Only With You (Knights #2)

1

JULIANNA

Senior Year, Fall Semester

Let it go. He’s not worth it. Ignore it.

Breathe in. Breathe out.

The mantra I’ve been repeating for the past two minutes and over the last three years is interrupted by the reason I started it to begin with.

Let it go. He’s not worth it. Ignore it.

My brain begs me to continue unpacking the rest of my mugs, to not entertain his bullshit, but my mouth works faster.

“If you call me Hollywood one more time,” I grit, grabbing the box cutter from the counter and pointing it at Landon. “I will stab you.”

Though I doubt no matter how many times I stab him, he won’t die.

Landon Taylor is evil incarnate. I bet he was molded from Lake Cocytus and put on Earth for the Devil’s guilty pleasure.

Getting rid of him would take an exorcism and an ungodly amount of holy water.

“My name is Julianna. Ju-li-a-nna.” I slowly enunciate each syllable, but I’m sure he’ll find some way to fuck it up. “Julianna Sparks. I can write it down if that’s still too hard for you to memorize.”

I’m not sure where he got the name Hollywood from, but anytime he’s around, it’s all he ever calls me.

“Hol-ly-wood,” he enunciates just as slowly as I had from the living room. “Hollywood Sparks. Fitting, yeah?”

I drop the box cutter, letting it clang against the counter. “I see you’re still a piece of shit.”

“And you’re still a bitch,” he counters. “Almost four years, and that still hasn’t changed. At least you’re consistent.”

“Fuck—”

“You.” He finishes for me and levels me with a blank stare, letting me know my counter is lame.

“Okay, that’s enough!” Polly blows out a harsh breath, hands at her hips. Her eyes leap between the Spawn of Satan and me. “We didn’t want to do this, but Gabby and I can’t take a year of this.”

“You’re kicking her out?” he asks with hopefulness in his voice.

Jagger, Landon’s best friend, quietly chuckles next to him on the couch.

“No.” Gabby shakes her head at him and smiles at me as if she’s reassuring me that that’s not going to happen. “We’re just implementing a new rule, that’s all.”

Living with Gabby and Polly my senior year of college wasn’t in my plans.

The apartment complex I had gotten a lease on burned down last week. Thankfully, I hadn’t moved in yet, but that left me with nowhere to stay. I could’ve moved into my sorority’s house, but after living there my freshman year and dealing with a shitload of things, I chose not to.

After I told Lola—a girl I met last year, who’s now become a really good friend of mine—what happened, she said she had a solution. She told me that Gabby and Polly have a spare room.

I had forgotten all about their extra room. When I asked the girls, they didn’t hesitate to let me move in, but there’s a downside. A tall , atrocious downside that has me questioning whether the Devil had a part in my apartment complex burning down.

The sweetest girls I’ve ever met in my entire life just happen to be best friends with the Devil’s incarnate.

Maybe I was better off living alone.

“A rule?” we skeptically say in unison.

“For every mean thing you say to each other, you have to end it with something nice. If you don’t…” Polly trails off, but then her face alights. She comes into the kitchen, opens the cabinet door, and pulls out a huge jar. “If you don’t, then you have to add a dollar.”

“Pols, you’re a genius.” Jagger laughs, throwing his head back.

“I can’t be arsed,” Landon flatly replies in his posh British accent.

She smiles triumphantly, setting the jar on the shelf full of plants next to the TV stand. “Either you say something nice, add a dollar, or say nothing at all.”

I internally recoil at the thought of having to say something nice to him. There’s nothing pleasant about the Devil’s favorite child.

“Okay.” One corner of his mouth tugs just slightly upward.

I narrow my eyes, wondering what he could be up to because there’s no way he’d say something nice to me.

His eyes lock with mine. “I have a confession.”

Jagger stares at him gleefully while the girls smile at each other like they’ve just completed the hardest puzzle.

Folding my arms against my chest, I warily ask, “A confession?”

“Yes, a confession. I thought of you today.”

“Right…I’m sure you did.”

“I’m not a liar,” he gravely states.

Something tells me I’m going to regret this, but I take the bait. “So you thought of me today?”

His lifeless eyes spark with vigor. “I did. I saw a cockroach and thought of you.”

The girls shake their heads, rolling their eyes, but Jagger only laughs harder.

“You’re a fucking piece of shit.” I flip him off, stalk off to my room, and come back out with a dollar bill.

There’s already a dollar in the jar when I drop mine.

“Yes, you stated that earlier.” He yawns, staring at the TV as if he couldn’t be bothered with the conversation anymore.

“Just wanted to remind you in case you forgot.” I resume what I started, placing my mugs in the cabinet.

“I promise I haven’t.”

Let it go. He’s not worth it. Ignore it.

I repeat in my head until I’m done unpacking in the kitchen. Surprisingly, he doesn’t make any more comments, and I’m glad because I was seconds away from really stabbing him.

Now I have to figure out how I’m going to make it a whole year.

Before I moved in, they told me Jagger and the Spawn come over a lot since they’re all so close. They did say they’d make sure I’m okay with it before they show up.

I don’t mind Jagger and he’s not bad to look at. He’s tall, with warm brown skin, to-die-for lashes that I’m envious of, a small indent on his chin, and an earring that dangles on his right lobe. He’s a big flirt and extremely cocky, but I’ve dealt with guys like him before. His best friend, on the other hand, nothing—and I mean absolutely nothing—will change the way I feel about him.

“Juls, we’re getting takeout from Suki’s. What would you like?” Gabby stands next to me in the kitchen, holding a menu.

The anger I was feeling evaporates and I smile down at her. Despite her questionable choice of friend, Gabby is possibly the nicest person I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a lot of people.

She’s the embodiment of sunshine and also pretty small. I feel like a giant when I’m standing next to her. While I’m five-foot-eleven, I think she said she’s five-foot-three or maybe it’s four?

“Thanks, but I’m okay.” I return the smile and pick up the flattened cardboard boxes.

She shifts closer to me, setting the menu on the counter. “We can kick them out. They don’t need to be here. It’s late, and you’ve been unpacking all day. I’m sure you’re starving.”

She has no idea how much it means to me that she’s being considerate about how I feel. It may not be a big deal, but after my last roommates, meeting Gabby is like a breath of fresh air.

I hesitate, but I am starving. “Japanese does sound good.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” A cheery smile grows on her face. “What would you like?”

After looking through the menu, I tell her what I want, but before she walks away, I stop her.

“I know you said not to, but thanks again for letting me move in. You guys didn’t have to take me in, but you did, so thank you.”

“We’re seriously happy to have you with us. I know some people love it and do live on their own, but I’d hate to live alone.” She pulls me in for a hug but then freezes. “Sorry, it’s a habit.”

I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her before she gets to. “It’s okay. I don’t mind hugs. I’m kind of a hugger myself.”

“Oh my gosh, we’re going to make the best of roommates.” She squeezes me a little tighter.

I beam, feeling ten times lighter than I have all week.

As I finally finish unpacking the last of my things in my room, Polly shouts from the living room, “Food’s here!”

Padding out of my room, I find the girls setting out the food on the dining table and the guys grabbing some stuff from the kitchen. We all wanted a little bit of everything, so they ordered a lot of different things.

Jagger holds a stack of napkins, chopsticks, and plastic forks, and Landon has the plates. He hands them out to everyone, but when he stands in front of me, he regards me with a blank expression and sidesteps me.

“My plate.”

“You know where they’re at,” he replies with his back to me and serves himself.

From the corner of my eye, I see Polly open her mouth, but I beat her to it. “It’s fine.”

It’s been a long and stressful week, and school starts tomorrow. I don’t have it in me to argue with him.

Quickly and quietly, I serve myself and go to the kitchen to grab a drink.

“Juls, are you not going to get any sushi?” Gabby glances at my plate as I step back into the living room.

“There’s more than enough. Grab as much as you want and hurry before Jag finishes it all.” Polly picks up a roll with her chopsticks and dips it in the mixture of soy sauce and wasabi.

Eyeing the raw and cooked sushi rolls on the platters, I grimace. “I don’t like fish. I genuinely don’t understand how you guys enjoy it or eat it raw.”

Polly stares, bemused. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, and if I smell it any longer, I’m going to get nauseous.”

“Would you look at that? Something you and Lanny boy here have in common.” Jagger elbows Spawn’s side, but he doesn’t look one bit entertained.

I don’t reply to that and head to my room, but I stop when Gabby calls after me. “Where are you going? Come sit with us.”

If Landon weren’t here, I’d happily take a seat, but I know it won’t be long before we break into another argument. The last thing I want is to ruin Polly’s and Gabby’s night. If we argue, I’m sure they’d prefer if I was the one gone. After all, he’s their best friend. I’m just the girl they took in.

“My parents are going to call me soon.” I retreat to my room and shut the door behind me.

Setting my plate on my desk, I grab my phone from the nightstand where it’s charging, and my heart sinks to my stomach as I read the message on the screen.

Dad: I’m on call tonight. Can’t speak to you today. I expect nothing but the best. Do not disappoint me.

Dad: Again.