“What are you doing?” JP’s voice made me jump and I kneed the kitchen drawers.
Hissing, I grabbed my knee as pain resonated from the area I’d banged. I glanced up at JP, who stood in the doorway with his arms crossed and an amused twist on his mouth. “Hi.”
“What are you doing?” he repeated, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “My Christmas lights have been turned off.”
“They’ll catch fire,” I said helplessly. The flush on my cheeks grew hotter and I wrung my hands together in front of me. “I was keeping us safe.”
He stepped closer, his bare feet padding on the floor, and I took a moment to appreciate his pajamas. Unlike mine, his weren’t matching. The long pants he wore were red and checked, with a tight gray long-sleeved shirt, and yet they looked so good on him, showing off muscles his suits normally hid. He wasn’t as muscular as Mr. Elwood or Jaxson, yet he had more of a build than I did.
I swallowed and stayed still while he advanced on me until he stood so close, I could feel his breath. “I didn’t want them to catch fire.”
“Stop evading my questions, boy, and tell me the truth.” His voice went deeper, and I shivered before I could stop myself. His hair looked softer than before, without product, and my fingers itched to touch it.
“I… did. I don’t like unused plugs in the sockets.” Shame made my stomach churn, and I laid my hands on my belly, rubbing it while the stew I’d consumed earlier threatened to come back up. Fear made my chest tight and I chewed on my bottom lip.
He narrowed his eyes on me thoughtfully, and I decided he’d either kick me out or make fun of me, but he smiled, and my heart kicked up a beat for a different reason. JP always looked so handsome when he smiled.
“Come here.” He gestured for me to follow him, and my feet were moving before I realized what I was doing, as though it was natural to do what he ordered. We walked out of the kitchen and back into the sitting room, where he directed me to take a seat on the cream leather couch.
He sat down beside me and stared so intently that I couldn’t help but drop my gaze to my lap, the urge to apologize on the tip of my tongue. I didn’t do it, though.
“Here’s how this is going to work, Max. I’m going to ask you some questions and youwillanswer directly. No jumping around with different answers that don’t relate to the question, and no changing the topic. Am I clear?”
“Yes, sir,” I said automatically.
JP hissed in a breath, and I finally raised my gaze to look at him. His pupils were dark and intense, and he licked his lips. He looked more debauched than I’d ever seen him before, like a man who’d just gotten off—or how I imagined he’d look. I’d only had one experience with another person, and that was while I’d attended college. I hadn’t known he was absolutely blitzed drunk when he’d come on to me, and like thegood little sluthe’d said I was, I’d sucked his dick until he’d gotten off, before he’d promptly fallen asleep. The next morning he’d ordered me to get out, disgusted with the fact I was very much male. I’d never run so fast. Another embarrassing moment to add to the list that was my life.
“Tell me why you unplugged my lights,” he ordered.
Goose bumps rose on my skin, and I chewed on my bottom lip nervously. “Because they can catch—”
“Don’t tell me the fire thing,” he said sharply. He sucked in a deep breath and gave me a tense smile. “Max… do you have OCD?”
“OCD?” I laughed, but it sounded weird to my ears. “Kalinskis don’t have OCD.”
JP’s brows jumped high on his forehead. “Kalinskis can have what every other person can.”
“But not OCD. That’s… an illness.”
He nodded. “Yes, a mental illness.”
“I don’t have that!” I slapped my hand over my mouth at the sudden outburst and then glared. “I’m a Kalinski, and we don’t have mental illnesses.”
JP didn’t look impressed. He pursed his lips at me and crossed his arms. “Are you aliens?”
“What? No.” I was decidedly unsure in the way I answered.
“Are you robots that have come back from the future to destroy the human race?” he asked in a bored tone.
“No?” I hated that it sounded like a question, but sometimes I compared Mom to a robot. She certainly acted like she had no emotions.
“Then you can definitely have a mental illness like everyone else. The Kalinski family is not perfect.” He rolled his eyes and then his face gentled, like he realized he was talking to someone soft. Iwasn’tsoft—I’d worked my way into the position with Mr. Elwood, even if it came by blackmailing him and Jaxson—and I’d be damned if I had JP look at me as though I was weak.
“I do not have OCD, and I do not have a mental illness. I come from a strongly bred line of—”
“Ohhh. You’re a horse. I know how horse breeders think. My dad married one.” He smirked.
“I…. What?” I frowned at him, so confused by the conversation that I didn’t think we were on the same page.
