Paradox (Unearthly Paradox) (11 page)

Breaking away from Jett’s hold, I told him, “Just give me a sec,” and stepped toward Lilly.

He nodded. “Sure.” He walked to a nearby seat and sat down.

Lilly turned her back to him and asked, “So I’m guessing he’s the reason why you were so busy ‘studying’?” She even did air quotes. “What were you studying? His arms? His abs? His…?” She wiggled her eyebrows.

“Oh my God! That was so not what we were doing. I barely know him.” But he knew me—much more than I wanted him to at that point.

She looked over my shoulder. “Well, you may not get a chance with all those hussies hanging around.”

I followed her gaze, and all my anger toward Jett for lying to me was forgotten when I saw three girls sitting beside him. One girl ran a hand up his bicep, and I wanted to go over there and rip her arm off her body.
How dare she touch him?
She wasn’t his, and she never would be.
Whoa!
What the hell was I thinking? He wasn’t mine to be jealous over. But still… seeing that girl lay her grimy hand on him made my blood boil. And I was so not the jealous type.

He looked up at me, his eyes wide open as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t. He said something, and the three girls scattered, their faces expressionless.

Jett stood and walked over to us. “I wasn’t…” He looked at Lilly.

Before she could take a step, I linked my arm with hers. “Hey, Lilly, do you want to come back to mine for a bit?”

She stared quizzically between Jett and me. “Um…”

I smiled. “Good. You can tell your mum we’re studying.”

Lilly looked apologetically at Jett. “Ahh… okay.”

Though clearly pissed, Jett wrapped his arm around my waist. “Come on then.”

“Oh, hang on,” Lilly said. “I need to get something from the office. I’ll meet you at your car. Where did you park?”

“Right up front,” Jett said.

“As in the disabled parking bay,” I clarified.

Jett shrugged casually. “It was the only one left.”

“Okay.” Lilly stepped back. “I’ll meet you there in five.” She turned around and rushed off in the opposite direction.

Once she was out of earshot, Jett said, “It wasn’t what it looked like.”

“Oh, no?” I raised an eyebrow.

“No. I was just—”

I cut him off. “Look, it doesn’t matter. What you do with your love life is none of my business.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything else, which only pissed me off more. I wanted him to try to explain, but more importantly, I wanted to know why I felt so betrayed. I wasn’t sure that anything that came out of his mouth would answer that insane question. So I just let him take me out to the car without further discussion.

As he opened the passenger door, I said, “You know what? You’re so busy telling me, ‘It’s not what it looks like,’ and that I shouldn’t believe everything I hear about you, but you haven’t told me a damned thing about yourself. Why don’t you enlighten me? Tell me why you have girls hanging off you, and you have a reputation for being a player on a monumental scale? And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me about your family? What does your dad do, and what the hell is up with your brother?”

“Get in.” His tone said it was an order.

That made me even angrier. I crossed my arms over my chest. “Don’t tell me what to do.”

His eyes flicked to the side, and I followed his gaze. We had an audience of about fifteen students.

“Fine,” I conceded. With as little help from him as possible, I climbed into the car. As soon as he got behind the wheel, I lifted my knee onto the seat so I could turn my body without hurting my chest. “Well?”

“First, don’t judge me by what my family does. You of all people should know that the DNA you share with your family doesn’t mean that you’re like them.”

“What the hell do you know about my family?”

“I know that your father only cares about himself.”

“How do you know? You haven’t even met him.” I didn’t know why I was trying to defend my father, when he really was a shallow, self-absorbed bastard. I was nothing like him, and I always hated it when someone assumed I was.

“I don’t need to have met him to know that he doesn’t give a shit about you. You were shot, for Christ’s sake, and you didn’t even tell him. And you’ve got me taking you to school just so he doesn’t find out.”

“Taking me to school? Well, you’re relieved of your duties whenever you want.”

He sighed. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m here because I want to be.”

He put his hand on my knee but withdrew it immediately when I stiffened. I wasn’t sure why I reacted that way because that was exactly what I’d wanted him to do. I wanted his hand on my knee. Hell, I wanted it many more places than just on my knee.

A knock on my window startled me. Lilly was bent over, waving at me through the glass.

I motioned for her to get in the backseat then told Jett, “This conversation isn’t over.”

He nodded then started the car. The drive home was awkward at best. Lilly did her best to ease the tension, and I was guessing she thought we’d had an argument about those girls and the fact that he hadn’t stopped them from touching him. Under the normal dating rules, that would have been something to fight about.

When we pulled into the garage, I opened my door without waiting for Jett to get out and come around. I thought I was well enough to get out on my own, but I got about a quarter of the way up and was about to fall back in when Jett put his hand on my ass and pushed me the rest of the way.

Lilly got out, completely unaware of the trouble I was having. “So what do you want to do?” she asked. “I can’t stay long because my mum doesn’t trust me enough to think we’re really studying.”

“That’s okay. We can just hang out ’til you need to leave.” The funny thing was that I had initially invited her over as a distraction so I didn’t have to talk to Jett, but I was wishing I hadn’t because talking to Jett was exactly what I wanted to do.

Jett came around the car and put his arm around me. He helped me inside and to the sofa. As we sat down together, he provided a lot of support, but to Lilly, it probably looked like he was being the attentive boyfriend. Lilly sat on my other side.

Jett popped back up and walked toward the kitchen. “What do you girls want to eat or drink?”

“Would a coffee be too much?” Lilly asked with a hopeful expression.

“Not at all.”

She smiled. “Good. I’ll have a latte with two sugars.”

“Don’t forget the Tim Tams,” I said with a grin.

She looked sheepish, and I was guessing that she might not want to display her weird habit of sucking coffee through the Tim Tam in front of Jett.

Jett looked at me. “You want one, too?”

“Yes, thanks. I’ll have the same—minus the Tim Tam.”

When Jett left the room, Lilly whispered, “When the hell did you two happen?”

“Umm…”
Think, girl, think.
“Over the weekend. I needed help with something, and he was only too keen to assist.”

“Wow! A whole weekend? That’s got to be a first for him.”

Her words felt like a punch to my gut. Even though we weren’t really dating, I wished we were. And if what she and Jett’s brother said was true, then I didn’t stand a hope in hell. I put on a fake smile and shrugged. “Lucky me.”

Lilly’s eyes gleamed with excitement. “You should have heard what everyone was saying about you two.”

“What?”

“Let’s just say you have pissed off at least half the girls in school.”

“Only half?” I asked dryly.

She smiled. “Well, the rest were still in class, so I can’t report on them.”

I closed my eyes as I slowly released my breath. I hated to think of what would be said when news broke that we had broken up, because that was inevitable.

She sat back with a devious grin. “I bet they were hoping to get it on with him at Schoolies.” She laughed.

“Oh, crap.” I had completely forgotten about Schoolies. That was less than a week away, and I didn’t know how I was going to hide my injury when we were expected to go out partying while wearing not much more than our bikinis.

The smile dropped from her face. “Don’t tell me something happened to our accommodation?”

I shook my head. “Our accommodation’s fine.”

“Then what is it?”

I bit my bottom lip. “Nothing. I just can’t believe we’ve almost finished school.”

Jett returned carrying a tray with three mugs and a packet of Tim Tams. He placed the tray on the coffee table and handed us our coffees. Lilly reached for a Tim Tam.

“Be warned,” I said. “What she’s going to do with those things is pretty disgusting.”

“Let me guess.” He grabbed a Tim Tam, bit off the end, then turned it around and bit off the other end.

I scrunched up my face. “Not you, too.”

Lilly laughed as she dunked her biscuit into her coffee then sucked on it. To my horror, Jett did the same. His hotness immediately dropped a couple of pegs.

I shuddered. “That is so gross.”

Jett raised his head and right away gained more pegs than he previously had when I saw his chocolate-covered lips. “Aw, hell.”

He smiled and licked his lips seductively. I knew he was mocking me, but that didn’t make it any less appealing, and I had to remind myself that I was still mad at him.

“So, Jett,” Lilly said, “are you planning on staying with us at Schoolies?”

I almost spat out my coffee and had to really concentrate on swallowing it before I lost control.

“Maybe.” Jett glanced at me. “We haven’t really talked about it yet.”

“What test do you have tomorrow?” I asked Lilly, trying to change the subject.

She drew her eyebrows together. “Um, English and chemistry.”

“Geez. Tough day for you,” I said. “I’m surprised your mum hasn’t locked you in your room.”

“Yeah…” Lilly put her mug on the coffee table then opened her bag and pulled out her phone. “Oh, shit. Mum’s been calling and texting, telling me to get my ass home.”

“I thought you said she was okay with you coming here for a bit?”

“She must’ve changed her mind.” Looking nervous, she thumbed the strap of her bag. “Don’t suppose you could drive me home again?”

“Sure.” Jett downed the rest of his coffee then took a bite of his mushed-up biscuit.

“Thanks,” Lilly said.

“Come on.” He held out his hand to me. When I didn’t take it he said, “I’m not leaving you here alone.”

Knowing it was beyond pointless to argue, I let him help me up. With his arm around my waist, we followed Lilly into the garage. The whole way to Lilly’s house, she rattled on about how she couldn’t wait to finish school and finally get to lead her own life without her mother telling her every five seconds what she should be doing.

As soon as we dropped her off, I started on Jett. “So now’s your chance to explain.”

He shifted in his seat as he made a right-hand turn then stopped at a red light. “Explain what?”

I scoffed. “You know what.”

Jett sighed then turned to me with a grin plastered on his face. “I told you there’s nothing going on with that girl. You’re really don’t need to worry about me
cheating
on you.”

I gaped at him. “You’re seriously trying to get out of it by making me embarrassed that I was jealous when I saw another girl all over you?” Whoops. I didn’t mean to say the J-word.

“Ahh, so you do think I’m hot.” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Blind Freddie can see you’re hot. But that’s not what this is about.” Actually, it was, but I didn’t want him knowing that. “Tell me about your family. Tell me why you have your reputation, and tell me why the hell you’re playing nurse to me instead of having a real nurse look after me.”

The light turned green, and he turned onto Gold Coast Highway. “My father owns a few clubs.”

“And what about your brother?”

“He works for my dad.”

“And your mum?”

“It’s a family business.”

“And what about you?”

“It’s a family business,” he repeated.

I wondered if that was a euphemism for the mob. “Is that all you’re going to tell me?”

He clenched his jaw. “There’s not much else to tell.”

“The girls?”

“It comes with our line of business.”

“What? They all throw themselves at you because your family owns a few clubs?” I asked then realised there were many different types of clubs. “When you say clubs, are we talking night clubs, strip clubs or… brothels?”

He laughed. “Such disdain.”

I just about died. There I was worrying about stupid teenage girls when he probably had his choice of grown women. “They’re brothels, aren’t they?”

“No,” he said, still chuckling. “But thanks for the idea. It might be something we should look into—I hear the money’s great.”

My mouth dropped open, and I sat there looking at him like an über-jealous idiot. Oh, and a prude as well.

Jett pulled into my garage, a grin still playing on his lips. I was far from amused. All I wanted to do was go inside, lock the door, and refuse him entry to my house.

Before I got out, I remembered that he needed to explain something. “You haven’t told me why you’re the one who changed my clothes.”

That wiped the smile off his face. He wouldn’t even look at me.

“What? Has the cat got your tongue?”

“It’s not—”

“What it seems? Yeah, nothing seems to be what it seems with you.”

His grip tightened around the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened. I thought he was going to break the thing in half. I was sure his eyes had turned black, but he faced away from me before I could be sure. He loosened his vise-like grip on the wheel, got out of the car, and slammed the door.

I could feel anger radiating from him, but I didn’t understand why. I had a right to know why he had taken off my clothes. If he wasn’t going to tell me, then I was going to find some way to get the truth. I opened the door and got out, only half noticing that the pain was really minor.

Jett was standing in my front yard, his hands resting on the balustrade fence. He heard me shut the car door and spun around. He rushed to my side and, without saying anything, put his arm around me.