Page 23

CHAPTER 8

JAX

Summer is exactly who I thought she’d be. Seems like a pretty sweet kid with a head on her shoulders. A head covered in the same bright red hair as her sister’s.

It was honestly surprising to see how dull their mother seemed in comparison. These two just seem to scream that they enjoy living life.

“You don’t have to do all this, you know,” Olivia says, looking out the window as I drive through the hilly streets of the city to get to my place.

“Well, yeah, I mean, I don’t have to do anything,” I say. “But I want to. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t want to.”

“Okay,” She says, sounding pretty unsure.

I’ll have to change that.

I enter the gate code for my particular neighborhood and drive in. Summer’s face is practically stuck to the window as I drive past all the other big houses in the neighborhood. I don’t miss how Olivia’s eyes widen too.

I try to see my neighborhood through their eyes. Especially when I compare these houses to the trailer we just came from, I can definitely see how this can be kinda mindblowing.

It’s not a particularly big secret I come from wealth. My grandparents were rich, my parents were rich, and now that I’m the only one left, I’m rich too. The amount of money they had definitely shaped the kind of person I am and I’m definitely lucky and grateful to do the things I enjoy doing, like work at the company I do, but it wasn’t like I had a particularly happy childhood either.

It was definitely unicorns and rainbows in comparison to what Olivia and Summer had to grow up in, but there’s a reason why I want to do this whole thing with Olivia right.

I want love.

Never really got that as a kid and it seems pretty damn exciting.

My mom didn’t care about me at all and my dad was always working and when he finally started paying more attention to me, poof. He was gone. So was my mom, but admittedly, that hurt a lot less.

I pull into my driveway and open the garage before driving in.

“Holy shit, you have a fucking four-car garage,” Liv whispers under her breath. “Who the fuck needs a four-car garage in the city.”

“I have no clue,” I say, parking the car. “That’s why half of it is my gym.”

Summer practically throws herself out of the car as she stares, slackjawed at the little sparring ring I have set up.

“You guys wanna see the inside?” I ask the two of them, grabbing Summer’s duffel bag.

“Duh!” Summer says, running back up to Olivia and I.

We make our way through my house and both their jaws practically hit the floor. They walk slowly through the house as I show them where the necessities like the kitchen are.

Olivia runs her hands over the marble countertops and the glass top of the induction stoves I have. She practically balks at the multiple ovens.

I didn’t design this house, but I’ve definitely made sure to help with the upkeep, so all of the appliances have been updated.

“We can go grocery shopping tomorrow,” I say. “I’m a takeout guy and don’t really have anything good in the fridge right now.”

“Cool,” Olivia says, now distracted by the view from the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“Pretty cool huh,” I say.

“No shit, Sherlock,” She says under her breath.

“This. Is. So. Cool,” Summer says, stepping up next to her sister.

“Do you guys wanna see the guest rooms?” I ask.