Page 67 of Xactly What She Needs

“Dear Jenny McIntyre. We are pleased to invite you to Kings College for a course in Mechanics and Engineering—”

Whatever else Marrow reads out is lost in the cheers and screams. Jenny is crying, her tears tracing around her broad smile. Marrow holds her as she shakes, this time with happiness.

“I knew you’d do it, girl. I knew it!” Xander shouts.

Jax is grinning like a madman, and Cadie is already pouring champagne.

“We’re all so goddamn proud of you, girl,” Blaze tells her.

I don’t have the same relationship with Jenny as the others do, but still, pride runs rich through me as I look at her and think of the future she’s set up for herself. She’s going to go far. And she’s lucky to have so many people looking after her, even if they’re a little misguided about it sometimes.

“I got into every school I applied to,” she tells me, about an hour after the big reveal.

We’re sitting on the deck at the back. It’s known as the smoking area, but it’s empty except for the two of us. Jenny needed a minute away, and I joined her.

“Are you going to Kings College?”

“I might,” she shrugs.

It’s the best school for what she wants. She could walk into any job she wants if she takes it. She’d never have to worry about being unemployed. But that’s not untrue now. Even without university, she could work at Xander and Jax’s shop until the day that she dies.

“You want to stay close to home?” I guess.

“I don’t want to lose what I have here.”

“That won’t happen, no matter how far away you disappear. The guys are here for you, day and night. You could go to Australia, and so long as you kept in touch, they’d be supportive of wherever you went. That’s not to say that they won’t fly across the world to beat up any guy that gives you trouble, but I bet Dani and I could talk them into behaving themselves.”

“Oh yeah? You heard from your ex recently?”

Jenny’s wearing a wicked expression, and I suddenly understand why he’s been so silent all this time. In the two weeks since the fire, we’ve gotten a report back from the investigators that it was arson.

“We have CCTV footage, but the assailant was well covered. We haven’t been able to make out his face.”

“It’s him,” I assured them. “That’s his build. I know it’s him.”

“I’m sorry. We’ll investigate further. We will pin it on him.”

The insurance investigators for Xander and myself had ruled it an act of malicious intent, and paid out enough to cover my damaged goods and then some. Xander hadn’t told me how much he’d gotten, but he’d promised that we’d have somewhere to stay soon. For now, we’re camping out in Dani’s apartment while she stays with Jax.

“Do you know what they did?”

“No, they won’t tell me. But I’m suspicious. I overheard Dani saying that they’d never know.”

“He might be dead,” I say, too casually.

“He might be in another country. I guess we’ll never know.”

****

Jenny’s going away party ends up falling on the same weekend as my birthday.

“I’m glad you decided to go out of state,” I tell her honestly.

“You just want them all to yourself.”

“You’ve caught me.”

She laughs, but I can see that she’s struggling. She’s moving three states over, and has never been so far away from her family before. It’s not going to be an easy transition, but I’ve already heard talk from Jax that they’re going to drive her up, and I think Xander and Edge are going to shut up shop and they’re going to join the convoy.

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