Chapter 31: Chapter 9: It’s Him

JOCELYN

“Come on, Jocelyn! You’ve got to get ready for school. You’re going to be late, and you know Uncle Frankie hates you being late. Especially it being the first day of your sophomore year!” my dad exclaims.

“I’m up, Dad!”

I throw my covers off and run into my bathroom. I quickly shower and throw on some skinny jeans with a shirt and my flats. I put my hair in a ponytail, then I grab my backpack and run down the stairs.

When I hit the bottom, I see my dad, mom, Nate, and Uncle Frankie all smirking. I quickly hug my brother and kiss my dad and mom as I grab my breakfast from my uncle and follow him to the front door.

We walk out, and I see Tank in the driver’s seat, tapping on his watch.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming!”

Frankie jumps in the passenger seat while I jump in the back seat of the SUV, and we are off to the high school. Last year was eye-opening with all the people who wouldn’t talk to me.

My friends Mary and Kerri weren’t afraid, which made the year go by quickly, and the party was fun for the most part.

Now it’s time to implement our plan to suck in Ricardo. Make him think I’m interested while not making it obvious. Mary, Kerri, and I kept in touch with each other over the summer, and it will be fun seeing them again!

I quickly eat my breakfast as we drive while Tank and Frankie talk back and forth.

When we pull up, people stare as Frankie jumps out, opening my door. I’ve told him multiple times he doesn’t have to, but he likes scaring people.

When I jump out, my friends Mary and Kerri come running up, pulling me into a big hug. When we pull back, we enter the school and go to our usual hangout area.

As I am laughing, walking arm in arm with my girls, we round a corner and I run into a brick wall of a body. As I am about to fall flat on my ass, two arms reach out quickly, grabbing me and pulling me up.

I look up, trying to figure out what I ran into, and I’m met with Ricardo. He seems to have gotten bigger over the summer, if that was even possible. Seems like he is giving Jessie a run for his money.

“O-M-G, I’m so sorry!” I say.

“It’s okay, beautiful. I’m glad I caught you!”

“Literally…you literally caught me!”

“I did, didn’t I? How was your summer, Jocelyn?”

“Great, and yours?”

“Okay. It would have been better if you were with me.”

As my face starts to flush, I realize he still has me in his arms.

“Jocelyn…wanna hang out after school? I can drive over to your house and hang out.”

“Um, sure, but aren’t you a senior this year? Why would you want to hang out with me?”

“Well, I wanted to do it last year but was too shy, and there were other issues, obviously.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, we can hang out, I guess.”

As he releases me from his arms, he smiles at me, winking. I look at my friends who are looking at me, smiling. They grab me and quickly drag me away.

“O-M-G, you’re going to hang out with Ricardo? Do your parents know?” Mary asks.

“Yes, Mary, they know.”

“He is cute! Hopefully, it will go well today at your house.”

“Come on, let’s go. We are going to be late!”

We run our separate ways toward our first classes. I cannot wait till after school to implement the plan. Except first are classes, then lunch. This day seems to be going so slowly, and I’m already exhausted when lunch rolls around.

I grab my lunch and run to our eating area where I see Mary and Kerri already seated. I sit down and start eating. I’m visiting with my friends when I see a few trays get set down next to me.

I slowly look up to see who owns them and see Ricardo and his friends. He sits down, straddling the bench right next to me, and sets his hand on my lower back.

He leans forward to whisper in my ear. “I hope it’s okay if we sit here. I wanted to visit during lunch.”

“Of course, but I’m curious. What do you want? Why didn’t you talk to me all last year except for the party, and now this year, finally chat with me?”

“I did chat with you last year in the form of letters and gifts. Everything was sent as ~S.A.~—~secret admirer~. Also, I tried to at the party, but we know how that went. I don’t want anything except for you to be my girl. You will be mine and only mine.”

“Really, that was you? The flowers and necklaces? Even the birthday gift that was delivered?”

“Yep, all me, baby. You will be mine. I want you to be my queen.”

I can hear my friends whispering next to me while they are hearing the exchange between us. I stare at him, trying to read his eyes, and he looks sincere, but I know what he really wants.

I slowly nod and when I look around, I see so many girls giving me nasty looks. Great, as if I wanted to be the center of attention.

We continue to eat and when I finish, Ricardo and his guys quickly grab our trays and take them to throw away our trash and turn them in. I sit, confused about what just happened.

I stare at Mary and Kerri, and they just shrug their shoulders, so we decide to just get up and head to our next class. I stand up and am going to lift my backpack up when Ricardo slowly takes it from my hands.

“I can carry my backpack to my class.”

“Why, though? I can do it since I’m walking you.”

“Ricardo, like I said, I don’t know what this is all about. What do you want?”

He steps up, wrapping one arm around my waist and pulling me against him as he leans down to my ear.

“I told you, Jocelyn. You are my queen. Mi amor, and only mine!”

I feel a shiver run down my body as I hear his words and feel his breath on my neck. This guy could make me melt in two seconds if I was really interested.

He is good-looking, don’t get me wrong. Except I am not to get involved with him. Nate and Dad flipped over Jessie laying claim, and now I’m being claimed by some other boy?

He leans back and flashes me a smile, and if my panties weren’t wet already, they are now. I smile back and he releases my waist and grabs my hand, walking me to my class. While we walk along, I see girls gossiping and giving me more looks.

After a few turns, we arrive in front of my classroom. He grabs my waist, pulling me against him and crashing his lips on mine. Before I have time to react, he hands me my bag and walks off with a wink.

What the fuck just happened? If I didn’t look like an idiot before, I do now, just standing here trying to process the situation. I slowly pick up my bag and head into class where I take my seat.

How on the first day of school did I go from being claimed by Jessie to being claimed by a senior? The rest of the day, I just walk around trying to make sense of it all, and before I know it, school is over.

I gather up my bag slowly and when I walk out of my class, Ricardo is there to greet me. He takes my bag, grabbing my hand and heading to my locker so I can grab my stuff, then we head to the front of the school.

When we get closer, I hear Frankie before I see him.

“Jocelyn, what the hell do you think you are doing?”

I hear a car door slam and now Tank is walking around the car. Ricardo and I walk up to the two of them, and I can see their fake pissed-off faces.

“Tank, Frankie, this is Ricardo. He is going to come over later to meet my parents.”

He sees their pissed-off faces when he wraps his arm around my waist pulling me to him. He leans over, kissing my temple, and whispers, “I’ll see you in a bit. Gonna run home, then I’ll be by.”

He walks over to his car, and Frankie opens his mouth followed by Tank.

“Jocelyn, that’s Ricardo? Why is he kissing you?” Frankie asks.

“Why, Jocelyn?” Tank chimes in.

“Can we just get in the car, please! He’s coming over later to hang out.”

I roll my eyes as I climb into the car, shut the door, and cross my arms. These idiots just stand there looking at each other having their own conversation. They slowly part and get in the car, and drive away back toward the estate.

The whole drive home we laugh because, boy, did we play that well. I keep getting looks from Tank. I think he is still pissed about the kiss. I just ignore him. I knew this would happen, but I have to play my part.

When we pull up and park, I don’t wait for Frankie as I jump out and walk up to the door. When I enter, my dad and mom are there to greet me. They are all smiles till they see Tank and Frankie enter.

“Why the fuck are they pissed?”

“Ricardo was walking with her and kissed her.”

“Seriously Frankie? Jocelyn, you let him kiss you?”

“It was a kiss on the temple. He’s coming over in a bit to hang out. I have to play the part.”

“Jocelyn, do you like him? Isn’t he a senior this year?” my mom asks.

“Eva! Are you serious right now?”

“Mom, yes, he’s a senior, and I have to pretend that I do.”

“He doesn’t need to kiss you though.”

“Jocelyn, we are going to have to have ground rules,” Dad says.

“Dad, does it matter? You guys need me to suck him in.”

“Yes, it matters! We are going to have boundaries,” Dad insists.

“Dad, I will do what I need to do to get him hooked. I know how far I will go. I will act like I’m interested. I like Jessie, and he has my heart. So, please…it is just an act, Dad. Please, just trust me.”

“I don’t like this, Jocelyn!”

Right when I’m about to answer, my dad gets a phone call from the front gate. He looks at me wide-eyed as he says to the person on the other end to go ahead and let him in.

I know Ricardo is here. I don’t understand what the huge issue is.

Dad hangs up the phone and just stares at me. This is what they wanted. For me to draw him in so they can see what his plans are.

“So, Ricardo is here. He should be up here in a bit.”

“I’m not sticking around,” Frankie says.

“That’s okay, Frankie, she will have Jessie. He will watch her after today. This should be fun.”

Just then the doorbell rings, and I jump up and run toward the door.

CADEN

I stare at Jocelyn with my eyes wide, knowing here goes nothing.

“Go ahead and let him in.”

She opens the door, and he steps in and toward me and her mom, bypassing Jessie. You can almost feel the hate radiating off of Jessie. Ricardo walks up and stands in front of us, extending his hand.

“Mr. and Mrs. Maxwell, I’m Ricardo Ortiz. It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Ricardo,” Eva says.

This fucking kid had to end up not only at Jocelyn’s school but is interested in her. Eva shakes his hand first, then I extend my hand to shake his.

“Hello, Ricardo. I’m Mr. Maxwell.”

“Jocelyn, is this your boyfriend?”

Ricardo looks at all of us, smiling…well, not at Jessie. Oh my, this poor kid has no fucking clue what he just walked into. He just walked into the lion’s den.

He thinks he’s going to blindside us, trying to get into the family through Jocelyn. Except we are a step ahead. We know he has some plan, and we already have one of our own.

“Well, not officially yet. I want her to be my girl.”

“So, Ricardo, let’s have a seat so we can all chat for a bit.”

Her mom and I lead the way, and Ricardo grabs her hand to follow. When we all sit down, Ricardo sits right next to her with his hand on her thigh. I internally cringe and can see Jessie starting to get uncomfortable, so I ask him to leave.

I watch as he slowly gets up and walks out. Within minutes, we hear the sliding door open and shut, then there is yelling outside. I hear Frankie and Tank trying to calm Jessie down.

Ricardo squeezes Jocelyn’s thigh. She looks over at him, and he just smirks.

“So, Ricardo, what are your plans once you finish high school?” I ask.

“Well, Mr. Maxwell, the hope is to continue working my business.”

“Really? It must be doing well for you so far.”

“It has been. Hoping to expand it in the near future, but we’ll see. I’m not in a rush.”

“All right. What are your plans for hanging out?”

“I thought, Dad, we could watch a movie in the entertainment room?” Jocelyn suggests.

“That’s fine. Jessie will be standing at the door to supervise.”

“That’s understandable, Mr. Maxwell. I have no issue with that.”

I get up and walk through the house to the back where I see Frankie and Tank talking to Jessie. I walk out and stand by him, waiting till he calms down.

“I will need you to stand guard in the doorway while they watch a movie.”

“Sir, I understand, but you can’t be serious!”

“Look, Jessie, if I send Tank or Frankie in there, we will have a dead boy on our hands. You’re the only one I trust right now to keep her safe while keeping yourself under control and not killing him. I don’t like it any more than you do. Please work with us here.”

He nods and walks back into the house. I follow and see him walk over to the doorway. I can barely make him out but watch him as he sits right behind Jocelyn, watching Ricardo the whole time. It’s in that moment I know that he would give his life for Jocelyn.