by Eden O'Neill
“Won’t happen to me. At least, not now.” He drew off his beer, a curled smile on his lips when he lowered it. “Got other priorities these days.”
“I’ll bet. You excited to start classes? Meet your new roommates?” I knew he’d chosen to live on campus instead of getting his own apartment. He was going to Bay Cove University in the fall.
“Quite.” His brow jumped before he drank more of his beer. “It’s sure to be a good-ass time.”
“For sure, and hey, you’ll get to meet your step-family. Your stepmom and stepsister?” I stated, knowing he had those and for a while now. I mean, a while.
After Jax’s dad had left the picture when he’d been a kid, the guy had gotten remarried within months. This marriage ultimately resulted in a kid and new mom, a step-family that Jax had managed to never meet either of until now.
He’d literally had zero relationship with his dad, which was why we’d all been surprised to hear him want to come down here for school. In fact, the decision had been so sudden it’d been almost alarming, dizzying even.
At the mention of his steps, Jax’s smile widened. “I sure will. Dad and stepmom are out of town, but they’re supposed to be back tomorrow. Dear old stepsister should be at home, though. Plan on stopping by after this.”
“You excited?”
“Ecstatic.” He panned, something dark glinting his green eyes I didn’t understand. “I got some plans for her. Plans for my dad. It’s going to be a riot.”
A chuckle as he picked up his beer again and with a sigh, I scrubbed my hand into my hair. “I thought you were coming down here to connect with your dad, man. Not work some ‘plans’ or some shit.”
His eye twitched like I’d said something blasphemous.
I shook my head. “Seriously, bro. I’d use this opportunity to fix the bullshit with your dad. Not make it worse.”
“Because you’d know so much about reconnecting with asshole fathers?” he cut, but couldn’t phase me. I’d long gotten over the woes of my own asshole father. He’d left when I was so young I barely remembered his ass, and all this aggression with Jax now obviously came from somewhere.
Being one of his best friends, I knew this attitude stemmed from basically years of hurt. His dad could pretty much win the award for absent father. The guy literally hadn’t tried to connect with Jax until he’d turned eighteen, and even then, the attempts had been few and far between since. Even still, if the guy was trying to reach out now, be better and get to know him…
Jax was right at the end of the day, though. I didn’t know much about this shit; it was his own journey. It may not be how I’d deal if it was the other way around, but I had no right to tell him what to do, not my place.
I raised my hand. “I’m not saying you have to forgive your dad. Fuck. You know what? Fuck him. But I am saying try to find some peace. And you do that for you, buddy. Not him.”
I’d like to say I saw some consideration behind his eyes, but that’d be a bald-faced lie. Whatever he was doing, he’d obviously made up his mind, and I could only hope he’d make the right decisions about his life in the end.
Jax was generally a pretty happy-go-lucky guy, but this dude standing in front of me now looked seriously fucking plagued. I’d hate to see some of that ease and love for life bleed away from a situation that wasn’t his fault. It was on his dad for leaving his family, leaving him.
We chatted for a few more moments before the air changed, and I was clouded with honeysuckle, my sexy-as-fuck girlfriend pushing her soft curves up on me. She’d surprised me from the back, her arms looping around my waist.
Turning within them, I brought her in, caging her face and sealing our lips.
She moaned beneath my mouth, melting underneath me as my tongue flicked out to taste hers.
A throat cleared beside us.
I rolled my eyes but did let go of Billie enough for Jax to say hi to her. Being the welcoming girlfriend she was, she embraced him, the girl fitting right into my world. My buddies weren’t just my friends but brothers, family.
“Nice to see you again,” she said.
He extended her out. “Same. And you look…” A whistle. “Damn gorgeous—”
“All right, buddy.” I dropped an arm across my girl’s shoulders. “You got a bridesmaid to find or…”
“Sure.” A chuckle from him and a shake to Billie’s head. Jax bumped my fist. “Get at you later.”
“You better.”
A two-fingered salute and he disappeared into the crowd. He’d probably be leaving with a couple women tonight, knowing him, or maybe he’d call it a night since he said he was going to meet his stepsister.
Wishing him luck with that and the situation, I asked my girl for a dance. She joined me on the dance floor, and I tucked her into me.
We danced close, this girl my air and every breath. She hugged her pillow-soft body against me, and I drank her in.
“You guys were talking for a long time,” she said, lifting her head. Obviously, her attention had been on me and what I’d been doing as much as I’d had mine on her earlier.
I spun her before dancing her back to me. “He’s just dealing with some shit. Stuff with his dad. His left him too when he was young. Jax is here now to try and reconnect with him.” I’d told Billie Jax was moving down here but hadn’t told her why. I frowned. “I hope he can be at peace with him. Take advantage of it like you did with your dad.”
Her cheek pressed against my chest in that moment, looking at her dad and new stepmom across the dance floor. The pair looked at us too in their dance, her dad waving at her. He winked, and Billie smiled.
Billie faced me. “I’m glad I did. We’re far from there, but at least, we’re making strides.”
She’d made heavy ones, one of the strongest people I knew, male or female.
Her arms fell down around my neck. “How’s Dasha doing? She all moved in or…”
Dasha was starting at Woodcreek, and though she was all moved in to the dorms, I grumbled a little at the reference. “Yeah, she is, but she’s been seeing a whole lot of Niko. Not really liking that.”
They’d actually been… shudders… dating, and I couldn’t be more livid. She’d come to stay with me for a few weeks over the summer, and I thought I’d lose my shit when I found out they’d been “hanging out” without my knowledge. My buddy had said he’d kept that close to the cuff because he wasn’t sure it was going to be a thing.
I grunted. “They’ve been dating, and I seriously want to rip off his balls and feed them to him. He’s too old for her.”
“She’s nineteen, babe.”
“Yeah, and your point? Still too old.”
Laughing a little, Billie laced our fingers together. “Niko is a good guy. Your sister is lucky to have him, and you know that.”
I did know that as much as I didn’t want to admit it.
Niko had done the right thing in the end regarding the Marvellis, protected Billie when I couldn’t. He was ride or die, a rare find, and with things working out so well with his mom’s treatments lately, he actually did have the time to fully invest in a relationship with my sister.
I supposed she could do worse, and like Billie could see my thoughts, she grinned, kissing me.
Her full, fuckable lips took me to my perfect place, a place with only her and me and no one else.
My arms fell around her, and when I hugged her to me, I felt impulsive. “We should move in together.”
She stopped the dance, her eyes curious. I had to say, I wasn’t surprised. She’d already moved into her new apartment for the new year, and though she’d spent more time at my place with me than there, the subject of moving in together hadn’t really been discussed.
Her lashes fluttered. “Are you serious?”
I pinched her chin. “Why not? Niko has been talking about wanting to move out.” I drew next to her ear. “He’s tired of hearing us.”
We literally did it everywhere, no surface untouched, and that wa
s bothering my buddy more and more these days. He’d actually walked in on us once in the shower, said it “scarred him for life.”
We’d ignored his ass and finished as he’d slammed the door. When I was with Billie, no one else was in the goddamn room.
Billie’s cheeks shot up 195 degrees in color. She braced my arms. “Can I redecorate? No offense, babe. But your house looks like a dude’s.”
She could do whatever she wanted as long as she kept calling me hers.
Swinging her around, I cemented the decision with a kiss. A move-in was only the beginning for us, and if the next wedding we attended could be ours, I wouldn’t mind that. She kept me whole, made me free, and I’d never be able to thank her enough for that. I loved her down to my fucking toes. She was mine…
And I was so happy to be hers.
Thank you so much for checking out KINGPIN (Court University 2)! You can get the next book in the Court University saga, BEAUTIFUL BRUTE, on Amazon. Want chapter one now? You can get that and more by subscribing to my newsletter! There, you’ll get new release news from me and a link to the brand new Court University website, which has access to chapter one of BEAUTIFUL BRUTE as well as so many other fun bonus exclusives. What are you waiting for? =^)
