Page 106 of Under the Waves
You’ll always be welcomed here…
It dawned on me then that Jakson Calloway had offered each and every single one of his closest friends ahome—a place they would always feel safe and protected from the dangers of the outside world.
He truly was Peter Pan.
I’d heard people in the halls whisper about the lost boy and his Wendy Darling, and up until now, I hadn’t realized that they were talking about Jakson and Lia. He’d given her and all of her siblings a home, a safe place.
Just like neverland: a place where they never had to grow up.
He’d done the same for Jasper, too, and Lachlan, and Kai, and Xander…and nowme.
He’d been looking out for everyone since the very start…
But who was looking out for you, little lost boy?
Suddenly, Jasper yanked Jakson back by the collar of his Jedicostume, a deep frown tugging at his lips. “That’s enough hugging for you, buddy.”
“Stop being such a caveman, Cap!”
“Stop being such an asshole,Calloway.”
“C’mon Pops, back me up here. Your boyfriend is being such a caveman!” Jakson whined, a little pout playing on his lips.
“Caveman? Caveman!” Jasper roared, still holding Jakson by the collar, knuckles turning white.
“Down boy, down,” Jakson pouted, patting Jasper encouragingly on the head as if he were a puppy. The motion only made Jasper’s grip tighten.
“Jasper, stop this!” Lia gasped, little brows drawn. “You’re hurting him!”
The split second of hesitancy on Jasper’s part was enough time for Jakson to weasel his way out of his grip, sweep Lia off her feet, and start running with her in his arms.
“You are a dead man, Jakson Calloway!” Jasper yelled as Jakson and Lia disappeared into the distance, a mess of hiccups and childish giggles. I couldn’t stop myself from laughing, wiping the back of my hand across my face in an attempt to salvage whatever dignity I had left.
“The massive idiot,” Jasper sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with a groan.
I turned towards him, smiling up at him with the goofiest of grins. “You were jealous of him.”
He frowned at me. “Was not.”
“Was too.”
“She’s not lying, Cap. You were acting like a caveman,” Kai offered.
Jasper and I turned around at the sound of his voice. Him and Xander had been so quiet I’d genuinely forgotten they were there. They had this eerie presence around them like they were where dreams went to die. Always plotting. Always scheming. Always sosilent.
They viewed life as a massive chess game, trying to one-up each other every second they could. Though, where Xander embodied the darkness, Kai actually looked like a sane human being on the outside but that was just who he was—the beautyandthe beast.
I’d never forget the fact that Jakson heard him and Xanderhaving a foursome with two girls—a blond and brunette—well past midnight and late into the next morning. His medically drugged ramblings would be the death of me. I was now the owner of around twenty-seven secrets that I, in no way whatsoever, wanted to ever know about.
Glancing away from them, I felt my cheeks burn with the weight of that secret, it now becoming the only thing I saw when I looked at them, and somehow, I had a feeling that Kai and Xander both knewI knewand were taking an element of delight in that.
“Go away, assholes,” Jasper grumbled.
Kai chuckled, saluting to Jasper as he left, Xander following him closely behind.
“Help me, Poppy, I’m surrounded by a bunch of idiots,” he groaned, tilting his head up towards the ceiling.
I laughed, gently nudging his side. “They only wind you up out of love, I’m sure.”