Page 164 of The Devil's Heir

"Nah, you're just finally coming into yourself," a voice says from the doorway.

"Oh, my God, Jackson! You startled me!"

"My bad," he apologizes and grins. "I just thought I'd come up here and see if you needed anything. You've been up here since Mr. Falcon left."

"Must you be so formal when talking about him around me? You know I'm not like him," I scoff.

"Aren't you, though?"he teases, and I narrow my gaze at him.

"Don't be a dick…" I joke back.

"Hey, I am what I eat…"

I choke and cough at his response.

"You're too much!" I chuckle.

"I'm joking. Seth does all the sucking—I do all the fucking." Jackson's smile lights up his face as he winks at me.

Leave it to this guy here to always know what to say. Well, unless he's trying to knock some sense into me when I get one of my bad ideas that's going to piss Jarek off.

Once I'm done laughing, I reply, "No. I don't need anything. I'm just up here thinking about things."

"Uh-oh. Am I going to have to bring out Jarek's restraints?" Jackson asks jokingly.

"Ha, ha, ha, I'm not planning on going anywhere," I respond, holding up my left hand.

"Oh, wow. He's already asked you?" my friend asks.

"You knew?"

"Well, I drove him to the jewelry store. He asked for my advice as to when he should ask."

"And what did you tell him?"

"I said to wait until you were riding him. You'd say yes to anything then."

I can see Jackson try and hold in his laugh, but I can't, and a burst of laughter bubbles out. Keirnan jumps in his sleep but doesn't wake up.

"You're horrible, do you know that?"

Jackson laughs.

"Seriously, though. I told him that the sooner he did it, the better. I knew you would say yes."

"You did?"

"Lily. You are head over heels in love with him, whether you want to admit it or not."

I smile. "Yeah, I guess I am," I reply, then sigh. "How the hell did it happen? I mean, you saw how I was when I first came here. How did he do it?"

Jacksonshrugs. "Jarek always gets what he wants sooner or later. He wanted you way back in high school; even I knew that. It's just taken him this long to get you."

"He bullied me in high school! How can you say he wanted me?"

"Oh, Lily. You were so blind. Why do you think the girls were mean to you? Because they were jealous of you."

I stare at Jackson in disbelief. What the hell has he been smoking?