Page 22 of Jump-Start
Maybe she isn’t as mad as I thought she was. Maybe she can forgive me for what happened. Maybe I haven’t fucked everything up. Chiara seems to feel better toward me. I’d much rather have her being a pain in the arse than ignore me. Her silent treatment is so much worse than when anyone else does it because that woman doesn’t stay quiet. I’m pretty sure she gets that fire from her Italian heritage, and it’s something I’m not ashamed to like about her.
“It’s time,” Quinn reminds me, and I hand her back my phone.
It is time.
Time to kick Jonathan Kent’s arse.
CHAPTERTWELVE
chiara
Evicted. Kicked out. Thrown into a lion’s den. It’s all the same thing really.
The letter from my landlord feels unbearably heavy in my hands. Graham is standing in front of me, watching the way my hands are shaking after what I just read out loud to him. His arms wrap around me, and I fling mine around his, fighting back the tears that are trying to escape me. This isn’t something to cry over. Lots of people get evicted because their landlord is selling their building to a large company that plans on tearing it down. It happens. People move on without breaking apart in response. Except, it’s not only getting evicted. It’s Tim appearing at the bookstore during my shift a few weeks ago. It’s me losing my job at the bar. It’s trying so hard to keep my head above water and reach my dream, which keeps slipping further away because of situations like this one. It’s Graham leaving tomorrow for six months, and I’m going to miss him so much.
It feels like the whole world is conspiring against me, but that’s ridiculous considering I’m a tiny speck in the world. Chiara de Luca is no one. So, why the hell is the universe taking its time slowly torturing me?
“We will find something else, my love, don’t worry,” Graham says, but I push off him. Getting comfort right now only drags me closer to the well of tears, and I will not cry. I haven’t cried in almost two decades. It won’t change today.
“No, you’re catching that plane tomorrow, and I will pack up your things after you’re gone. Your parents can keep it stored for you while I try to find a new place for us to live,” I assure him, but Graham grabs my chin, forcing me to focus on him.
“I’m not leaving you when we’re getting evicted,” he says, but I know if he stays now, he will never go. Something will always get in the way, and I won’t let him give up this shot at finding happiness out there in the world. I love him too much to let that happen.
“You’re going, and that is final. We only have a few things, no furniture or anything, so moving will be easy,” I reply. The flat came furnished years ago when we first started renting it. It’s going to make my job a hell of a lot easier.
“Chiara—” He starts, but I cut him off. I’m in no mood to argue with him.
“Do you still want to go?” I ask, and he nods, his head hanging low. “Then, go. You have to. This is important. You can’t put off taking care of yourself, and I’ve got this. If I’m feeling annoyed, I’ll make Leonard help me.” When I realize what I’ve just said, I freeze. I would never willingly invite Leonard to spend time with me.Would I?
“Okay, and if you’re in need of a laugh, I can always leave my strap-ons and you can let him pack them.” That gets a small laugh out of me. Proud of himself for getting that reaction, Graham grins. “We will find a new place when I get back, I promise. We have to be out of here in three months, which means you only have to find something for the other three. When I get back, we will go apartment hunting,” Graham promises, and I give him a small nod.
Where the hell am I going to go for the other three months?
I can’t go live with Mamma. Her apartment is too small, and Tim is there. I will not give that man a chance to be alone with me any more than I already have to. The only other place I can think of is the Ticks’, but I would never ask them such a big favor. They’re family, but they don’t need a twenty-four-year-old moving into their guest room. I love Rena and Andrew, especially because they would take me in, in a heartbeat, but they’re enjoying their empty nest now. I won’t take it away from them. I can’t.
“Come on, my parents are waiting for us,” Graham says, and I give him a small nod, trying not to spiral into a dark hole of worst-case scenarios of what will happen in the future. That’s a problem for later.
The Ticks are throwing a family lunch as an informal goodbye meal for Graham since he will be back in half a year. When we get to their place, a two-story single-detach house half an hour from our flat, there is a banner hung across the mahogany front door. Benz runs toward it as soon as I open the door for her and remove the dog seatbelt I put on her. Leonard is supposed to come back tomorrow from his race in Austria, which he, surprisingly enough, didn’t win. Jonathan Kent, his teammate, drove into him, resulting in a double DNF—Did Not Finish—for the Mercedes team. I was so fucking mad watching it unfold, I almost threw my remote at the television. Not that I’d ever tell Leonard that. The last thing I need is for him to know I care about his race results. I don’t even want myself to be aware of it.
Graham knocks on the front door, and we wait several seconds until his dad, a tall man with darker skin than his sons' but lighter eyes and hair, opens the door for us. His smile is warm and familiar as he opens his arms for me first. Always me first. It bugs Graham a lot, but I’m Andrew’s warrior. He came to all of my fights as a kid when I was still competing. He made Leonard and Graham come too, which is something I appreciate now because it showed them just how dangerous I can be. No one fucks with me. One way or another, I will fight back, and they’re not going to like it.
“How have you been, Chiara?” he asks before stepping to the side and enveloping his son in a hug too. “Son,” he says, that same warm smile firmly set in place. I’m about to assure him that we’ve been fine when Graham beats me to it.
“We’re getting evicted,” he blurts out, leading his father inside.
Benz stays by my side until I assure her to go ahead, and she does with a happy wag of her tail. She runs to the kitchen first, finding Rena at the stove. Her light brown skin is complemented by the olive-colored blouse she put on. Her brown hair is slowly turning grey and white, and no one wears it quite like the beautiful woman in front of me I’ve grown to love so much. Rena is moving around, searching for God knows what when suddenly she stills, her head turning my way ever so slightly.
“Chiara?” she asks, and I shake my head.
“How do you always know?” I reply, walking toward her and placing my hand on her arm first. She smiles at me, so I wrap my arms around her, the scent of fresh flowers hitting my nose. “Do I stink? Is that it? I swear I showered before I came here,” I promise as I step out of the hug. I study the sunglasses on her face, noticing that I’ve never seen them before. They suit her well, the round shape and small frame different from the ones she usually wears.
“Your footsteps are lighter than my husband’s and sons’. I hear yours, but not as well,” she explains, and I give her arm a slight squeeze.
Rena started going blind when I was fourteen. The doctor said it was a rare genetic disease and untreatable. It took a few years for her sight to disappear completely, but she told me recently she can still see the shapes of things and people.
“Can you help me find the salt? Andrew moved it from its usual spot when he cooked last, and I can’t find it,” she says, and I move over to the spices, not finding salt there. I look around the kitchen, spotting it next to the sink. “The sink?” Rena asks after I told her where it was. “That man,” she says with a snicker.
Rena eventuallyshoosme out of her kitchen, telling me to go greet Ellie, Jack, and Stu. The second I step into the hall leading from where Rena is to the veranda where everyone else is, the front door opens, and Leonard walks through. He’s wearing a loosely fitting white shirt that complements the color of his skin along with dark brown pants hugging his hips perfectly. He looks breathtaking, especially with his braids pulled out of his face like usual, showing off his sharp features, full lips, and trimmed beard. It’s short and clean, like always, and when he cocks one of his full and flawless eyebrows, I realize he noticed me drooling over his gorgeous body. It makes me want to turn away and pretend it didn’t happen, but I steel myself, ignoring the way my heart flutters as he comes closer.
