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How in the crap can three teenage guys affordthis?
“I honestly don’t even remember what I made,” Hunter says as he heads down a hallway just to the left of the stairway. “I think it was a bunch of jewelry that I technically wasn’t supposed to be making, but I was bored and Mr. Johnson liked me, so he didn’t give a shit.”
Jax starts after Hunter, and I just sort of lollygag in the foyer, wondering if I’m supposed to follow them. As stupid as this might make me sound, I have no idea how to act in this type of situation.
When Jax notices me just standing there, he gestures for me to follow him.
A bit of relief trickles through me as I hurry after him. He waits for me to catch up, and then we walk down the hallway and step into a kitchen that has a dining room adjacent to it. Zay is rummaging around in the fridge.
Hunter sets the box down on the granite countertop then rubs his hands together. “Let’s open it up and see what my ever-so-awesome mind created a year ago.” He lifts the lid and peers inside. “Huh? It’s a little anti-climactic.”
Jax walks by him and opens a set of doors that leads to a pantry. “What’s in it?”
He gives a shrug. “Jewelry, like I said.” He takes something out and examines it. “I guess this one isn’t too bad.”
I make my way across the kitchen to him to get a better look at what he’s holding. My eyes nearly widen at the sight of a silver ring, the band engraved with roses that wrap around a black stone that has several tiny iridescent stones trimming it. “You made that?”
He presses back an amused smile. “What? Are you impressed or something?”
“Um, yeah. And I’m not ashamed to admit it.” I look back at the ring. “It’s pretty.”
He considers something then reaches out and takes my hand. “Then it’s yours.” He slips it on my finger.
“Really?” I ask, staring down at the ring and watching it sparkle.
He nods then puts the lid back on the box. “One day, I’ll make you a better one.”
I don’t really see how that’s possible since this ring is gorgeous, but I get snagged on something else he said. One day, as in the future, like we’re still going to be friends in the future.
Zay is still standing in front of the open fridge but glances over at us. He looks at Hunter then briefly glances at me, his expression unreadable. Then he looks away and grabs some stuff out of the fridge.
“I’m making grilled ham and cheese, and then we’ll head over,” he announces. “Hunter, go get the cameras together. Jax and Raven, help me make this shit.” He pushes the door closed with his foot, cheese, meat, and butter in his hands. He cocks a brow at me. “Unless you can’t cook.”
“I can’t cook fancy stuff.” I round the counter toward him. “But grilled cheese is my specialty.”
He doesn’t appear too impressed, but I don’t think Zay is the type of guy to get impressed very easily. He sets the food down on the counter then bends down to take a pan out of the cupboard. Hunter walks off down the hallway, and Jax exits the pantry with bread. He places that down on the counter then rolls up his sleeves and walks around me, offering me a small smile as he passes. Then he crosses the kitchen into the dining room and opens up the doors to an armoire. Inside is a stereo system, and he pushes a couple of buttons then returns back over to us, digging out his phone from his pocket.
He swipes his finger across the screen then hands his phone to me. “You wanna pick the music?”
“Sure.” I take the phone from him and start scrolling through his playlist, kind of excited to do so.
I honestly believe that you can learn a lot about a person from looking at their playlists. But when I see that Jax listens to a lot of the same music I do, I’m unsure what to make of it. Music is my security; it blocks out the noise and ugliness of the world and helps with my anxiety. I pick songs that speak to my soul, that sing about the dark stuff I can relate to. Is it the same for Jax? I don’t know because I don’t know much about him, but I find myself wanting to.
After scrolling through a handful of songs, I finally pick one. When I tap on it, music fills the room. I glance around and notice speakers are mounted on the walls.
Jax and Zay have already started on the grilled ham and cheese. Jax is spreading butter onto the bread, and Zay is tossing the bread onto the pan and adding slices of ham and cheese to it. As I head over to help, I notice how they seem to move in unison—all three of them do really. It’s like they know what to do to get things done quickly, and it’s just something they know, like they’ve done this hundreds of times before. They said they’ve been friends forever, but how much time have they spent together? A lot, I’m guessing.
As I step up behind them, Jax turns around to face me. “Nice song choice.” He smiles then hands me the butter knife. “Here. Take my place. I’m going to heat up some mac and cheese to go with this.”
I roll up my sleeves since I’m wearing Jax’s hoodie still and the sleeves are long. Then I take the knife from him, step up beside Zay, and start buttering slices of bread while Jax digs out a box of frozen mac and cheese from the freezer.
For a few minutes, no one talks, and I’m okay with that. Music is playing in the background, and it’s a good song, one I know the lyrics to. I quietly mouth them to myself. Normally, if I were alone, I’d belt them out, but like hell am I going to do that here.
“You’re not buttering it all the way to the corners,” Zay suddenly says in that bossy tone he uses a lot, I’m noticing.
“I’m doing it on purpose,” I inform him. “It tastes better this way. The bread’s less greasy.”
He angles his head toward me. “Grilled cheese is supposed to be greasy.”
