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A beat of silence follows, and he fills it by walking away again. “I haven’t put the chairs up yet. Be right back.”
Maxie—which I’ve just found out is a nickname—follows him out of the room. Finn comes back with two folding chairs, and I reach out to help, but he pulls them out of reach. First, he sets one up for me and gestures toward it. I clear my throat and sit. “No Jax this morning?”
“He should be coming,” Finn says. “He has a meticulous morning routine.” A hint of amusement colors his voice, and it makes me want to look up at him. I cave. Clearly, I have no willpower. He’s smirking as he sits in the chair opposite mine. When he sees me peering at him, he locks gazes, his attention never wavering until footsteps hit the stairs and get louder until they’re coming right toward us.
Jax stops in front of the table. I fiddle with my silverware as I wait for him to sit. “What’s this?” he asks.
“I made breakfast.”
“Since when?”
“Since a half an hour ago,” Finn grunts. “Do you want any or not?”
Jax sits down in a huff, and I avoid eye contact with both of them. It’s weird because I’m usually the outgoing one but I’m not in the mood to deal with them today. Jax is cranky at best, a dick at worst. And Finn placed me firmly in the friendzone last night—kind of sort of. It was still a rejection. So, I’m just going to keep my head down and do what they say until my brother gets back.
Finn serves me first, then himself. He digs into his food without serving his brother, which brings a smirk to my lips. I don’t let it linger though. I smother my pancakes in butter and start to eat. An awkward silence follows. The two brothers don’t even talk to each other, so I keep myself entertained by imagining how I’m going to explain this breakfast to Jaz the next chance I get. I’m also superbly jealous of all the amazing sex she’s probably having. She doesn’t have to worry about me being around. Her and Jared are most likely doing it all over the damn apartment.Ugh. Why is she always the lucky one?
“Have you talked to Cole?” Finn asks.
I glance up to make sure he’s talking to me. When his blue eyes are waiting for me to answer, I say, “Just last night when I told him we’d arrived here and that your house wasn’t a dump.”
Jax rolls his eyes. “Not everyone can live in a penthouse.”
“Obviously,” I say, thinking of my own normal-sized, adequate apartment. “Not everyone lives in a house either.”
He eats his pancakes without acknowledging me. Finn keeps trying though. “We should probably talk about what we’re going to do tomorrow. I imagine you have to work at the bank, Leenie?”
I open my mouth to answer but Jax cuts me off. “Actually, I forgot to tell you last night. Dempsey got her a leave of absence.”
I squeeze the fork in my hands. “Wait. What?”
“A leave of absence?” he says again as if I need the phrase defined for me. “He worked it out with your boss. You probably have an email or something.”
Snapping my jaw shut, I scream internally. There had been a work email this morning, but I’m a strict believer in work shit stays during work hours. I never read at or reply to work-related messages until I’mat work. I bring my phone out and scowl when I read the note from my boss. Not that it’s bad in anyway. It’s quite complimentary. Suzie tells me she hopes everything works out and that she can’t wait to have me back.
I slam my phone down, and Jax casually looks over. “Don’t be mad at us. Cole did it.”
My chair screeches across the floor when I stand. I glare at Jax, take my phone with me, and go into the other room, pushing Cole’s name in my contacts on the way.
It only rings twice before he picks it up. “Leenie. Everything okay?”
“Cole,” I start, but then my voice wavers. I can’t lose my job. I’m so proud of myself for actually having a fucking job in the Heights. A good one, too. I don’t turn tricks. I’m not under the command of the local gang. It’s a decent job, and there aren’t many of those.
A hand presses against the small of my back, and I take a deep breath. Finn’s silent comfort makes my mouth move, interrupting my brother’s rapid speed questions as to whether or not I’m okay. “Why did you do that?” I ask, my voice strained even to my own ears.
“Do what?”
“The leave of absence at the bank? You didn’t tell me. You didn’t even ask.”
“Shit, Leenie. I’m sorry,” he apologizes. “I meant to mention it before I left. It got lost in everything else.”
“I love that job, Cole,” I say more forcefully.
“Okay,” he says. “I know. I just can’t have you working there where no one can watch you. The leave of absence is so you can return to work whenever this is over. Your boss was really cool about it. They love you there.”
Him buttering me up is not going to smooth this over. “What did you tell them?”
“Well, I didn’t do it personally. It was Dempsey acting on behalf of the family. He told her you were going through some things and needed a break of unknown length.”