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Jax scowls at him. “I don’t like to pretend. No one’s ever given anyone the official title of a mobster. Therefore, I prefer to see it in a different light.”
“Yeah, the delusional one,” Zay mumbles with an eye roll.
Jax shakes his head in annoyance then sets the plate of mac and cheese onto the table before sinking down onto the sofa beside me so that I’m not wedged between him and Hunter. I try to slide over to make more room for Jax, but Hunter is way too in La La Land to acknowledge what I’m trying to do, so instead, I just end up with my leg pressed against his along with my arm. I lean to the other side to give him some space, but that just makes it so I’m pressed up against Jax. I expect Jax to scoot over the other way, since there’s room on that side, but he just reclines back in the sofa, keeping his leg resting against mine, along with his hip and shoulder—basically the entire left side of him. The scent of him floods my nostrils again, and I discreetly breathe it in. There’s something about the way he smells that’s familiar. I’m not sure why, but whatever it reminds me of, it makes me feel warm inside.
My thoughts fleetingly drift back to that memory of the butterfly …
“Well, whatever we want to call them,” Zay says, drawing me back to reality. “Someone needs to explain it to her.”
He looks at Hunter, who simply lowers his gaze back to the screen of the iPad. “I’m not doing it, so don’t look at me.”
“I’ll do it,” Jax offers then stuffs the last of his sandwich into his mouth.
Zay promptly shakes his head. “No way. You’ll just mentally thesaurus all the scary words and use less scary ones.”
Jax massages his temples with his fingertips. “You’re giving me a headache.”
Zay ignores him, focusing on me. “There are five families in this town who basically control everything. Us three are part of the Capperellie clan, which is probably the most powerful family in town. Although, other families will tell you otherwise.”
Capperellie is Jax’s last name, but not Hunter’s. And I don’t know Zay’s last name. Katy had mentioned they were cousins, though.
“But how is Hunter part of this family if his last name is Hathingford?” I wonder. “And I don’t know your last name, but I’m guessing it’s Capperellie since you and Jax are cousins.”
Zay’s brow meticulously arches. “How do you know we’re cousins?”
I shrug, a move that’s awkward with how close Jax is sitting to me. “Katy told me.”
“Right. Hunter’s little fuck buddy.” He tosses Hunter a look.
Hunter squirms. “She’s not my fuck buddy. I just hooked up with her once.”
“Whatever,” Zay says. “My point is this is why you need to keep your dick in your pants. You get these groupies who like to run their mouths after you screw them over. And now we’re going to have to add the jealousy factor into it, which is going to cause a lot more drama.”
Hunter’s gaze flicks up to Zay. “Jealousy factor?”
Zay glances from him to me.
It takes a second for it to click.
“Raven and I are just friends,” Hunter stresses while scratching his wrist.
“So? She’s a girl in our group, which means she’ll be spending time with you, and all of those groupies, like Katy, are going to get jealous and do who knows what.” Zay’s hard expression sears into Hunter.
Hunter is way past annoyed, but also twitchy. I feel sorry for him, watching him get scolded by his friend.
Is this what all friendships are like?
“If you want, I can kick her ass for you,” I offer. “That might keep her mouth shut.”
Zay’s gaze skates to me, shock briefly flickering in his eyes.
“Yeah, I think she’s going to fit in just fine with our group,” Jax mumbles, thrumming his fingers against the top of his knee.
Zay slants forward, resting his arms on his knees. “You seem perfectly okay with getting in a fight?”
“Does that really surprise you, considering the first time we met?” I quip then stuff another bite of sandwich into my mouth.
He observes me closely. “I guess not. It’s probably a good thing, too, that you’re a fighter, because this hellhole you now call home is going to test your fighting skills.”
