Kingpin (Court University 2)

“No problem. It’ll be better. I swear. Just give it time.”

Billie

Hoping the advice helped, I sat back and truly forgot in all this time LJ had been there. He’d been idle, sitting quiet, and when I pulled back from his sister I realized why.

He’d been staring at me, and something about his observant gaze made me shy for some reason. Chewing my lip, we severed eye contact, and before I knew it, he was getting out of his seat.

“I’ll be right back,” he said. “Just going to help her in.”

I nodded, this not my family, and it might be a little awkward following him anyway. I mean, I didn’t know what this was or if there was anything at all between us.

Still, I turned toward the window, watching him help Dasha gather her things. She only had a small bag and LJ got it, helping her to the house. She stopped just a moment to wave back at me, and leaning toward the window, I did the same.

“Good luck,” I mouthed, receiving her grin. This got a glance from LJ, a quick one before he put his hand on his sister’s back. It was so weird seeing him this way. He truly was nurturing.

I guessed I found his kryptonite.

This was confirmed when his mom appeared, the woman opening the door before the pair got there. He got an arm around his mom, a larger woman, and though I sat back, a more than kind face shown above his shoulder. She was tall, just like him, and when she pulled Dasha in without hesitation, something told me I’d been right about my earlier theory. There was obviously a lot of love between these people, family.

“…when it comes to my life, I have one priority. Family, and that’ll never change.”

So obvious as he literally held mom and daughter together, the glue between them both. Dasha needed space, and he came to her rescue but was also the one to do the reuniting in the end. His commitment to family was obviously very important to him.

Still, I had no idea what that had to do with me.

Something about this side of his life made him wary when it came to me. It was a wariness I didn’t understand, and sitting back, I watched as LJ’s mom cradled Dasha inside. She literally wouldn’t let go of her. Reaching for a hand, she grabbed LJ too, but when he held back, she let go. Some words exchanged between the two of them, then suddenly, she was gazing over at me.

Pinned to my seat at this point, the woman with the kind face looking at me. A broad and clear smile stretched across her face, her hand instantly waving in my direction.

I waved back, albeit shyly, and beside her, Dasha did the same. The pair both started to wave me in, but LJ raised his hands.

More words I couldn’t hear, but every second passed squeezed my stomach. LJ had his arms braced, his head shaking and incessant about it. He obviously was saying no, no, I wasn’t coming in.

No, I wasn’t going to be a part of his life.

“I have one priority. Family, and that’ll never change.”

I sat quiet as he got back inside, and strapping in, he started the car. A wave over the wheel and he gestured goodbye to his family, wide smiles on both Dasha’s and his mom’s faces. Soon, the pair were joined by two others, strawberry blondes just a little shorter than the others. They spoke to LJ’s mom and Dasha, then they waved too, just as stylish as Dasha in glittery bomber jackets and nice tennis shoes.

“Fuck, if they wouldn’t let me leave, let you leave,” LJ said, sometime later. We were on the road now, heading back to Indiana. His family lived in Illinois, and it’d been basically a five-hour drive to get to their to

wn. I’d wanted to go, though. Say goodbye to Dasha. LJ smirked over the wheel. “Mom wanted you to stay for dinner. But I told her the drive, you know?”

So he hadn’t minded if I stayed?

Chewing my lip, I found his eyes, but just as quick, LJ had flitted them back to the road. He went on to say that the other two girls I’d seen were his younger sisters Gwen and Lia. They were in middle school, and once he got going, he couldn’t stop talking. I got to hear about how they were doing in school, all the activities they were getting into, and then, he was showing me pictures.

“You must be really proud,” I said, grinning as I swiped his phone. He’d actually given it to me, trusted me with it to look through.

A shoulder lift. “I’m glad they’re not delinquents, will make something of themselves. Shit’s not easy in that town, not for the poor anyway.”

His hand rubbed across the wheel, that chrome ring on his finger. It had that scary-looking animal on the front and was something he always wore.

I wondered about it, also what he said. He wasn’t poor clearly, and his family wasn’t either. I could probably pay a bill off the value of Dasha’s shoes alone, the same with what I’d seen his younger sisters wearing. I came from opulence, my mom a prime example. I grew up in a world around people who had an affinity for nice things, myself included.

That’d just been my world.

With the way LJ talked, I felt maybe that might not be his, and I wondered if his story was similar to Niko’s. He’d said he grew up pretty rough, obviously not the case now since he’d come into some wealth. He and LJ lived pretty large.