Page 96 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

We were both quiet as Jacob kept untying the knots.

I took a few seconds to just stare at him.

Really stare. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t noticed how handsome he was before.

His skin was tan from being outside after school every day.

And each time he untied a knot, the muscles in his arm bulged slightly.

He looked good in his school uniform. But I liked him just like this. In a black t-shirt and jeans.

It took a while, but Jacob finally freed me.

“Thank you for saving me from being tied to the fireplace.” I rubbed my wrists.

“Is that what Onyx said he was going to do to you?” Jacob chuckled and shook his head. “It makes you wonder what kind of things Uncle Mason is teaching him.”

“Maybe they’re going on a camping trip or something.”

Jacob laughed. “I can’t picture them on a camping trip.”

I shrugged. Well, I wasn’t sure why else Uncle Mason would teach Onyx to tie rope. I looked around Jacob’s room. There was a picture on his nightstand of him, Aunt Brooklyn, and his father. I picked it up. “You look so much like your dad.”

“That’s what everyone tells me.”

I swallowed hard. I couldn’t imagine how hard it would be to be told I looked like my mom if she wasn’t here. And it would be even worse if I didn’t remember her very well. I put the picture back down and turned to him.

Jacob had sat down on the edge of his bed.

I sat down next to him and looked up at the stars again. A part of my wished that Jacob and I were nine again like his little sister Alora. And then I’d probably be spending the night under these stars without any consequences.

“I think I need some of these stars in my room,” I said. “I used to love falling asleep to them when I was little. The good old days.”

“The good old days, huh?”

I nodded.

“Well, I have a solution for that.” Jacob stood up on his bed and pulled one of the stars off the ceiling.

“Oh, you don’t have to...”

But he’d already tossed it at me.

I laughed and caught it in my hand. “Thank you. I’m surprised you still have them up at all.”

He shrugged as he sat down on his bed again.

“After my dad died, my mom told me he was the north star. Looking down at us. Protecting us. I couldn’t fall asleep without looking at the stars and saying goodnight to him.

And the stars are so dim in the city. Coach put these up when we moved in, so I could always say goodnight to my dad. ”

I felt tears welling in my eyes. I didn’t know any of that. Seriously, I’d known Jacob practically my whole life. Why did I not know the north star story? “I can’t take this.” I tried to hand it back, but he wrapped his hand around mine, sealing the star in my palm.

“I want you to have it.”

“Jacob...”

“It’s just a little something so you can think of me as you fall asleep.”

I swallowed hard. It was something my kiss thief would say. My eyes fell to Jacob’s lips.

And he moved just a fraction of an inch closer to me.

“I want to ask you something,” he said. “But before I do, I feel like I need to tell you something else.”

“Okay.”

“Practice was...off today,” Jacob said.

“Off how?”

“Axel stopped handing me the ball again. He knew we were hanging out tonight. And he’s still being really weird about this.”

“This?”

“You and me hanging out.”

Hanging out. What did that mean exactly? And gah. Freaking Axel. How was he ruining this moment without even being here? “I don’t need Axel to protect me.”

“I know. I just...” Jacob shrugged. “If we keep hanging out, we might end up losing every game this season. And I just wanted you to know that you’d be hanging out with a running back of a team with a losing record.”

I laughed. “I’m sure that’s not true. And I don’t care whether Empire High wins or loses. I just like cheering you on.”

“And what about Axel? You two have been friends forever and...”

“We’ve been friends forever too,” I said. Jacob had moved here when he was four. I could barely remember a time when he wasn’t here. “Axel will get over himself.”

Jacob laughed.

“So that’s what you wanted to tell me. What did you want to ask me?”

He smiled. “I was hoping you’d start wearing my jacket to school.”

I stared up at him. So did that mean we were dating? Or were we just hanging out? And what the heck did “just hanging out” mean anyway? But before I could ask, there was a knock on the door.

Uncle Matt popped his head in.

“Hiya, Coach,” Jacob said.

“Hey, can you...” Uncle Matt’s voice trailed off. “Oh. Hi, Scarlett. I didn’t know you were here.” He didn’t sound like his normal happy self at the sight of me. “What are the two of you doing up here?” he asked.

I thought about my dad finding Axel in my room. I wasn’t supposed to have boys in my room. And I wasn’t sure what my dad would think of me in a boy’s room.

No, scratch that. I did know. I’d be grounded for an eternity. So I said the first thing that popped into my head. “Jacob’s tutoring me,” I said.

Uncle Matt frowned. “I don’t see any books.”

“It’s an oral exam thing.” Oh God. Why had I just said oral?

Uncle Matt raised both his eyebrows.

Jacob cleared his throat and stood up. “We just finished up, Coach.”

“Great,” Uncle Matt said. “Well, come help your mom cook, kiddo.”

“Sure thing,” Jacob said.

Uncle Matt grabbed his arm before he reached the door and whispered something to him.

Jacob nodded and turned back to me. “You coming, Scarlett?”

“Mhm.” I tucked my star in my pocket and hurried after him, ducking past Uncle Matt. I really hoped Uncle Matt wouldn’t tell my dad about this.

The downstairs wasn’t full of kids anymore. But it was full of music blasting on the speakers.

Aunt Brooklyn was humming and swaying her hips to the music. Alora was spinning around in circles. And Max just kept running back and forth, sliding on the kitchen floor.

“What can we help with?” I asked as I walked around the kitchen island.

“You two are on salad duty.” Aunt Brooklyn pushed the ingredients toward us and laughed as Uncle Matt wrapped his arms around her from behind.

I washed my hands and started cutting up the lettuce. But it didn’t take long before we were all dancing around the kitchen. I mimicked Aunt Brooklyn doing some kind of shimmy thing with her shoulders. We both kept laughing.

And then Uncle Matt held his nose and pretended like he was swimming under water. Max slid by with his hands above his head like a shark’s fin.

I’d really missed nights like this.

“Scarlett, Scarlett, I have your bracelet!” Chloe ran down the stairs. “Hey, you started without me.”

“I told you it was almost time for dinner,” Uncle Matt said.

Chloe rolled her eyes. “Put your arm out,” she said to me.

I put out my hand. She tied a beaded bracelet that she’d made to my wrist.

“Thanks, Chloe. I love it.”

“The green looks really good with your hair,” Jacob said.

I turned to him and smiled.

The song had changed to a slow one. I needed to get back to cutting up veggies, but Jacob grabbed my hand and pulled me in close.

“What did Uncle Matt whisper to you?” I asked Jacob as his hands fell to my hips.

“That I need to leave my door open if you’re in my room again.”

I laughed. “What did he think he almost walked in on?”

“He probably thought I was about to kiss you.”

Uncle Matt had apparently started taking notes from my dad, I guess.

Jacob’s fingers tightened on my waist.

I looked up at him as his words spun around in my head. Wait. Was he saying that he had been about to kiss me? It felt like every time we were close, something got in the way. And it suddenly felt like I’d been waiting a lifetime to be kissed by him.

We both just stared at each other. I was pretty sure the song had changed but we kept dancing close. I’d never danced like this here before, that was for sure. We were usually hopping around and laughing like the rest of Jacob’s siblings. But today felt different. The air had shifted around us.

Uncle Matt cleared his throat. “Time for dinner.”