by M. A. Foster
“That’s awful. Why are you reading that? Do you think that’s gonna happen to you?”
She sighs and looks over at me. “I hadn’t thought about it. Thanks a lot, Z.” She rolls her eyes playfully before returning her attention to the book.
Suddenly, the thought of losing her makes my heart twist painfully in my chest and I shudder. Feeling my stare, Jay turns to face me and arches a brow. “What?”
“I love you.” The words just leap from my chest.
She stares at me, letting those three little words linger between us. It’s not like we haven’t said them a hundred times already, but for some reason they feel different. Stronger. Deeper.
Sensing my inner meltdown, she slowly closes the cover on her iPad and sets it on the table before rolling over on her side to face me. Raking her hand through my hair, she captures me with those blue-green eyes like she’s staring into my soul. “I love you too, Z.” She pauses. Her eyes flick back and forth over my face. “I knew from day one. At the time, I didn’t understand what I was feeling. I just knew I liked you.” She smiles. “The first time you held my hand, I felt it in my heart. The first time you kissed me, I felt it in my gut. And the first time we” —she blushes— “you know, I felt it in my soul. I love you so much that it scares me.”
“Why?” I ask, resting my hand on her hip, my thumb caressing the skin exposed between the hem of her T-shirt and the waist of her yoga pants.
“Because I never want to lose this feeling. I don’t think I’ll survive another heartbreak.”
“I would never hurt you, Jay. Not on purpose, anyway. I can promise you that much.”
Her brows pinch in confusion. “What do you mean ‘not on purpose’?”
“I’m a guy.” I shrug as though that should be reason enough. “We do dumb shit. I’m sure I’ll do something to piss you off at some point in our relationship, but I’ll never disrespect you by lying or cheating. I know what it feels like to not be with you and I don’t want to ever feel like that again. My heart has always belonged to you, Jay. You’ll always be my girl. You’ll always be the girl.”
What else is there to say?
Her hand slides from my hair to the back of my neck. She pulls my lips to hers and I roll on top of her, claiming her. A soft sigh escapes her as she parts her lips, brushing her tongue against mine. We’ve tried to slow down on the physical stuff, but it’s impossible to keep our hands off each other in moments like this.
WEDNESDAY AFTER PRACTICE, I pull into my driveway and my phone rings. Evan. “Yo!”
“Your girlfriend is beginning to piss me off,” Evan grits out instead of hello.
I chuckle. “What’d she do now?”
“I’ll show you. Meet me at the square.”
“Are you serious?” I ask through a laugh, but he doesn’t reply. “Hello?”
He hung up.
Shaking my head, I back out of the driveway and head over to the square, where Juliette’s Dance Studio is located.
Then it hits me.
It’s Wednesday.
Jay has dance class on Wednesdays and I’ll bet Lexi is with her.
A few minutes later, I’m pulling up next to Evan’s Ford F-250. I climb out of my Jeep to find Evan leaning against the wall outside Juliette’s with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.
“Evan.” I laugh out loud. “You can’t be serious. It’s a dance class.”
His eyebrows shoot upward. “Have you seen this class?”
“No. This is Jay’s thing.”
“Oh?” He huffs out a laugh and swings his hand toward the door. “Well, come check it out.”
Shaking my head, I open the door and Evan follows me inside.
“Zach?” I look over to see Trina, my next-door neighbor, sitting behind the counter.
“Hey, Miss Trina. I came to watch my girlfriend,” I tell her.
She arches an inquisitive brow. “Oh? Who is your girlfriend?”
“Jay.”
“Oh, Jayla.” She clasps her hands together and brings them to her chest. “Good for you.” She winks.
Evan leads the way down a short hallway to a waiting room with two long, leather sofas facing a one-way mirror and his cousin Levi lounging on one of them.
“Dude, what the fuck are you doing here?” Evan barks out. “How did you even get in here? I was standing out front the whole time.”
“I’m working, dickhead,” Levi snaps. “I came in the back door. What are you doing here?”
Evan sweeps his hand toward the one-way mirror. “Lexi is in there.” He jerks a thumb at me. “Jay is his girl, but you already know that.”
Levi looks up at me and smirks. “Sorry, man. I’m just doing my job.” Levi Martinez is a former Marine in his late twenties. He works security for Evan’s father, Jason Martinez, who owns one of the most prestigious security companies in the country and oversees all the security on the island. And apparently, he’s Jay’s new bodyguard. “For what it’s worth, you got yourself a good girl. She’s a fuckin’ trip.” He chuckles.
“Does Jay know you’re here?” I ask.
He shrugs. “She knows, but she pretends she doesn’t. She makes my job a hell of a lot easier than most.”
Dropping down on the sofa beside Evan, I scan the group of girls huddled at the back of the room until my gaze lands on Jay as she breaks from the group and moves to stand behind Juliette, facing the mirror. Jay’s wearing a pair of short-as-fuck shorts and a sports bra, which is the same shit she wears when she runs. But the knee socks are new.
Seriously, what’s with the knee socks?
“So why are you here instead of the big guy?” I ask Levi.
Levi smirks. “You’ll see.”
Some song called “Give It To Me” blares through the speakers and the girls start moving. My eyes stay glued to Jay as she rolls her hips and spins around, giving us all a view of her barely covered ass, bends her knees, and begins twerking.
I bite down on my lip holding back a laugh, imagining the look on Bass’s face if he were here right now. I love Jay’s ass. It’s a great ass. It’s proportionate with her lean frame. It’s cute and round and looks good in a pair of jeans. It also fits perfectly in the palms of my hands. But there isn’t a whole lot of junk in her trunk. She can dance, though. I’ll give her that.
I’m aware there are other girls in the room, but my eyes are permanently locked on Jay as she rocks her hips and wiggles her adorable ass in time with the music. Dropping to her knees, she spins around from one to the other—guess that explains the knee socks—before bending over and lifting her half-naked ass in the air and thrusting her hips.
Well.
Shit.
“Man, I really love my job sometimes,” Levi says, prompting Evan and me to whip our heads in his direction. He waves us off. “Relax. There are actually women in this class.” He jerks his chin to the mirror. “Juliette is hot.”
Juliette is hot. She’s also one of my uncle Cam’s special friends.
The class repeats the same routine two more times and I decide it’s time for me to get out of here before I embarrass myself. Shifting to hide my hard-on, I tell Evan, “I need to go.”
Evan’s whole body shakes with silent laughter beside me. “I told you.”
AFTER DANCE CLASS, Lexi and I change out of our hoochie mama dance wear and head to Mac’s, with Levi trailing behind us. Wednesdays have sort of become our girls’ night out ever since Lexi started taking the class with me. I don’t really need a bodyguard, but Bass insists that I have one when I’m out at night.
As Lexi and I come walking out of the parking garage, I spot a familiar redhead standing outside of Mac’s, having a conversation with a woman. The woman looks pissed or upset. It’s dark, so I can’t tell for sure.
Before I can decide, the crazy woman cocks her hand back and slaps Harper across the face.
“Oh, hell, no,” Lexi and I shout at the same time before rushing toward them. “Hey, lady!” Lexi yells. “
What the hell is wrong with you?”
Levi rushes past us and steps between them, facing down the woman. “Ma’am, you need to leave before I arrest you for assault.”
“I’m leaving.” She reaches around Levi and points at Harper. “Stay the hell away from my husband.” Then she storms off.
Say what now?
“Are you okay, Harper?” I ask.
“Yep,” she answers, but her shaky voice says otherwise.
“What can we do?” Lexi asks.
“Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Harper, whatever is going on, you can tell us,” I prompt. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s okay, too, but don’t lie to us. You’re not fine. We’re not judging you. It’s your life and your business, but if you want to talk or if you need anything, we’re here for you. No questions asked and no strings attached.”
“Do you really mean that?” She turns her head to look at me.
“Of course, we do,” Lexi adds.
She blows out a breath. “Good, because I need a place to stay until I can get things figured out.”
“What about your dad?” Harper told me she lived with her dad, but he travels a lot for work.
“You said no questions asked.”
“You have to give me something, Harper, or Emerson Mackenzie will be all up in your business.”
Harper winces.
“I’d offer to let you stay with me, but I live under the same roof with Satan herself,” Lexi admits, prompting all three of us to laugh.
We all turn to to Levi who looks uncomfortable with the entire conversation. “I’ll be over there,” he says, pointing toward the entrance to Mac’s.
Once Levi’s out of earshot, Harper takes a deep breath. “This conversation stays between us and I’m giving you the short version because I have a lot of baggage that I’m not ready to share.” Lexi and I both nod. “After my sister died, I met Josh. He’s older and apparently, he’s married—but I didn’t know that. I don’t live with my dad. In fact, I’ve never met him. I live with Josh. And now I need to move.”
My eyes nearly bug out of my head. “Shit,” I drawl and look over at Lexi who is stunned silent. I turn back to Harper. “Yeah, no, that won’t fly with Emerson. What else you got?”
JAY IS IN the passenger seat, searching for a station on the radio when she finds “Closer” by The Chainsmokers. “Oh, I love this song.” She sings along, bopping her head. She’s even got that whole snap combination down like a boss. And just when she’s really getting into it, the song gets cut off by an incoming call from Cole. Rolling her eyes, she tsks, mumbling a curse under her breath and I laugh to myself as she leans forward and stabs the phone button on the dash.
“What!”
“JJ, come see me,” Willow’s sweet voice echoes through the car.
Jay looks over at me and smiles as she responds to Willow. “Boo, you want me to come see you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Where are you?”
“At my’s house.” She giggles, prompting Jay and me to laugh.
“Where’s Cole?”
“He right here.”
“Yo!” Cole’s voice booms through the speakers.
“What’s going on?” Jay asks.
“Willow wants you to come see her.”
“Because,” Jay urges.
“Fine.” He sighs. “Mom and Dad are out. Dylan is working. I have a date and I’m not leaving her here alone with Aiden.”
“He’s thirteen. He’s old enough to watch her.”
“Back up,” I cut in. “You have a date?”
Cole ignores my question and continues his plea. “He doesn’t watch her. He’s too busy playing his Xbox.”
“Since when does Cole Mackenzie go on dates?” I tease. “With who?” I already know who, but I want to hear him admit it. Harper has been living with Jay for the last few weeks because her dad took a job overseas and Harper didn’t want to leave school in her senior year.
“Harper, and not a word, asshole.” And Willow’s cute little voice echoes “asshole” in the background. “Why do you always choose to repeat the bad words, Willow? Stop it.” Cole admonishes.
“You stop, Co,” Willow sasses back.
“All right,” Jays says with a laugh. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”
“Thanks, Jay.”
Cole hangs up and I glance over at Jay with my bottom lip pushed out.
“Don’t worry, Z,” she says. “We can watch a movie later.”
She knows me so well.
“OKAY, WILLOW IS down,” Jay announces as sashays into the living room and drops down on the sofa beside me. “What are you guys playing?” she asks, stretching her legs across my lap.
“Call of Duty,” Aiden replies. He’s stretched out on the opposite end of the sofa still wearing his baseball uniform from practice.
“So, baseball is your sport, huh?” I ask Aiden.
“Huh?” He gives me a sideways glance not wanting to take his eyes off the game.
“Baseball. You wanna be a professional ball player like your Uncle Liam?” Liam Mackenzie is a badass on the field and one of the best shortstops in the MLB.
“Yeah.” He smiles and turns his attention back to the TV. “And I want a supermodel girlfriend like Evangeline,” he adds.
Jay snorts. “Aiden, play ball because you love it. Because you’re passionate about it. Not because you want a supermodel girlfriend.”
“Do you love singing?” he asks her.
“Yeah. Why?”
Aiden shrugs. “You just don’t seem all that into it.”
“I like singing, for fun. But I love writing music and mentoring others.”
“So, your passion is teaching and helping others become successful,” I add.
Jay smiles. “Yeah, I guess it is.”
And that right there is just another reason why I love this girl so much.
“HAVE YOU GIVEN any more thought about college?” Jay asks, running her fingers through my hair. I love when she does this.
My eyes roll to the back of my head. “No, but my dad got a call from Coach Morgan, who got a call from the coach at Gulf Coast University. They want me to play for their team. Their football team is still fairly new and he guaranteed I’d get plenty of playing time.”
Her hand stills in my hair. “Are you considering it?”
“I don’t know. Maybe.”
“What do your parents think?”
I shrug. “The decision is mine and they’ll support me no matter what.” I peek open one eye. “What do you think?”
“I agree with your parents. Trust your gut, Z, and do what feels right.”
“What about you? Have you thought more about what you want to do after the tour?”
“I love my Project Mayhem class. I like performing and continue to write music, but I don’t want to be a rock star. I was thinking about what you said before, about teaching others, and I’m going to talk to Principal Avery about becoming a volunteer in future Project Mayhem classes.”
“You’re amazing.” I reach up, cupping the back of her head, and bring her lips to mine. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, but I’ll love you even more if you get me some water.”
I smile against her lips. “How can I say no to that?”
Pressing one more kiss to her lips, I roll out of bed, pull on my boxer briefs and head to the kitchen. Cam’s house is quiet and dark, but the moonlight shining through the wall of windows gives off plenty of light for me to see my way to the kitchen.
“Oompf.”
“What the—”
“Shhh!” Cam shushes me while cupping a hand over Emerson’s mouth. “What are you doing?” he whisper-yells.
“Getting a water,” I whisper-yell back and take in Emerson’s appearance. Messy hair and legs bare. And wearing one of Cam’s T-shirts. “What are you doing?”
“Ow!” Cam yanks his hand away from Emerson’s mouth and shakes it. “Wh
y’d you bite me?”
“Is Jayla here?” Now she’s whisper-yelling.
“Yeah.”
Her eyes nearly pop out of her head when she sees that I’m in my underwear. “Are you…? Did you…?” She slaps a palm against her forehead and groans. Cam attempts to cover Emerson’s mouth again, but she slaps his hand away.
“Zach!” Jay calls out from the bedroom. “Did you get lost? Where’s my water?”
Emerson pinches her lips together and points at me. “Not a word. And if you hurt my daughter or get her pregnant, I will see to it personally that Bass breaks your pretty little face and your throwing arm. Got it?”
“I didn’t see anything.” I hold my hands up in surrender. “This is so fucking weird,” I grit out, sidestepping Emerson to get to the fridge.
“Zach! Seriously, I’m dying of thirst in here. What are you doing?”
“I’m coming!”
AFTER FOOTBALL PRACTICE, I notice Jay’s Range Rover is still in the student parking lot. Lately, she’s been staying after school to rehearse with Alex. Quickly, I change and head over to the performing arts building auditorium, taking a seat in the back row, so not to disturb them. Jay and Alex are both on stage. Alex is perched on a stool strumming his guitar. Jay is standing with her hands cupped around the mic, eyes closed, belting out the lyrics to one of her songs. She’s changed out of her uniform and is now wearing a tight half t-shirt with the word Princess written in hot pink across the front. It reminds me of the t-shirt she wore to Disney the first time we met. Who knows? It could be the same shirt. It’s that small. Her leggings have music notes printed down the sides of the legs and Jesus she’s wearing combat boots. Just when I thought she couldn’t be any sexier.
“What’s up with them?” Cole says, dropping down in the seat beside me, pulling me out of my daydream.
I realize the music has stopped. Jay has her back to us and by the jerky movements of her head, I’d say she and Alex are arguing.
I shake my head. “I have no idea.”
“Screw you, Alex!” Jay yells as she kicks Alex’s stool before she storms off the stage. Alex shakes his head and he hops off the stool to follow after her. Cole and I both leap from our seats and jog over to the adjoining classroom.
