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I let my hand drop from my face and look around the room to see what caused it.
Jade stands in the doorway, her gaze volleying between us as we all look back at her.
I’m not sure who gasped, and for a moment, I’m confused as to why. We were here waiting for Jade, so it shouldn’t have been that surprising that she's here now. Though the fact that I didn’t hear her approach either means I was deeper in thought than I realized or she’s good at moving in silence, I’d be willing to bet it’s the latter of the two.
When her gaze connects with mine, I’m less confused as I really take her in. The change to her hair was dramatic this morning when we saw her in the gym. Zander said he already saw it the night she returned from her day with my mother. He was all for it when I mentioned it this morning. He said it fit her better than the blonde, and I can’t say I disagree; even Spencer didn’t argue.
Her hair isn’t the only new thing about her anymore, though. She seems to have found her style as well. She’s wearing all-black, black mini-jean shorts with a simple black tank top that just shows off a hint of her toned stomach. She seems to have found a love for combat boots as well, and while she bought a pair while we were out shopping, she seems to have acquired another while out with my mother. Although, now that I think about it, I don’t think she got any of this while we were out with her. I would have remembered seeing her in this prior. This pair comes up to just below her knees and gives her a hard edge that I didn’t think was possible for a girl her size.
Her hair is down and curled slightly at the ends, pushing the outfit from casual to badass with the green that runs through the strands. Other than her hair, the only color to her outfit is a deep burgundy sweater that's tied around her waist.
She stands before us, looking every bit as confident as a woman who could kill you in more ways than you could count.
I’ve been around plenty of women in my life who fake being at the top of the food chain, who wear a mask of confidence in hopes that they appear as more than they are. Hell, most women who come to us are the fakest of the bunch. They want what our names and hard work can offer, our money, our protection, our power. Even though they all swear that’s not the case, we know it is. Nobody wanted us before we made a name for ourselves, so we don’t let them get close now. None of us are against a relationship exactly, but who wants someone who only wants what you can offer them and not you? No, girls like that are trouble waiting to happen, and we don’t have time for that kind of shit.
Jade is what those girls wish they could be. She looks like she’s ready to chew men up and spit them out, and the thought makes me both happy to know she can hold her own and anxious about the attention she’s about to get. There’s no way people won’t notice her. She might be small, but she won’t be overlooked like I was hoping she might have been before this very moment.
She clears her throat. “Are we going to the party, or did you guys just want to sit around the kitchen all night?” She says, and I can hear a hint of humor in her voice as her eyes spark with mirth.
Damn it.
“Let’s go.” I announce to everyone my voice doesn’t come out nearly as strong as I was hoping it would, but I turn and head out the door to the garage before anyone can comment on it.
We take my SUV because it’s safest, but also because I need to drive to keep myself focused. Nobody comments, but I’m sure the guys know.
Spencer slides in the passenger seat, and I feel torn between being grateful that she won’t be next to me the whole drive and annoyed that he didn’t at least offer her the seat. He rolls his eyes when he catches me looking over at him as if he can read my mind. I don’t say anything as I watch Zander offer Jade his hand to help boost her up into the back, where he slides in to sit next to her. Her cheeks have a slight pink to them, and she smiles back at Zander, they look like two love-struck teenagers.
I focus on driving and not them because, thankfully, I can’t do both.
The drive to the party was quiet. Neither Rick nor Spencer said a word once we were in the car, but I didn’t really care. Jade loved the boots I had picked up for her yesterday when I was out. I saw them and just knew she needed them. When I asked her how she liked them, her cheeks became a beautiful shade of pink, and I knew it wouldn’t be the last thing I got her, not if this was her reaction. I would buy her every damn thing in the world just to see her cheeks fill with color and that shy smile that made her eyes sparkle.
Yeah, I’m fucked.
She also loved the twin knife set that I left in her room for her with the boots. She gave me a sly grin and put a finger to her lip as she pulled one from each boot with a wink when I asked her about them.
It shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, but this girl could make anything look appealing, and blades were a major weakness of mine even before her.
Sadly the party isn’t far from the house, seeing as it is one of Trent’s stuck-up friends, and they all have money; we all grew up in the same area. So while campus might be a little over an hour away, this party is local. Once classes resume, the parties will be on campus or places closer to that, but for now, I just enjoy the short ride with her.
I’m beyond excited to see how Jade will be in the party scene.
* * *
By the timewe pull up, cars are all over the place, in the driveway, across the lawn, and down the street. Thankfully the house they chose wasn’t in a closely packed neighborhood, so really, you could park anywhere, and there was no need to worry about the cops. Not that that’s a concern for us anyways. Knowing they wouldn’t put a damper on the night is always a bonus. But still, they could be annoying.
When we pulled up to Jake's house, Jade's eyes widened as she took in the property in front of us. His house wasn’t anything special in my opinion. Rick’s parent’s house was easily three times the size, just like my parent's and Spencer's, but she still looked at it with a sense of wonder I couldn’t really understand.
I tried to look at it with the thought that she had lived most of her life on a shitty single bed on floors in old abandoned buildings, and while that helped me understand the appeal, the house still didn’t make me feel any kind of wonder.
Jade is like a breath of fresh air. So many people that we deal with came from money or wanted our money. Jade wants none of that and looks at everything like it is amazing, not like she was entitled to it.
After parking right up by the porch, the guys got out without a word, while everything else was damn near bumper to bumper. Everyone knows you left a spot for us even if we didn’t show. It was open as a sign of respect. Respect that we demanded, and nobody wanted to see what happened when we were not respected.
I hop out of the back and reach my hand back to help Jade get down as well. I don’t think she needs the help, but she takes my hand and lets me help her anyways, so I’m going to count it as a win.
We round the front of the car to join up with Spencer and Rick, and we always walk in together as a show of force or something. I really wasn’t sure why, but it always felt good to have every head turn toward us as we did, so I never really questioned it. Now I found I was a bit concerned with how Jade would handle the attention. Only one way to find out I guess.
“Make sure you stay with one of us, Jade.” Rick shouts over his shoulder as we head up the porch and the sound of bumping bass threatens to drown him out. Spencer looks back at her, looking her over from head to toe before he seems to realize what he was doing, and gives her a sneer as if it was somehow her fault he was checking her out. I roll my eyes at his bullshit, but he doesn’t see it before he’s turned back around and disappears through the door after Rick.
