I swallow and nod my head. “I do.”
Her eyes skate over to Matt, and things start to make more sense. “What about Matthew?”
My face relaxes as we face each other, and I give her a warm smile. “I never had siblings growing up. I’m an only child. So when I met Matt and Julia, we became best friends. Julia moved a couple years ago and then it was just Matt and me. He’s been a constant person in my life and we share a lot of the same goals. I love him like the brother I never had.”
Her shoulders visibly relax, as if asking the question took all her energy and my answer makes her go weak. Her mouth quirks in the corner. “Don’t tell him I asked, okay?’
“Chick before dicks,” I tell her and wink when her mouth pops open. We both laugh and Matt’s head spins in our direction. His eyes narrow while he looks between us, and I just give him an answering head nod.
“Birthday boy’s here!” someone calls, whooping into the air. Others clap and whistle.
I’m on my feet in an instant, my neck craning to find him. His head dips when he finds me, and he smiles. His hair is messy, a few strands falling into his face, while the rest is tucked behind his ear. A slight scruff lines his jaw and his brown eyes become almost black, as if he can read my mind and knows what he does to me. My legs take off, moving through the crowd, my eyes only on my boyfriend. He drops the bags he’s holding, ready to catch me when I hurtle my body into his. My arms wind around his neck and my legs circle his waist. Our eyes meet and sparks sizzle in my veins from the contact. Everyone else melts away until it’s just us. His large hand palms the back of my head and brings my lips to his. My grip tightens while his mouth molds to mine, and I bite his bottom lip lightly, making him groan as I squirm in his hold.
“Alright, we get it,” Matt calls from across the campsite and everyone laughs ad jokes around us.
Jason’s gaze stays glued to mine, the color deepening the tighter my legs hold him. “Can we ask people to leave yet?”
“No.” I laugh as I reluctantly untangle my limbs from around him. “Come on.”
I take his hand and lead him over to where Matt saved a spot for his tent. They talk and get things settled. Jason picks up his boombox and sets it on the picnic table. Matt hands him a mixed CD from his holder and Jason sets it in. DMX’s “Party Up” starts playing. The fire crackles and soon people are roasting hot dogs and making burgers on the charcoal grills.
Jason takes my hand and leads me around as he talks to everyone and thanks them for coming. His laugh and smile are hypnotic and I can’t take my eyes off of him. He keeps an arm around my shoulders the entire night, pulling me into him for extra warmth when the sun starts to dip lower in the sky. I settle back into him, enjoying the feel of his solid chest against my back and the rumble of his voice bouncing between us.
“Who’s with your mom?” he asks, his face tilting down to me. I look over to the parking lot and see my mom waving at me as Calvin stands next to her, looking unsure about the crowd.
“Calvin!” I shout and wave back at them.
Jason
Kelly steps out of my arms and jogs over to where her mom and the new kid are standing. I see them talking and Kelly places her hand on the guy’s arm. My jaw locks and my gaze burns holes into her. I know she can feel me staring and her hand drops off. I’ve never been calm about Kelly being around other guys. Majority of the time, it’s because they look at her like they’re starving and she’s their next juicy meal. It’s even more infuriating because she doesn’t see it at all. In her mind, I make it all up, and random dudes aren’t leering at her. Matt and I shake our heads all the time at how innocent and naive she is about it. It also makes me that much more crazy about her. Everything about Kelly is pure and heartfelt. Don’t get me wrong, the girl can throw an uppercut like no one else if she needs to. You wouldn’t guess that though by looking at her. She looks almost pixie-like, her frame tiny and her skin pale against my lighter brown. Her head reaches my chest where my heart beats, and her long, light brown hair, that’s twisted with gold strands, swings against her back. It’s her hazel eyes, though, that alternate between gold and green, depending on her mood, that really suck me in. Beautiful. Strong. Independent. Caring.
And right now, she’s fawning over another broken soul, hoping to fix him. I watch as Mrs. Morrison leaves and Kelly leads the new kid over. Calvin. He looks like one of those Ken dolls that Matt’s sister Molly used to have. I know from his file that his hair should be blond. Mrs. Morrison must have already dyed it because it’s now a light brown. He wears it styled short with gel in the front. A subtle change. He has dark blue eyes that are taking in everything around him. I have to give him some credit because he doesn’t look nervous. Growing up in a crime family though, it probably takes a lot to scare him.
“New guy?” Matt says, so only I can hear him, while he stands next to me. I can already tell he’s evaluating everything about him like I just did.
We both suck in a breath when the look Calvin gives Kelly has my hand tightening around the cup I’m holding. Kelly doesn’t even notice; she just keeps walking over to us and pointing things and people out to him as they go, even though he hasn’t taken his eyes off her.
“Hey guys,” Kelly says, once she’s in front of us. “This is Calvin. Calvin, this is Matt and Jason.”
Calvin looks to Matt. “I think we met the other day.”
“Yeah, it was my house you were brought to first. It’s our family’s business,” Matt explains. Calvin nods. I see him thinking things over in his mind. Then his gaze lands on me next.
“It’s your birthday party?” he asks and I nod my head, my eyes glued to him, calculating every move he makes. His jaw hardens as if he knows exactly what I’m doing.
Kelly’s head tilts and she frowns slightly. She and Matt are used to me being an asshole, so I don’t know why she thinks it would be any different now.
“Jason and I are your contact people. You’ve already been assigned a target number and home. If anything comes up or you need anything, feel free to reach out to us.” Matt continues to give him the pitch. “If you need to go anywhere outside of the city, your family needs to be made aware and it has to get approved by my dad. We go to school and live amongst a community of kids and families. Some are targets like you, some are workers like me and then there are others who have no idea we live among them. Therefore, do not ever share anything about your real life, your actual name or why you moved here. Your alias is already set up in detail, make sure you memorize it. Also, do not reach out to anyone from your previous life over the phone, in person, over messenger or in chat rooms on any computer.”
When Matt finishes, Calvin stares at him for a minute, silent, before turning to look at Kelly. “Since I live with you, can’t I just go to you if I need anything?”
“Ahh.” Kelly half-laughs.
“You can ask the family anything you want, but if it comes to issues that might become dangerous for the business, you need to come to me,” Matt interjects, and I don’t miss the way his eyes harden.
“Exactly,” Kelly adds.
Calvin nods his head as if he understands, although his face tells a different story. He has no plans to come to Matt or me about anything. I can read the pure defiance on every part of his face. Kelly looks between us, before sliding up next to me and under my arm.