Page 38 of Honest With You

“Well, hello there, not-so-little Reese anymore. I’m Jesse.”

Reese rolls her eyes at me, pulling her blanket tighter around herself.

“Yeah, yeah I know. You’re the guy Ava was making out with in the kitchen in Seattle and last night outside. I’ve already heard about itsooooomany times.”

She waves her hand around then pads barefoot to the hallway on our right.

Ava laughs from beside me and when I turn to her, she’s gaping inside the tote bag she’s carrying.

“Jesse! I still have snacks from the bag you shoved in my hands this morning.”

My eyes are stuck on her mouth while she’s talking, recalling the feel of it against mine and I heat up even though the air conditioner is full on blasting in here.

“Can’t hurt to have more. You seemed to enjoy it a lot last night.”

Her brows raise and her cheeks flush an adorable enticing shade of pink.

“Jesse…” She whispers in a breathy reprimand.

Pleasantries and manners are forgotten because now all I want to do is see if I can make her mine. Fulfill a childhood fantasy. Stake my claim. Like I should have done all those years ago.

Never mind that I just got out of a relationship. This was definitely no rebound.

But before I can wrap a hand around the back of her neck and pull her to me, Reese yells for Ava from whatever room she disappeared to.

Ava and I exchange an amused glance before we silently agree to just follow her.

We find her sprawled out on one side of a huge sectional sofa that probably seats a dozen people. This is the biggest living room I’ve ever stepped foot in. There’s a bar on one end, with bar tops, stools and a billiards table surrounding it while on the other end are chaise lounge chairs and a fireplace. We’re in the middle of the room in front of what must be a 70 inch TV.

I blow out a breath, impressed. This setup is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

Since Ava is so down-to-earth sometimes I forget who her dad is and how crazy rich they are.

I mean, my family’s got some money, with my mom being a retired songwriter with more than a dozen number one hits under her belt. So her royalties alone provide more than a steady income for us. And my dad has a successful restaurant franchise operating in Southern California. He inherited the flagship store from my great-grandma.

But even with that, my family has nothing on the wealth Ava’s family has amassed with her dad’s company dominating a majority of the entertainment industry. Even my mom had worked for her dad for awhile, and without Uncle Luke’s help, my dad would never have been able to grow one restaurant into the three he has now.

“So…” Reese chirps from her position on the couch. She has the remote in her hand and she’s currently scrolling through a streaming site, looking for something to watch.

I grab the tote Ava is holding and set both bags down on the floor. I take everything I brought out on the table, causing Reese to squeal. Not unlike her older sister did on Mount Soledad just last night. She sits up in excitement but then cries out softly, clutching her lower abdomen.

Ava drops to her knees and whispers something to her to which Reese nods her head. She rubs her younger sister’s arms before getting up and motioning for her to lay back down. She tucks the blanket around Reese and signals for me to follow her out of the room and into the hallway.

I look over my shoulder worriedly at the young girl now pulling her knees up into a fetal position, moaning in pain.

“Is she okay? What can I do?”

Ava smiles at me gratefully, but it fades away when Reese lets out another soft, pained moan. Ava holds out her hand for me to take. I follow her into a kitchen that is at least three times the size of mine.

There’s a short, older Asian woman cooking who looks over her shoulder at us when we enter. Her eyes land on me, then she swiftly looks back at Ava with a smile that lights up her face. I recognize her immediately as Yaya Ella, their housekeeper.

“Ang pogi!” Her cackle of a laugh makes me laugh along with her, even though I have no idea what she just called me. I assume it’s about me, with the way her gaze flitters back to me as she points the spatula straight at me before her attention once again zones in on her cooking.

“What did she say?”

Ava tugs at my hand and I lower my head enough for her to whisper, “She said you’re really handsome.”

I smirk down at my girl, “You both have good taste in men.”

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