Page 43 of Darlin'

"JP?" Jo gives him a cheeky smile. "Well?"

"Oh fuck no," Jesse grumbles. "No. No! Are you fucking with me? You said one week! I did my time. I?—"

"It's settled," Jo states, ignoring Jesse's protests, which I find infuriatingly offensive. I've been nothing but a courteous guest! "You're staying with JP for the summer."She holds out her hand. "Come on, let's let Rad rest for a bit."

As I walk past Jesse, he glares at me with a sparkling, devilish glimmer and whispers, "You're gonna regret this, princess."

"Bite me," I snap back, scowling at him.

Jesse smirks, and a chill courses down my spine as he says with underlying promise, "Oh, I will."

CHAPTER 13

Heat Wave

Savannah:

Caroline, I will be spending the summer with Beau. He told me everything last night. Do not call me. Do not text me. Don't even think about me. And no, I will NOT be doing Miss USA. I will call you when I'm ready to talk. Have a splendid summer.

Clear teal poolwater splashes against my ankles as I wiggle my toes, staring at the read notification that appeared over two hours ago. She hasn't called. She hasn't replied. For the first time in forever, Caroline Kingsley's got nothing to say.

I thought that I'd have to chuck my newly working phone back into the tub again to avoid her bombardment, but it's been quiet. No word. That's because she knows. She knows the only words that would be acceptable areI'm sorry. And she's not ready to say 'em. And I'm sure as hell not ready to listen.

Closing my eyes, I soak in the gentle rays of the earlymorning California sun. California. What am I doing here? I don't belong in California. Especially not in this town. But where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do?

A part of me thinks Beau asked me to stay because he felt bad. He's lived three years without me and managed just fine. He doesn't need me right now. Maybe he knows. Maybe he asked me to stay because he knows that I needhim. I need some semblance of a home.

I sigh, looking around Jesse's backyard. This isn't home, though. Sure, I eat, sleep, and bathe here, but this ain't home.

I'm just a guest. An unwelcome one at that. I know Jesse doesn't want me here. He's been rather vocal about it. Last night I overheard Jesse and Beau arguing.What if I wanna bring a chick home?Jesse had asked Beau. My brother laughed at him.Dude, you haven't hooked up with a girl since—Jesse stormed out before Beau could finish his sentence. I'm glad he didn't finish. For some reason, that's one tidbit of information I don't want to hear.

"Good morning, my little nuisance." Jesse's groggy morning voice startles me as he saunters into the backyard with a piping hot cup of coffee in his hand. Speak of the devil. I narrow my eyes at him, jealous of his ability to look so damn good in the morning. "You're up early." He cocks his head, blowing into the mug as he scans my jammies. "Going for a swim?"

"Oh joy, you're awake," I mumble, slumping my shoulders. Let the daily games begin. "And here I thought I'd have a few more hours of peace." I check the time on my phone. "Why are you awake anyway? It's only seven."

"I got woken up by some annoying chick crying uncontrollably," he replies, raising an accusatory brow. "What? Break a nail this morning?"

"I amsosorry," I jeer, kicking my feet in the water, hoping it'll release some of the pent-up anger I appear to be harboring. "The next time that my world crumbles 'round me, I'll be sure to keep the crying to a minimum so as not to wake his royal highness."

"So,nota broken nail?" Jesse asks, rolling up his grey joggers and sitting down beside me on the edge of the pool. I roll my eyes, and he sighs, nudging me with his elbow. "Come on. I know you want to talk about it." In a sweet—disingenuous—tone, he asks, "What happened?"

Jesse's like one of them emergency ice/heat packs. He can swing in either direction at a moment's notice. Daddy had a few of those packs stored away in case of natural disasters. And that's what Jesse is. My own personal natural disaster. At least I know how to deal with Ice Age Jesse. That's easy. It's heat wave Jesse that concerns me.

"Like you care," I mutter, discreetly inching away from him as our thighs graze for a millisecond. He's like a dang furnace. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"You're right," he hums, staring out into his lush yard. "Idon'tcare, but"—he casts me an amused grin—"I quite enjoy sleeping past nine on Sundays, so on the off chance that talking about it will prevent you from waking me before my alarm, I'm all ears."

"Wow," I muse, voice dripping in sarcasm. "You're real good at helping people open up. It's like you have this wild ability to create such a safe space for dialogue. Ifbeing a criminal doesn't pan out, you should try your hand at counseling. I think it's your true calling."

"Nice." Jesse presses his lips into an unimpressed, thin line. "Glad to see that the world crumbling hasn't hindered your ability to act like an absolute brat. There's still hope for you after all."

I scowl at him. "You'rerealcharming in the morning; anybody ever tell you that?"

"Babe, I'm charmingallthe time," Jesse says, proudly placing an exaggerated hand on his chest, "You just haven't been privy to said charm."

"Right," I snort. "You're about as charming as a tick on a ballsack." Jesse blinks, and I make a threatening pinching motion with my fingertips. "Chomp chomp."

"Damn girl." Jesse winces, adjusting his dick, which, for the record, I only noticed because he moved, not cause grey fabric leaves little to the imagination. "Who pissed in your cornflakes today?"

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