The Raven Four Books 1-3 - Jessica Sorensen Page 0,37

at him. He’s just too smiley and it’s kind of contagious.

“Hey, I didn’t toss out your phone,” he protests with exaggerated offense. “That was all Jax.”

“Yeah? So? I still don’t have a phone.”

Worry creases his face. “Are your aunt and uncle gonna freak out on you for being out so late?”

I chew on my bottom lip. “They might freak out, but not over that.”

His brows knit. “What’ll be over?”

I sigh heavily. “This morning, I may have called my aunt a skank after she told me I was an idiot or something like that. I honestly have a hard time remembering our little bitch-fests. They’re such a common occurrence.”

“So, your aunt’s a bitch then?” he muses, scrubbing his hand across his jawline.

I nod. “Basically.”

He bobs his head up and down understandingly. “My mom’s a prick, so I get you.”

“A bitch and a prick,” I muse. “Maybe they should be friends.”

He smiles brightly. “Nah, I wanna be your friend.”

“What are we? Like in middle school or something?” Strangely enough, the last time I actually had a friend was in middle school, right before my parents died.

“Oh, totally,” he says in an off-pitch falsetto tone. “You got those friendship bracelets I told you to make or what?”

“You only told me that hours ago, so there’s no way I could’ve possibly made them yet,” I point out, the corners of my lips twitching. “But I’ll put it on my to-do list.”

He playfully narrows his eyes. “You better.”

A quiet laugh escapes me, a foreign sound and one I never expected to hear after what happened on the bridge. I didn’t expect to hear anything other than the silence of death.

“What’s so funny?” Jax enters the room with an irritated-looking Zay trailing behind him.

At the sight of him, my thoughts drift to the story of the raven that Hunter told me, and for the slightest instant, I feel pity for Zay. Yeah, he’s intense and bossy, but no one deserves for their parent to kill their pet. And to refer to them as “Kid”… Even my aunt and uncle call me by my name.

Then again, my uncle has given me cruel nicknames that he’s carved on my side, so…

I really miss my parents. God, do I.

“Me, obviously.” Hunter flashes him a grin from over his shoulder and snapping me out my thoughts.

Jax stops near the end of the pool table, his gaze gliding from me to Hunter, then his pierced brow meticulously curves upward. “Soon, we’re going to sit down and talk about all of our new rules. But I’m throwing one out here right now.” He gives a stern glance at everyone. “Everyone is to remain just friends. Do you all understand?”

Is he being serious right now?

Apparently, Hunter thinks so, because he gripes, "Dude, you're ruining the potential."

Jax fastens his firm gaze on him. “There’s no potential other than drama.”

“Whatever,” Hunter grumbles, totally sulking.

Jax looks at Zay. “What about you? You got any complaints about my rule?”

Zay's gaze flits to me, and for a flash of a second, he looks hesitant. But then he shakes his head. "Nope."

"I hope really hope so, but there's a couple of things that have me concerned. We'll talk about that later, though," Jax tells him, and Zay blasts him with a dirty look. But Jax ignores him and twists to face me. "What about you?"

I shrug. “I don’t even think of us as friends, so…” I shrug again.

Hunter rolls his eyes while Zay stares at me with his arms crossed, his gaze boring into me.

Jax reclines against the pool table with his arms folded across his chest. “I’ll accept that answer for now. But there’s some other stuff we need to talk you about right now.”

I shake my head. “No, I need to go home before I get in even more trouble than I’m sure I already am.”

“We’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble,” Hunter offers with a devious grin then cracks his knuckles. “Just tell us who we have to scare? Your crazy aunt?”

A trace of a smile pulls at my lips as I imagine the look on my aunt’s face if these guys showed up and threatened her. But then my uncle might get involved and …

My smile goes poof.

“That’s probably not a good idea.”

“Why not?” Hunter asks with his head tilted to the side.

I shrug. “Because my uncle’s the sheriff.”

Hunter stifles a grin as he flicks a glance at Zay, who bizarrely is as equally amused.

“Did you hear that, Zay?” Hunter asks. “She thinks we