“Mrs. Hayton has gone home to visit her sister in Germany. I’m afraid we’re a self-sufficient household at the moment, but somehow I don't think that will bother you at all.”Right, I completely forgot about that.
“Did Josh and the horses get to the East Coast okay?” I ask him, remembering the other things that were going to happen.
“Yup, they’re all settled in with Melinda and Chuck, and Josh and Chuck get along famously.” Relief flows through me at that, but it’s followed up by a hit of guilt.
“Fuck, I’ve been so distracted this weekend that I never called Jacinta to see how Prada and Coco are doing.”
“Don’t worry about it, Harlow. I don't think she’s upset at all. You saved Prada. Seriously, Jacinta thinks you walk on water now. She’s even been complaining about the boys monopolizing your time and how it will be her turn when you get back. You probably need to prepare yourself for living out all of the sister moments she never got to have.”
Thomas is laughing, and the other two quickly echo it. I feel my cheeks heat, but I don't know if it’s because of the words or the fact that his chuckle is deep and hearing it does things to my lady parts.Damn it, you can’t be happy with the brothers you’ve got? You've got to play Pokémon and collect them all.
I shake the lust away. “Well, I guess that’s got to be better than being on her bad side.” They laugh even harder at that.
“Don't be so sure. She’ll be all up in your life now, interfering and sticking her nose in, and you won’t be able to get rid of her,” Jaxon says affectionately, if not a little exasperatedly.
“Yup, you’ve been warned,” Kai adds in. “When we were in college and lived on our own, Jacinta and Jaxon would come and stay occasionally. We threw a big party one night, but Jacinta was as territorial back then as she is now, and, well, there was this girl I really liked... She had a few drinks, got naked, and climbed into my bed, which normally I’d be pretty stoked about. Unfortunately, Jacinta had been doing rounds of our bedrooms to make sure that they weren’t being used for hook-ups.”
Jaxon chuckles. “Yeah, she thought that was the grossest thing ever. Someone else having sex in your bed.”
“Eww, she’s not wrong,” I add in.
“Anyway, she grabbed this girl by the ear and dragged her downstairs, still naked, and tossed her out the door with her clothes behind her, shouting that I wasn’t so desperate I needed naked chicks throwing themselves at me. The girl never spoke to me again, but I figured if Jacinta was enough to scare her off, she wouldn't survive our family.” His eyes burn with affection when he looks at me. “Unlike you, who not only stood up to her, but flipped her upside down. It was amazing.”
The rest of the trip home is quiet and relatively uneventful. The guys talk a little about random things, but nothing that I care to be involved in, so I just watch the scenery go by. As we pull into the road that our estate is on, I try to get a look at the abandoned mansion across the road, but with the sun dipping below the trees, it’s already shrouded in shadows. Even with that barest of peeks, my brain is already hooked and whirling. Stalker be damned, I need to ask Dad for Emma’s number so I can organize a time to see inside. I’ll take an entire battalion of bodyguards if it means I can have this little adventure for myself.
I huff out a breath of frustration and have turned back to face the front when I see Jaxon looking at me over his shoulder. He’s got a smile a mile wide.
“What are you laughing at?” I ask a little shortly, and he shakes his head.
“Nothing, really. I just think it’s cute how much that house fascinates you. You know, when I had some spare time over the weekend, I did some research and found a couple more abandoned places that I thought you might like to explore while you’re here.” A little frown appears between his eyes. “That’s if you’d want to spend the day with me sometime.” He sounds a little unsure, so unlike the confident, assertive man I know him to be.
I keep getting glimpses of vulnerable Jaxon, which is almost as appealing as his other side, but it’s still sad to know that it stems from the same kind of upbringing as mine. I know he was young when he came to live with the Summers, but that just shows that sometimes those early experiences create the deepest wounds. Children aren’t meant to carry the weight of trauma, and I’m not surprised these marks have been left within him. So much like the ones that I hide from the world too.
But if there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s let my reactions to him be overwhelmed by the sympathy or the empathy that I feel. I like a good cuddle and some comforting words as much as the next person, but I don’t want to be defined by my trauma or treated with kid gloves. He needs to know and feel that I see him as someone worthy of spending time with, someone who’s attractive, exciting, and whole—despite the pieces of himself that someone else tried to break or take away—and that’s what I’m going to focus on right now.
My heart races at his words, thrilled that he went out of his way to find something I might be interested in doing. “Wow, yeah, that would be awesome! Thanks, Jaxon. What did you find?”
The frown disappears, and his face lights up with that cocky grin I definitely do recognize. “Now, I can’t be telling you all my secrets. A man has to keep some things a mystery,” he teases as Thomas pulls the car into the open garage.
We’re all getting out of the car when the door connecting the garage to the house flies open. “You’re finally home. I've been waiting for ages!” Jacinta’s voice echoes through the large space as she comes barreling toward me, completely bypassing her brothers, including Jaxon.
I don't get a chance to brace myself before she flings her arms around me. I stumble backward, lucky enough that Jaxon is able to catch us, and find myself sandwiched between the twins.
“What the fuck, Harlow? It’s like you don't want to be in this family. One might think you’re almosttryingto do anything you can to escape,” Jacinta growls at me as she pulls away and puts a hand up to the bump on my head. “Stop it. It’s enough. You’re stuck with us now. You can run, but we will be able to find you wherever you go.” Her whole demeanor is full of concern, and it’s almost enough to concernme. God, the guys weren’t kidding when they said Jacinta was all in now.
Jaxon chuckles from behind me, the sound sending a delicious little rumble through the parts of me that are pressed all too closely against him. “Whoa there, Jazzy. That’s sounding a little stalkerish.”
“Yeah, you just need the Irish accent and the whole ‘I will find you, and I will kill you’ thing, and you’d be pretty bloody scary, sis.” Kai squeezes past us, carrying some of the bags, and Thomas follows quickly behind with the rest.
Jazzy?Thomas has a point, but I’m still stuck on that little name drop. That's the first time I’m hearing that nickname, and I raise a questioning brow at the new sister of mine who’s currently all up in my face. Jacinta shrugs, looking a little sheepish. “Jazzy is what the family calls me in private, but it’s not anything I like sharing with the rest of the world. Can you imagine what it would be like, trying to get people to takeJazzyseriously? But, well, now that you and I are besties and are going to be sisters for real, I gave them the go ahead to call me it again.”
Well, that’s a bit sweet and awfully thorough of her. I suppose if someone would go through the trouble of concealing a nickname from their supposed enemy, it’d be Jacinta. I don’t know whether to be impressed or frightened by the depth of her strategizing. I can’t even begin to process any of that, so I let it go and accept that I really am part of the family now if I'm being allowed this coveted nickname.
Jacinta lets me go and flips Kai off before yanking me out of Jaxon’s arms. “Go away, Jax. You’ve had all weekend, so it’s my turn. She didn't even call me, and I’m feeling neglected.” She tucks her arm under mine, and we follow the guys into the house, my new bestie/sister/abductor practically dragging me along.
Huh, this is a whole new side of Jacinta that I’m seeing, the fun, slightly needy sister that the brothers have repeatedly told me she can be.
“I cannot fucking believe Cecelia pulled that stunt on you. We need to come up with a way of making that bitch pay.”
