Page 28 of A Little Jaded
“Wait,” I call.
Brows knitting, Maverick stares down at me.
“Can you…not say anything?” I plead.
“Who am I gonna tell, Raine?” He links his fingers with Ophelia’s and gives her a smile. “Come on. Let’s go shower.”
“Ew.” Finley’s nose scrunches. “And on that note, I’m gonna be super subtle and change the subject. Everett?Brother?” She searches the kitchen, and I do the same as Mav and Ophelia leave. He’s leaning against the kitchen sink with his arms folded and his gaze solely focused on me.
“Our girl’s asshole of an ex has been spamming her phone all night and this morning,” Finley explains. “What are you gonna do about it?”
“Am I supposed to do something about it?” he challenges. His gaze stays locked with mine for the barest of seconds, then he looks at Reeves.
“Depends,” Reeves answers. “Has Raine officially hired you yet?”
All eyes turn to me, and I tuck my hands beneath my thighs to keep from squirming. “We, uh, we haven’t talked about it.”
“Well, do you want to?” Finley prods.
Do I want to hire him? No. Do I want my entire relationship with Drake to be wiped from existence? Yes. One hundred percent yes. Do I want to be left alone and have a clean slate? Again, yes. Do I want everyone to stop staring at me and sticking their noses where they don't belong? Also, yes. But getting what I want feels pretty close to impossible lately, so I’m not sure what Finley—or anyone else, for that matter—expects me to say right now.
“I’m not entirely sure what I’d be hiring him to do,” I admit.
Stealing Dylan’s cereal, Reeves picks it up and shoves the spoon into his mouth, oblivious to the eyes pinning him in place like they did to me. He chews slowly as he sets the spoon back into the bowl.
“Ollie.” Dylan drops her head back and looks up at Reeves standing behind her.
Is his first name Ollie? Huh. Who’d of thunk it.
“I think this is the part where you give Everett and Rainea rundown of the process since you’re the only one with experience on this front,” she explains.
Reeves swallows the last bite of Reese's Puffs and clears his throat. “All right. Honestly, it’s pretty straight forward. First, Raine needs to solemnly swear she is up to no good.” He smirks at me. “Get it? Harry Potter?”
“I’m aware of the Marauder's Map,” I volley back at him.
“See? I knew I liked you.” He turns to Dylan. “I knew I liked her.”
“Yeah, yeah, we all know you’re a whore for Harry Potter. Now get to the point,” she orders.
With a wink, Reeves gives me his full attention. “My point is, you need to commit to yourself and to everyone here that you’ll never go back to your ex, or else this will wind up being a waste of everyone’s time.”
Part of me wants to be offended by his bluntness, but I can’t. He’s right. If I go back to Drake, last night and everything I do moving forward will be a waste of time.Everyone’stime. And if they’re willing to help me, I need to be all-in, too. Not that I wasn’t before, but…
Running my tongue along my upper teeth, I admit, “I tried to break it off with Drake before he hit me, which only confirmed my decision to get away from him in the first place. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to figure outhowto leave him without poking the bear or having him track me down, but it’s been…difficult, I guess.”
“We can help take care of that part,” Reeves promises. “There are mainly three steps. First, you need to set yourself up to be done with him. No run-ins. No pop-ups. Nothing. Everett said you live with him?”
I nod.
“All right. First order of business.” He rubs his hands together. “Collect your shit or say goodbye to whatever’s at his place.”
“Everything I own is in our apartment,” I argue.
“Then it looks like you need to go get it.”
My pulse gallops, and I let out a slow shuddered breath, feeling paralyzed at the prospect alone. I know it’s necessary. I also know it’s dangerous.
Pushing himself away from the center island, Everett grunts, “I’ll go with you to grab your things.”