Page 16 of Rival to the Billionaire

Thanks, Derek. Now I feel at ease ??

You're welcome. But seriously, dude. Try to keep your cool. Just try to actually spend some time with Jenny. You'll find out she's pretty fucking cool. Easy to get the best out of her. I promise, bro

I glance over to find Jenny sifting through her purse, ignoring her.

I'll have to take your word for it. But I'm sure I'll make it through.

One way to find out

I flip my phone into airplane mode, wondering why Derek is so worried about my "making nice" with Jenny.

I glance over at her, trying not to think about texting Derek again as the attendants prepare for takeoff.

As rigid as a board, Jenny sits beside me, fiddling with her fingers. It takes me several seconds to realize she's knitting. Of all the things to do on a plane, this is something I didn't see coming.

"Uh," I say, staring at her. "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she fires back.

"That's not an answer."

"It's the only one you're going to get."

"Is there a reason you're doing this?"

Jenny concentrates so much on her knitting; her knuckles are damn near turning white. Her fingers move at breakneck speed to keep up with the needle.

"I found out it was a good way to relax and stay productive," she says.

I lean closer to her, feeling the words rising up to my lips. "On a plane?"

"Yes. On a plane.” She sighs. "It calms me down."

I stare at Jenny, watching the barely there ball of yarn in her hands. Her fingers are slightly shaking as she tries to keep them from losing control.

"Lemme guess…" I start, my gaze in her lap as she works. "Planes make you nervous, is that it?"

"No. It's the ‘flying off the ground’ part that makes me nervous. I-I haven't flown a lot, so…"

"You don't like it," I go on.

I hear the plane start to taxi, so I turn my head to look out the window.

"Well, I don't know,” she replies. "My parents couldn't afford for us to travel around much when I was a kid. You know they didn't have a lot of money."

I blink. "I remember. Neither did mine."

"Yeah." She shrugs. “My mom, sister, and I used to visit some relatives over in New York when we had a chance, but…that's been less and less these days. I thought my mom might make the move to another place, but she said she wanted to stay back in our old neighborhood where we all grew up.” She mutters under her breath. "I don't see why. It's not like this place has the best memories for us as a family.”

I hear the sound of the plane starting to lift off the ground, so I turn back to the window and watch the runway shrink before our eyes.

It's still odd seeing the familiar scenery from a different perspective. And I start to think about Jenny's perspective.

My parents died when we were all young, perished together in the car crash that took their lives from their four sons and our cousin Killian whom they raised. But at least, I had the guys.

Alton was the oldest, Derek the next in age. My golden retriever-looking twin Quentin and I tie for the youngest brothers. And our cousin Killian, just a year older than Quen and me, was the fifth member of our makeshift, boy band-like family.

As for Jenny, I recall that her parents divorced when she was pretty young, just coming out of elementary school. She rarely talked of her father after he left. And where my family now was tighter than pantyhose on a stripper, hers seemed to be estranged.

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