For Life | JJ Maybank

three

Chapter Three

☼

April

"Damn," JJ steps out of the Twinkie after me, both of our eyes scanning the house.

It was a white, two-story craftsman style house with a dark gray roof and front porch, just right outside The Cut.

"It's nice, isn't it?" I glance back at him, and he nods. "Wait 'til you see the inside. Come on."

I hit his chest with the back of my hand, and nod my head towards the house.

We begin following mom to the front porch, along with John B, Pope, and Kie.

"Holy shit," JJ said, once we got inside. The living room was completely decked out with a white leather couch and a matching armchair, a glass coffee table, a nude-ish colored carpet, a flat screen tv, and a fireplace.

"I told you," I look over at him, and he glances back at me with a toothy smile on his face.

I've always loved that smile.

"Y'all are really gonna be living like kook now, huh?" John B rounds the living area, glancing around at everything, before taking a seat on the armchair.

"Oh, hell yeah," JJ laughed, plopping himself down on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table. I take a seat beside him, and he wraps an arm around me, squeezing me to his side. "We're gonna be doing all the kook things, aren't we, Barney?"

"Oh, absolutely," I nodded, playing along. "We'll sign up for the country club, learn how to play golf, attend Kook Academy... It'll be a blast."

Kie, who had taken a seat on the arm of the sofa, and Pope, who stood beside her rolled their eyes at us, but laughed along.

"Y'all are stupid," John B said.

"Well, would you kooks mind getting the luggage out of the car to start unpacking it?" mom walks up behind us, and places a hand on each of our shoulders.

I exchange glances with JJ, and we hop up onto our feet.

"Yes, ma'am," JJ said.

"We can do that," I add, and walk around the couch to head back outside, with JJ, Pope, Kie, and John B on my tail.

☼

"Your bed is softer than mine," JJ sinks into my mattress and gets comfortable, his arms resting behind his head.

I chuckle and roll my eyes at him, opening up a box of my clothes. "Is it? Or are you just looking for an excuse to sneak in here at night?"

He gasps and sits up to look at me. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Am I wrong?" I ask, setting down some of my clothes beside him on the bed.

"I never said that," he said, watching me continue to unpack. "Would you mind?"

I shrug, and pick up the box by his feet to place it on the bed and open it. "I never said that."

"Then, we're on the same page," he smiles and lets out a chuckle when he sees what's in the box I've just opened. "Oh, no way!"

"What do we have here?" he kinks a brow at me and reaches his hand into the box to pick up my small, stuffed Barney plushie. "I thought you grew out of sleeping with this thing?"

"I did," I grab the Barney out of his hands, and sit down beside him, moving the box with a scooch of my hip. "But dad gave it to me."

I analyze the toy in my hand, looking at the year knitted on the bottom of its right foot.