Paradox (Unearthly Paradox) (16 page)

He looked up and asked, “Feeling better?”

“Much.” I rested a hand on his shoulder. “I didn’t know you could cook.” I leaned over to take a look in the pan. “What are you cooking?”

“Spaghetti bolognaise.”

Jett swiped at my hand as I reached for the pan, but he wasn’t fast enough. I picked out a strand of sauce-covered spaghetti and shoved it in my mouth. I regretted it the moment the noodle landed on my tongue. “Holy shit, that’s hot!”

He laughed as I grabbed the milk out of the fridge then poured some and downed the entire glass.

“That is way too hot,” I said, when my mouth no longer felt on fire.

Jett grabbed a spoon and tasted a bit of the sauce. His eyes flared, and he rushed to the sink and spat it out.

I poured a glass of milk. He gulped it then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Holy shit.” Taking the pan off the stove, he tipped it into the sink and turned on the incinerator.

I shook my head. “You know, spaghetti bolognaise isn’t supposed to be spicy, right?”

He shrugged. “I never said I could cook.”

I took a seat on the bench. “Then please don’t ever cook again.”

He came over to me and placed his hand on the bench on either side of me. “So I guess winning you over with my amazing culinary skills is out of the question?”

Winning me over? I wasn’t sure I’d heard right. “Did you just say…?”

He nodded.

I laughed as I waved at the sink. “Is that what you were trying to do?”

Jett moved forward, pushing my knees apart. My legs cooperated before my brain even knew what was going on. He placed his hands on my hips and pulled me toward him.

I raised my eyebrows. “That’s pretty forward, isn’t it?”

“I know what I want.”

I slumped my shoulders. “And what is that?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

Placing two hands on his chest, I pushed, forcing him to take a step back. I hated every second because all I wanted was to feel him against me, but I wasn’t willing to become a booty call. “I’m not that kind of girl.” I figured he would be pissed because I was pretty sure I was the only girl to ever reject him, even if only temporarily.

He narrowed his eyes at me. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t do one-night stands.”

He chuckled then regained his position between my legs. “What makes you think that’s all I want from you?”

“Rumour has it, you don’t do relationships.”

“Is that what you want?”

“It doesn’t matter what I want. I’m not going to get involved with someone who has commitment issues.”

He smiled. “How do you know I have commitment issues?”

“Your brother told me. Not those exact words. But he said you don’t do relationships.”

“Zane told you that?”

“Twice.”

Jett scratched his forehead. He seemed to be debating on what to tell me. “Zane’s right. I don’t do relationships.”

I dropped my gaze to my hands that I’d unknowingly balled into fists. I felt as if I’d been sucker punched, but I was glad that I’d found out then rather than after I’d completely fallen in love with him.

He put his finger under my chin and lifted it, so I had no choice but to look at him. “But you’re different. And I know that sounds corny, but it’s the truth. Those other girls could never have been a part of my lifestyle.”

“But I could be?”

“Yes.”

“Why?” I shook my head. “That doesn’t even make sense. Wait. Is that the line you use on girls?”

He tucked my hair behind my ear. “No, it’s not a line. And I know it doesn’t make sense, but one day soon, you’ll understand. For now, you’re just going to have to trust me that you’re different.
We’ll
be different. And I’m not saying that we’re going to fall in love, get married, and have two-point-five children.”

I strained a laugh. “Good. I think we’re a bit too young to start planning our forevers.”

Jett smiled and took my hands in his. “I want to give us a go and see where it takes us.”

I bit my lower lip. “You haven’t even kissed me yet. I could be the lamest kisser who makes you swallow a mouth full of saliva every—”

Jett pressed his lips to mine. Cupping my face, he gently parted my lips with his tongue. My entire body began to tingle from the soft, sensual way he was discovering my kissing abilities for himself. All too soon, he pulled away, leaving me desperately wanting more.

“Did I pass?” My voice came out raspy.

“Hmm… I think I need another try just to be sure.” He leaned in and kissed me again.

I ran my hands through his hair, pulling him into a deeper kiss. A sexy growl came from his throat. He worked his hands down my back, stopping on my ass and pulling me closer. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Lifting me off the bench, he carried into the lounge and laid me on the couch, careful not to put his full weight on me as he stayed trapped within my embrace.

His hand found the hem of my shorts and slid up my thigh until it reached my panties. I wasn’t a first-date girl, but feeling him against me almost changed my mind. But we needed to stop. I put my hands on his chest and… I couldn’t do it. His pecs were almost too perfect, and I just had to take the time to appreciate them. And then I had to see if his abs were as good as his pecs, and then…

Before I knew it, I had found his belt, and I didn’t care what type of girl I wanted to be. All I knew was what I wanted at that very second. I wanted him—
all of him
.

Jett broke away. “I’m sorry.” He sat up, pulling me up with him.

I was practically panting. “I’m not.”

He grinned. “Not like this.”

I grinned back. “Isn’t that what the girl is supposed to say?”

“Then I guess I’m the girl tonight.” He winked.

Never in a million years would I have thought I’d wake up next to the son of a drug lord and not be afraid. But there I was, wrapped in his arms, completely content for the first time in weeks.

Somehow, we’d kept our clothes on all night. And I was unashamed to say that it was because of Jett’s stubbornness of not wanting to “deflower” me—his word, not mine. I had assured him that he would most certainly not be doing that, but apparently, I hadn’t experienced anything yet.

“Morning,” Jett said in a husky voice.

I pulled his hand up to my neck and hugged him. “Morning.”

My head dipped back as he lifted his off the pillow, then he kissed me just below my ear. “As much as I’d love to keep you in here all day, it’s almost nine, and your next exam starts in an hour.”

I rolled over and sat up. Just as my feet touched the floor, a hand snaked around my middle and pulled me back onto the mattress. My laugh was cut off when Jett’s lips found mine. All the built-up passion that I’d put to rest when I fell asleep last night came back with full force.

But like before, he pulled away. “You’re going to be late if you don’t get up now.”

Groaning, I climbed out of bed and headed to the bathroom. After my shower, I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door. I expected Jett to still be in my bed, but he was gone. I got dressed, gathered my stuff, and went downstairs to the lounge.

Jett came out of the kitchen, holding two coffees. “Such a shame I’ll only get to see you in that uniform for another three days.” He put the cups on the table, grabbed my tie, and pulled me to him.

I traced the lines of his tattoo. “It could always make a reappearance.”

He grinned. “I’m going to hold you to that one.”

I stood on my tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek before picking up my coffee to take a sip. The whole time I could feel his eyes practically undressing me, and I loved it.

Jett wrapped his arms around my waist from behind me then leaned in and inhaled deeply in that funny way. “How about we take my bike?”

I choked out a laugh. “Yeah, probably not such a good idea,” I said, holding up my coffee.

When we arrived at school, Lilly was leaning against the fence. Her eyes lit up when she spotted us.

After we parked, she strode over, her smile growing bigger the closer she got. When I got out of the car, she said, “Two guesses why you weren’t answering last night.”

I tried to squash the grin that spread across my face, but it was hopeless. My mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Hey, Lilly,” Jett said, coming up behind me.

“Morning,” she said with a smile. Lilly looked to me. “We better hurry, or we’ll be late.”

I furrowed my brow. “We take history together?”

“Sure do,” she said.

Jett laced his fingers with mine as we walked through the school gate. Lilly led the way, and I listened absently as she chattered the whole way there. She seemed so much more self-confident over the last week, and I wondered what was responsible.

Lilly slapped my arm with the back of her hand. “You’re not listening to me, are you?”

I shook my head. “Sorry. I was just… thinking about the exam.”

“How do you think you’ll do?” she asked.

“I think I’ve got it.” History was always one of my stronger subjects. “How about you?”

She nodded. “With the way my mum had me studying, I think I’ve memorised the whole bloody textbook.”

When we reached the classroom, the bitches were huddled to the side of the door. History class was where I had first met them.

Emily nudged the other two girls, then all three of them looked up at us. I waited for the smart-assed comments, but nothing came. I looked over at Lilly, expecting to see her cowering as she’d done every other time she was near them, but her back was straight and her head held high. It was like a complete role reversal.

Jett squeezed my hand. “I’ll be here waiting for you when you’ve finished.” He leaned down and kissed me, then pulled me into a hug, where he once again buried his head in the crook of my neck and slowly inhaled as if smelling my hair or my skin.

“All right, that’s enough,” the teacher said, walking past us into the classroom.

Lilly giggled and grabbed my free hand.

“See you,” I said as Lilly dragged me inside the room.

When Lilly and I finished the exam, we walked outside to the parking lot. Jett was sitting on the garden wall under a tree, playing on his phone.

“Want a lift home?” I asked Lilly as we headed over to the tree.

“If it’s not too much trouble.” She adjusted the strap of her bag. “I can’t believe we’ve only got one day left.”

“Ah, you do realise that it’s only Wednesday?”

“You know what I mean. You can’t really count Friday as a school day because we finish by ten o’clock.”

I tipped my head back. “I can’t wait ’til Friday.”

Jett hopped off the wall and slipped his phone into his pocket. “How’d you do?” He kissed my forehead then slung his arm over my shoulders and turned me in the direction of the car.

I laced my fingers with his. “Piece of cake.”

He looked over at Lilly. “Are we taking you home?”

“If it’s no trouble.”

“It’s no trouble,” I answered. I nodded at Jett. “Another good reason not to bring your bike.”

“You’ll change your mind once you’ve had a ride.” He opened the passenger door and waited for me to get inside before closing it.

Lilly crawled into the backseat and leaned forward. “Did I hear right? Does he want to take you on his bike?”

I twisted in my seat to face her. “Yeah, why?”

“That has got to be the hottest thing ever. Sitting on the back of a bike with him in—” She cut herself off mid-sentence when Jett opened the driver-side door.

On the ride to Lilly’s house, I couldn’t get the image of sitting on the back of Jett’s bike, with him between my legs, out of my mind. Lilly was right. That would be hot.

By the time we dropped off Lilly and got back home, it was almost two thirty. We pulled out the left-over Chinese and sat at the table outside to eat.

“Are you ever going home?” I asked. “Not that I don’t like having you here, but doesn’t your family miss you or something?”

He shook his head. “There’s no need for me to go home. They know where I am.”

“And they don’t have a problem with it?”

“I’m almost twenty. They stopped having a say in what I did two years ago.” He shrugged. “Besides, I think they understand, considering someone shot you less than a week ago.”

I twirled some noodles around my fork as I thought about that night. So much had changed, and so much was unexplained. “Hey, do the police have any leads on who did it?”

“Nope.” He shovelled some pork into his mouth.

I slumped back in the chair. I felt so useless that I couldn’t even help the police with a description so they could find my attacker.

“Hey.” Jett put down his fork and placed his hand over mine. “You need to stop worrying about it.”

I gave him a half-hearted smile. “Easier said than done.”

He squeezed my hand. “So what test do we have to study for tomorrow?”

I raised my eyebrows. “You plan on helping me study?”

He scooped the last of his food onto his fork. “Well, I am the expert on…”

“English?” I finished for him.

“Exactly.”

Jett’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out and checked the screen. He typed something in response then stood up. “I have to take care of something at the club for a bit.” He picked up his bowl then came over and placed his hand on my shoulder. “Please don’t argue with me on this, but I’m taking you over to Jenna’s to stay while I’m gone.”

Tilting my head back to look at him, I said, “I don’t need anyone watching me.” I got to my feet and put my hands on my hips. “You go take care of what you need to, but I’m not going anywhere.”

He stared at me for a moment. “Fine. I’ll get my brother to come over here.” He pulled out his phone again.

I barked out a laugh. “He is so not coming over here.”

He swiped the screen. “Well, if you won’t go over to Jenna’s, then Zane’s coming here.”

I snatched his phone out of his hand. He looked mad, but I didn’t care. “You’re worried that whoever shot me may come back to finish what they started, but you’re okay with letting your slimeball brother get all up in my shit?”