He pulls himself up and I gape at the way his muscles bulge but the soft groan that comes from the back of his throat has my brows shooting straight up. “Dude, I’m not that fat.”
He laughs and instantly loses his grip, sending us both crashing to the floor. “Fuck,” he says, unable to stop the roaring laughter as he holds onto me, making sure I’m not hurt. “I didn’t mean to fall. Are you alright?”
“I’m okay but my ego is bruised.”
“Your ego is just fine,” he tells me, leaning back and staring at me as I sit in his lap. I meet his eyes as a seriousness comes over him. “I heard you had a visitor at school.”
“Bullshit,” I grunt. “How’d you hear that?”
A soft chuckle pulls at his throat “From what I can gather, Jess texted Milo to figure out who the hell he was, then Milo checked in with Spencer to ask if he knew what was going on, then Spencer asked Charlie if he’d heard from you, and then Charlie all but screamed it from the rooftops while on his way to ask me.”
“So, during all this, no one actually thought to ask me?”
His brows furrow as he thinks back over the explanation he just gave me. “I guess not,” he says with a shrug. “Are you okay, though? I’m assuming by the sarcastic mood you’re in, it all went to shit.”
“It bypassed shit and went straight to hell. It was awful, but ... I don’t know. It’s still Nic. I’m so mad at him but at the same time, he’ll always be my best friend.”
He raises a hand and brushes his fingers down my face, his eyes softening with emotion. “I know, Jade. Just give it time. As much as I want you to tell him to fuck off, I know having him in your life makes you happy, and I want that for you.”
“I know,” I tell him. “A weaker man would try to keep me away from him.”
“I trust you, Ocean. You’ve never given me a reason not to.”
“Thank you,” I tell him. “That means a lot to me.”
He nods, not needing to respond to that. “What are your plans this afternoon? Do you want me to call it quits for the day and we can fuck around or are you planning to work?”
I press my lips into a tight line. “Are you going to be offended if I say that I want to work? I’m not done sulking about what happened at school and I think the quiet time would help.”
“That’s fine, babe,” he says, getting up and offering me his hand. I take it and he hauls me to my feet in the blink of an eye. “You do you. I’ve got a contract to finish looking through and should probably call the cheapskate bastard back who I hung up on this morning.”
“My, oh my. And you have people out there thinking that you’re some kind of CEO, businessman extraordinaire. If only they realized that you throw tantrums and hang up on your business partners when they irritate your fragile little soul.”
“Fuck you,” he laughs, walking across the room and grabbing his discarded water bottle. “I am a fucking CEO businessman extraordinaire, now get your ass out of here and mop my dining hall, wench.”
“Careful, now,” I tease, walking out of the room and smothering my smirk. “You don’t want to piss off the help. Who knows what you might find in your breakfast in the morning.”
I hear his soft laughter flowing out of the gym as I make my way toward the staff quarters and instantly run into Mom as she steps through the entrance. “Oh, Ocean,” she says, looking anywhere but meeting my eyes. “How was school?”
I let out a soft sigh and pull her into my arms, knowing exactly what this is about. “It’s okay, Mom. I’m not mad at you.”
She throws her arms around me, holding me tight and burying her face into my neck. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry, my sweet baby. I don't know what came over me. I never should have hit you. My emotions were riding high and I was overwhelmed and the next thing I knew, my hand was cracking across your face. Oh, please forgive me, sweet girl. I couldn’t cope knowing that you were hurting over my actions.”
“Mom, it’s fine. Really. I love you and I shouldn’t have broken the news to you like that, but I couldn’t hold onto it anymore. You needed to know and I didn’t want you to hold back from being happy again.”
“I know sweet girl,” she says, taking my shoulders and pulling back to look me in the eye. “I appreciate that but either way, I shouldn’t have laid a hand on you and I’ll regret that until the day I die.”