always close.
“What do you want?”
“For you to move in permanently.” I stare at him. He says this just as we are arriving at the hospital.
“Jax, I can’t move in with you. Like to your parents’ home?” I ask, making sure I understand him. I was not expecting him to ask me to move in with him. This is crazy. Isn’t it?
“It’s a family home. It belongs to everyone who is family.” I love that his family operates that way.
“My parents would not be okay with that.”
"The fuck do they care?" There is no missing the pissed-off tone of his question.
"They care on some level." It stings a little bit to be reminded of how absent my parents are in my life. Yet I know Jax is shooting it to me straight.
"They don't care on a level that gives them an ounce of you taking their opinions into consideration. They haven't earned that. Yeah, you heard me say it. They don't just get blind loyalty. You deserve so much more than that, Bunny.” I get what he's saying. I do, it's just not that easy.
"It's more complicated than that." Jax pulls into a parking spot, turning off the car.
“I know. I see it in other families. People go along because it’s what they know. Arranged marriage and doing what their parents want. It’s not how life should be. My parents give us options. You can be in this life as deeply as you want or not at all.”
He leans over, his hand gripping my chin. “Not trying to upset you. Only want you to think about it.”
“I’ll think about it,” I tell him. I have to admit that the idea is very enticing. There’s this pull I have not only to Jax but to his family as well.
“That’s my girl.” He presses his mouth to mine in a soft kiss. “Let’s get this handled.”
“I’m not sure if my mom is working, but I know where her office is.” I’m guessing that Jax has the skills to break into said office if needed.
“She’s working,” he tells me before getting out of the car and coming around to open my door. Jax takes my hand, and we head into one of the side entrances that is less busy. “You okay?” Jax gives my hand a squeeze.
“Just thinking.”
“About your mom?”
“How do you do that?” I swear the man can get into my head better than I can.
“You wondered if she was working, and I told you she was, so now you’re thinking about running into her.”
“Right, but that doesn’t tell me how you knew I was thinking about that.” I laugh.
“While you’re paying attention in calculus, studying, I’ve been studying my favorite subject… Kinsley.”
“That’s because you don’t have to pay attention in math,” I huff. I remember one class where he wasn’t paying it in the least, and the teacher called on him to answer the problem on the board. He glanced up and answered it instantly.
"Numbers are easy to read. Predictable. In the end, boring. Now you. That has taken all of my attention to learn." He smirks.
"Might need to clue me in on myself," I mutter. Most days, I don’t even understand myself.
"My guess is that you're starting to get pissed. When people live in one world and go through the motions, things become their normal. It doesn't mean that normal is actually normal. Then you see things from a different view or have another experience that shakes that normal." I stop walking. Fuck me.
"I am mad," I admit. "Your parents have given me more attention in the past week than mine have all year." That might be an exaggeration, but it's pretty freaking close. “And I’m getting more mad because if they know who you are and that we’re dating?—”
“I’m going to let the dating comment go.” A small laugh leaves me.
“They’ll be pissed,” I finish.
