Paradox (Unearthly Paradox) (17 page)

His face softened. “I’m not okay with my brother touching you, but it’s better than the alternative.”

“Which is?”

Jett put his hands on my waist and drew me to him. “Call me crazy, but I’m worried about you. And I think I have every reason to be.”

I laid my hand on his chest. “I’ll be fine.” He looked so worried that I gave in. “Fine, I’ll go to Jenna’s.”

He cupped my face and kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”

My stomach churned the whole way over to Jenna’s. I was a little nervous about being in her territory, where I couldn’t lock her out as I had done when she was over at my house. I hoped that my needing to study would give me some reprieve.

Jett squeezed my hand when he met me in front of the car. “You’ll be fine.”

Putting on my best fake smile, I walked with him up to the porch. Before Jett could knock, the door swung open.

“Hi,” Jenna said. She wrapped her arms around Jett’s neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she turned, pulled me into a hug, and kissed my cheek as if we were best friends who hadn’t seen each other in weeks. And I was almost certain she smelled me again.

“Okay, okay,” Jett said. “Give her some space.”

Jenna pulled away, chuckling. “Sorry. I can be a bit full on at times.”

“That’s okay,” I said just to be polite. The last thing I wanted was to have a problem with every one of Jett’s family. Zane was inevitable, but I would try to get over the whole sniffing thing. Maybe she’d had too many drugs and had some kind of brain damage.

“Anyway,” Jett said, gripping me around my hip and pulling me to him, “I better go now. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He tucked his face in the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply as he kissed me, making my stomach dip. Reluctantly, he pulled away. “See you.” He looked at Jenna for a moment, and I was sure some sort of unspoken message passed between them, then he turned around and left.

She put her arm around me and ushered me inside. “Jett tells me you guys are together now, huh?”

Wow. I hadn’t realised he would be so quick to tell everyone. “Um, yeah, I guess you could say that.”

She squeezed my arm. “He’s a lucky guy.”

I was thankful that she couldn’t see my face because I was sure I wasn’t hiding my internal freak-out. She wasn’t my friend, so I didn’t get why she would say something like that other than…
Oh, God.
What was with Jett’s family and me? I hoped that the rest of them weren’t so… friendly toward me.

Jenna pointed at the couch. “Have a seat, and I’ll get us something to drink. Coke?”

“Yeah. Thanks.” I sat on the sofa and dropped my bag on the floor.

Her place was immaculate to the point that it looked more like a display home than a place someone actually lived. To the left of the couch were bifold doors that opened up to a large patio. Most of the small backyard was taken up by a pool.

I stood and walked onto the patio. My heart practically stopped when I looked to the right and saw the bridge, the same one I had jumped off of and nearly been raped under, and the very spot where I had first seen my black-eyed boy.

“There you are,” Jenna said from behind me.

I whipped around, feeling as though I had been caught snooping. She held out a bottle of Coke.

“Thanks,” I said taking the soda. “How long have you lived here?”

“About three years.” She walked over and stood beside me, brushing her shoulder against mine. “My parents bought me this house as my twenty-first birthday present.”

“Holy crap. That’s a pretty amazing present.” I wondered if my father would ever do something like that. The answer was probably yes, but not for the same reason most parents would. “Or was it more like a ‘here’s a house, please move out’ kind of gift?”

She laughed. “No, it wasn’t like that. My parents knew I wanted to move up here, and I guess this was their way of giving me their blessing.”

I stepped out and sat on the wicker lounge. Jenna followed, but fortunately, she left a little space between us.

I opened the bottle and took a sip. “Where did you live before?”

“Sydney.”

“Seriously? I used to live there, too.”

Turning to face me, she put her knee up on the couch. “Whereabouts?”

“In Bronte. How about you?”

“That’s so funny. We lived just up from you in Vaucluse.”

“Huh.” I leaned back and took another drink. “So what do you do up here?”

“As in work?” When I nodded, she shrugged and said, “I help Jett and Zane out when they need it.”

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

“Not a fan of Zane?” she asked.

I shook my head. “Let’s just say the few times we’ve met, he overstepped some boundaries.”

She chuckled. “He can be a bit like that, but I wouldn’t worry about him. I think he’s probably a bit jealous that Jett found you first.”

A nervous laugh escaped my lips. Even if I had met Zane before Jett, there was no way I would’ve ever fallen for that creepazoid. “I don’t get why. He seems to have his hands full as it is.”

She laughed. “Let’s just say you’re not like most of the girls from around here.”

“Why? Because I didn’t throw myself at him?”

She grinned then took a sip of her drink. “So, you’ve only got two days of school left. Are you excited?”

I was a little irritated by the obvious subject change, but then I decided I didn’t really want to discuss guys with her, anyway, especially not her cousins. “Relieved is more like it. But I’ve still got one last exam tomorrow that I really should be studying for.”

“What subject?”

“English.”

“Seriously?” She leaned toward me. “That was one of my best subjects. I could help you if you like?”

“Um, yeah, okay. Thanks.”

Jenna stood. “Let’s go inside and sit on the couch.”

I followed her in and got out my study notes. Amazingly, Jenna was practically an encyclopaedia, and I was thankful I’d gone over to her house rather than insisting on staying home by myself.

When Jett returned, I had to do a double take. His hair was wet, and I was sure he was wearing something different from when he’d left. It seemed pretty weird that he would have gone back home to have a shower without picking me up first, but I didn’t give it too much thought because I was actually grateful that Jenna was able to help me so much.

Jett sat beside me, draped his arm over my shoulder, and pulled me close. He kissed the side of my head. “Miss me?”

“Actually, no.” His eyebrows shot up, and I chuckled. “Jenna’s been helping me study.”

“If I’d known you wanted a study partner, I could’ve helped.”

“Right,” I said with a laugh. Jett
so
didn’t come across as the academic type.

“Actually, he’s pretty smart,” Jenna said. “Of course, not as smart as I am.” She grinned.

“You wish.” Jett picked up a cushion and threw it at Jenna, who caught it with ease. “Come on. Let’s go,” Jett said to me.

I gathered my things and shoved them back in my bag. “Thanks again for helping me with this,” I said to Jenna.

“Don’t mention it.” She walked us to the front door. “Maybe next time we can do something a bit more fun.”

“Sure thing.”

Jenna pulled me into a hug. “Take care.”

She did the smelling thing again, but it didn’t bother me as much. Over the last two hours, I seemed to have gotten over the discomfort I had felt around her.

Friday had always been my favourite day of the week, but having it also be the last day of school topped every other Friday in my life. Thirteen years of what at most times felt like torture was going to be over in a few hours.

The principal stood on the stage at the front of the hall, giving us our last lecture on how our lives would change after we left the room that day. He told us when we could expect our year-twelve results and how proud he and the staff were of us and our accomplishments. I zoned out, thinking about how I couldn’t wait to see my friends from Sydney. Even though I would be celebrating Schoolies with Lilly, my real celebration wouldn’t be until my Sydney friends arrived next week.

Lilly leaned over and whispered, “How much longer do you think he’s going to go on?”

I shrugged. “Does he usually talk this much?”

“Yep. He loves the sound of his own voice.” She tapped my knee and pointed to my right.

The guy in the row in front of us had fallen asleep. His head was hanging forward, and saliva had started to pool at the edges of his lips.

“That’s so gross.”

“But funny.”

The guy started leaning farther and farther forward in his chair. Then he was startled awake just before he almost face-planted on the floor. Lilly and I both started snickering.

“Hey, what time do you want to check in to the hotel?” she asked, trying to stifle another giggle.

Schoolies didn’t officially start until Saturday, but everyone was checking in on Friday. School was over, and no one wanted to wait that extra day.

“Jett has a surprise for me after this, but I think we’ll be ready by about three. I’ve given the hotel your name, so you can check in earlier if you want.”

“Cool. The sooner I can get away from Mum, the better. I’ve so had enough of her slave driving.”

She wasn’t the only one who was glad to finally get a parent off her back. My father wasn’t there to make me study, but his threat of a babysitter was probably worse.

I smirked. “And order anything you want. It’s the least my father can do, considering he hasn’t even called me to congratulate me or anything.”

She raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything.

Forty minutes later, we were finally free.

“I am so not going to miss this place,” Lilly said, eyeing Tyler and his friends as they walked ahead of us and exited the hall.

I still didn’t know what had actually happened between Lilly and those guys, but I was hoping to get her to talk about it during Schoolies. Having a few drinks usually loosened up a girl, and maybe she would start talking. And never having to face them at school again might also be an incentive.

Stepping out into the bright sunlight was like being reborn. I was officially an adult—no more having to listen to my father and no more threats of a babysitter.

“Congratulations,” Jett said, wrapping his arms around my waist and lifting me into the air. He hugged me before putting me back down. He looked over at Lilly. “Congrats to you, too, Lilly.”

“Thanks,” she said, her cheeks turning rosy.

We stepped to the side to get out of the flood of students.

“Do you want a lift home?” I asked Lilly.

She looked at Jett. “Don’t you have something planned?”

“Oh, yeah. The surprise.” I leaned my back against Jett’s chest and looked up at him. “We can take her home first, right?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. There’s no room.”

I spun around. “What?”

He grinned. “You’ll see.”

“Sorry,” I told her.

Lilly had the same confused look on her face that I imagined was on mine. “That’s okay. I’ll catch the bus. I’ve done it a million times before. What’s one last time?”

“Those dicks aren’t on your bus, are they?” I didn’t want her having to deal with them on her own, especially confined to such a small area.

She shook her head. “No. Thank God.”

We walked toward the gate. The parking bay was to the left, and the bus stop was to the right. I stopped short when I saw that my car wasn’t parked in the loading zone or the disabled spot. Instead, Jett’s motorbike was standing in the loading zone. A helmet with a pink bow on top was perched on the seat.

I shook my head violently. “Oh, no, no, no.”

Jett nodded just as vigorously, grinning the whole time. “Yes, yes, yes.”

I had said before that I thought riding behind Jett would be sexy, but when it came to the crunch, all I could think about was my face splattered on the asphalt.

“Holy shit!” Lilly shrieked. “I can’t believe you bought Zara her own helmet.”

Jett deflated a little. “Somehow I don’t think she’s as excited as we are.”

My eyebrows shot up. “You think? You know those things are a death wish. One accident and they’re either scraping your body parts off the road, or you’re wishing they were because you’re in so much pain from all the skin grafts, amputations, and broken bones.”

“Wow,” Lilly said. “That’s pretty extreme, isn’t it?”

“Extreme, maybe. But I went to school with a guy who had a bike accident, and let’s just say it wasn’t pretty.”

“But I’m not that guy.” Jett put his hands on my shoulders. “And I’m not going to crash.”

“How do you know? Some idiot could crash into you, and that’s it for us.”

“Come for one ride with me, and if you don’t like it, I’ll never ask you again.”

I was about to say, “No way,” when he pushed out his bottom lip.

“Don’t be a chicken shit,” Lilly said.

I cringed. That was the same thing the girls had said on the bridge. If I hadn’t jumped then, I wouldn’t have been assaulted. And if that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have gotten to see my black-eyed boy, who I was sure was the guy wanting to take me for a ride on his bike.

I let out a dramatic sigh. “Okay. I’ll go for one ride.”

“Yay.” Lilly clapped.

Jett grabbed my hand and dragged me over to the bike. “You won’t regret this.”

He ripped the pink bow off the top of my new helmet and tossed it to Lilly. After putting the helmet on my head, he fastened it then gave it a knock on top. “You look so hot in that.” He kissed my nose.

“Come on and get on the bike,” Lilly said. “I want to see this before I miss my bus.”

Jett climbed on first. I sucked in a deep breath then swung my leg over, wrapped my arms around his waist, and held on for dear life.

“Easy.” He laughed.

“Sorry.”

He started the engine then waved at Lilly. “See you later.”

“See you.” She waved. “Have fun!”

I leaned my cheek against his back and closed my eyes. A second later, I felt the bike move. I opened my eyes, thinking it wasn’t that bad, then I realised we were just pulling onto the road. He twisted the throttle, and I let out a scream as we began to fly down the street. I thought I’d be terrified, but I wasn’t. There was something about zooming through the streets, the wind lashing against me, that made me feel free.