I stare at him for a moment, dumbfounded. I don’t know why the thought of this happening never crossed my mind. “So, we’ll be instantly homeless?”
“I’m sure they’d give us some time to get out, but I’m trying to prepare before it becomes a problem.” Kingston shifts our bodies so he’s now hovering over me. “I have a realtor keeping an eye out for new listings. Think about it. We can get a place by the beach if you want. Belle can have her own room and decorate it how she sees fit. Ainsley, too, if she doesn’t wind up shacking up with Reed or going away to school. We’re together practically all the time anyway. What’s the big deal?”
“The big deal is that moving in together is quite the commitment.”
“And?” Kingston’s eyebrows rise. “Are you trying to tell me you’re not sticking around?”
“We’re eighteen , Kingston.”
He leans down and sucks on the skin where my neck meets my shoulder. “You and I both know we’ve been forced to grow up early. Age is just a number.”
I gasp when his lips seal around my nipple. “I don’t know... it’s a lot to think about.”
Kingston’s tongue dips inside my belly button before peppering kisses down to the apex of my thighs. “What I heard is I need to work a lot harder to convince you.”
I squeal as he gives me one long lick from bottom to top. “Oh, yeah? How do you plan on doing that?”
“I’d say this is a pretty damn good start, wouldn’t you?” He circles my clit with his tongue before sucking on my heated flesh.
My back bows. “It’s a great start.”
Chapter 21
JAZZ
“So... what did Reed think about his Christmas present?”
Ainsley’s cheeks turn bright red. “He was a big fan. Big , big, fan.”
I laugh. “And you?”
“You could say I’m definitely sold on the idea.” Ainsley smiles coyly before throwing her hands up. “Ugh! I don’t understand why Blair can so easily forgive Nate, but not Serena. I don’t get girls who think the hero can do no wrong.”
I look at the screen and see the headband-wearing brunette bitching about something. Again. We’re two episodes in, and I gotta say, I’m not too impressed so far. It’s basically like the Upper East Side version of Windsor.
“Yeah, me neither.”
“Did you get that locket for Christmas? I don’t think I’ve seen you wear it before.”
I finger the delicate silver chain around my neck. “Yeah, Kingston got it for me.”
Ainsley lifts the charm from its resting spot over my clavicle. “It’s pretty.”
“I agree.”
I leave out the part that it has a built-in GPS tracker, so I never need to worry about being separated from my phone again.
“When do your driving lessons start?”
“Right after New Year’s.”
“Are you nervous?”
I nod. “More excited than nervous. I’ve driven before—Shawn used to let me practice with his car late at night in a Walmart parking lot. I feel comfortable with the controls and stuff. Just not the whole getting-on-the-road-with-other-cars-and-avoiding-hazards part.”
Ainsley laughs. “Well, that is kind of the most important part.”
“Hence, the driving lessons,” I deadpan.
She grabs the remote and pauses the show when the guys return from playing ball. Kingston sets the basketball down by the door and goes straight for the fridge, grabbing three bottles of Powerade.
“Did you guys have fun?” Ainsley asks.
Kingston chugs half the bottle in one go. “We always do.”
“Ooh, Gossip Girl !” Bentley plops in between Ainsley and me on the couch. “Hit play, Ains.”
Reed and Kingston roll their eyes while my mouth drops open in shock. “You like this show?”
“Uh, yeah! What’s not to like? There’s a bunch of hot chicks in it. And everybody’s always banging someone they’re not supposed to be banging. Who doesn’t appreciate some juicy drama?” Bentley looks at me like I’m an idiot.
I raise my hand. “Me. I could live without it for the rest of my life.”
“Bor-ing,” Bentley singsongs. “At least in fiction. Although, one should never underestimate the power of a good hate fuck. Man, those are the best.”
Kingston’s emerald eyes light up with amusement. I believe you’re familiar with the concept , they say.
Quite familiar , my eyes retort.
Ainsley leans over and sniffs the sweaty boy beside her. “Bent, you stink. Go take a shower.”
Bentley sticks his nose in one of his armpits. “Eh, it’s been worse.”
I make a face. “You all reek. It smells like a boys’ locker room in here.”
Kingston’s eyes narrow. “How would you know what a boys’ locker room smells like?”
I stick my tongue out. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Considering it definitely wasn’t with me... no. No, I would not like to know.”
The other three laugh while I shake my head.
“I’m taking my bathroom.” Kingston points to Reed and Bentley. “You assholes can take one in the main house.”
“Fine,” Bentley grumbles, grabbing the sports bag he brought with him. “You’re lucky I had the foresight to bring a change of clothes. Although, I’ve never had any complaints about walking around in the buff.” He winks.
Kingston peels off his sweaty shirt and throws it at Bentley’s head. “Get out of here and go clean up, dick. The sooner you do that, the sooner we can all eat.”
I absolutely do not check out Kingston’s ripped abs or imagine tracing each ridge with my tongue.
Kingston points to the corner of his mouth as he’s walking to the bedroom. “Baby, you have a little drool right here.”
I flip him off. “Bite me.”
He chomps his teeth. “Anytime, anyplace, sweetheart.”
Ainsley hops off the couch. “I’m going to go change real quick too.”
Reed chuckles as he notices the giant stain on her shirt. “What’d you do?”
Ainsley scrunches her button nose. “Jazz made me laugh while I was taking a sip of my soda. Pepsi came out of my nose and dribbled all over my shirt.”
Now, he’s full-on laughing. “Sexy . I’m sorry I missed that.”
“Oh, shut up .” She follows Bentley out the door but pauses at the threshold when she notices Reed isn’t right behind her. “You coming?”
“Gimme a sec.” Reed and Ainsley share a loaded look.
She nods, seemingly picking up on whatever he was silently throwing down. “Just come up to my room when you’re done.”
I look at Reed questionably once we’re alone. “What’s up?”
He takes a seat on the couch next to me, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. “Ainsley told me that she told you about my... uh... preferences .”
“Oh. Um... okay. And?”
“I wanted to say thanks for your discretion. And for encouraging her to talk to me. I feel much better about the whole thing.”
I wave my hand dismissively. “It’s no big deal, Reed. Really . You make her so happy, and that’s all I care about. I’m just glad you believe that now.”
He clears his throat. “There’s one more thing.”
I raise my brows. “Yeah?”
“I... uh... wanted to apologize for the whole video thing. That night in Donovan’s pool house. I didn’t record it because I was being a perv, or I wanted to leak it. I did it for Kingston.”
I frown. “Why? So he could leak it?”
Reed shakes his head. “No. So he could see what we all saw from the start. That you’re different. That he’s different when he’s with you. But Kingston was on a mission to push you away as fast and as hard as humanly possible because you complicated things. I wanted him to have a reason not to do that. By seeing for himself how he looked at you, how you’re both so freakishly in sync with one another, even when you thought you hated each other. I didn’t want him to miss out on what could’ve possibly been the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”