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Ainsley rolls her eyes. “Lay off, Kingston.”
“I’ll lay off when you stop being a stubborn—”
We’re interrupted when some guy joins us, obviously checking Ainsley out. “You made it!”
Every trace of irritation from fighting with her brother vanishes. “Donovan!” She nods to me. “This is my friend, Jazz. I hope it’s okay I brought her along.”
He flashes a toothy smile. “Of course it’s okay. Beautiful women are always welcome in my house.” Donovan nods to Kingston. “You come with your sister, too?”
Kingston shakes his head. “Nah, Reed and Bent are around here somewhere.”
Donovan swings his heavy arms over both mine and Ainsley’s shoulders. “Well, then you won’t mind if I steal these beauties, will ya?”
Kingston’s jaw tics. “Knock yourself out, man.”
Donovan leads us toward the wall of sliding glass doors. “Let’s head out back. It’s much more chill out there.”
“Sounds good to me.” Ainsley giggles.
I slip out of his hold—which he doesn’t even seem to notice—and follow them outside. We make our way to a large firepit surrounded by long, wooden benches. Donovan pulls Ainsley onto his lap, burying his nose in her neck. I smile when I see how positively gleeful my friend is right now. This guy is definitely into her, and he’s making a pretty public statement about it.
A different guy takes a seat on my left. “You’re new around here. I would’ve remembered seeing someone as beautiful as you.”
I take a sip of my drink before replying. This guy’s good looking, in a preppy kind of way. Tall, brown hair, green eyes, nice smile.
“I am. You a friend of Donovan’s?”
“I am.” His smile widens, which makes two dimples pop, adding to his all-American boy appeal. “I’m Lawson. And you are...?”
I grin. “Jazz.”
Lawson takes my hand and places a kiss on top. “It’s very nice to meet you, Jazz. So, where are you from?”
“LA. Watts area, to be more specific.”
Lawson lifts his eyebrows in surprise. “Quite the upgrade.”
“Depends who you ask, I suppose.” I shrug. Thinking about home makes me think about my mom, so I quickly change the subject. “Do you go to UCLA?”
He nods. “I do—freshman year. What about you?”
“Uh... I’m at Windsor Academy right now. Senior year.”
“I know Windsor well. Graduated last year.” He scoots a little closer. “How do you like it so far?”
“The school seems all right. Most of the student body, not so much.”
Lawson laughs. “That good, huh? I can’t imagine a pretty girl like you has any trouble fitting in.”
“Well, then you’d be surprised.”
Lawson and I make small talk for a while before he jerks his head to the right. “You interested in taking a dip in the hot tub?”
On the other end of the deck, there’s a huge hot tub sitting under a pergola lined with mini Edison bulbs. There’s only one couple in it, but they’re going at it pretty hot and heavy.
I point to them. “I don’t know if they’d enjoy the company.”
He follows my gaze and laughs. “I’m pretty sure they won’t even notice we’re there.”
