Page 105 of Jerk

A small white truck sits parked outside the front door, a couple of men moving large brown boxes into it. “Is that Dad’s stuff?” My eyes narrow in on the open entrance.

What the fuck is going on now?

Getting out of the car, Krystal and Hannah follow behind me. When I get to the front door, I hear wheels rolling against our marble floors.

“Oh, you’re here.” My mother appears in a white tee and matching pants, a white suitcase pulling behind her. “Congrats, kids, you win.”

Putting my hands in my pockets, I don’t have to ask what she’s talking about to know. “It wasn’t my intention.”

“I’ll be spending some time in New York.” Typical, our father just died and our mother is already out the door. “Things have gotten way too out of hand in Paradise Hill, and I have a brand to salvage. You’ll receive your inheritance in three to seven business days.” She brings her hand to my face, and I almost recoil. It’s a touch I haven’t felt from her in a while. Her eyes water when they lock with mine, but she pulls away.

Pulling her sunglasses up her nose, she walks out the door.

My mother stops in the driveway as a black Bentley pulls up to her. She says something to Krystal, a hand on her cheek, before she gets in the car and closes the door.

“Is she really leaving?” Krystal joins me by the door, both of us watching as the car goes through the gates.

Hannah joins us, standing on my other side, and this time, she’s the one to take my hand. I grasp it without hesitation, a warmth spreading through me that’s both unsettling and comforting.

New.

“New York,” I respond to Krystal. “What did she say to you?”

Krystal’s head lands on my shoulder. “To look out for each other.”

“Holy fucking shit!”Krystal yells.

Hannah’s shriek fills our cinema, a horror movie projected on the wall.

“You both wanted to watch this,” I remind them, the three of us sitting on the long sofa at the back of our cinema. Hannah sits on one side of me, Krystal on the other.

“No, I wanted a distraction,” Hannah says, hiding her face on my shoulder. “Krystal is the one who suggested…this.”

“You agreed,” I remind her. Leaning back, I stick my hand into the big bowl of popcorn in my lap between us and pour a handful into my mouth. “Now you can’t handle it.”

“I promise you I can handle it,” Hannah says. “I’m hungry and my nerves are all messed up.” Hannah reaches into the bowl at the same time I reach in again, our hands colliding beneath the layer of warm, buttered popcorn. Her hand lingers before pulling back. “Sorry." She pops a finger in her mouth, and I can’t look away. The way she sucks on the tip is like the way she sucks on my?—

“Don’t go outside, you idiot!” Krystal reaches into the bowl, throwing a handful of popcorn at the screen.

I scoff, “I’d go outside.”

“Then you’d die,” Hannah says, a slap on my arm. “Don’t be cocky. If this were real life, you’d be the first to go.”

Krystal snorts out a laugh.

“No, I’d be the last guy standing,” I say, munching more popcorn as I sink further into the sofa. Three of those edibles from Gray finally start to work. “And what’re you laughing about?” I toss a piece of popcorn at my sister’s head. “You’d definitely be the first to go.”

“May I remind you, we just escaped a high-security facility?” Krystal says.

“Not without my help,” I remind her.

Krystal rolls her eyes, but she doesn’t argue, her attention back on the film in front of us.

“Thank you,” Hannah whispers. “I thanked you for putting my dad in his place, but I didn’t thank you for saving us.” And now it’s even harder to focus on the movie.

It’s harder to grasp where we are.

We're more than nice with each other, sitting in our cinema, damn-near cuddled together after I risked my life for her. Movie nights with the girls are definitely not my thing. But after everything that’s happened, it feels… right. There’s a calmness in this house I haven’t felt before.