Free Believe in Me (Jett #1) by Amy Sparling Page B

playground in fourth grade because my pants were “high waters” and then getting bullied even more because I didn’t know what high waters meant. Going out in public with guys Mom’s dated over the years, watching them get rip-roaring drunk at some little café and then having us get kicked out for causing a scene.
    None of those instances equal the amount of humiliation that flows through me now. I am sitting at a kitchen table with Jett. His mom is sitting across from us, her fingers laced together on the table. He gives me this encouraging smile like I’m supposed to trust him. Yeah, right.
    “So . . . you say you just let her spend the night?” Mrs. Adams asks her son.
    Jett sighs. “For the millionth time, yes. I ran into her at McDonalds and she said her mom wasn’t back yet. She had nowhere to go and I didn’t want her to be fucking homeless so I brought her here.”
    “Language,” Mrs. Adams says. There’s a quick knock on the back door and then it swings open and Becca enters and I swear my humiliation gets about ten times worse.
    “Honey,” she says, walking straight to me. She throws an arm around me and pulls me into a hug. She smells like cinnamon rolls and I’ve never been more confused. Shouldn’t she be yelling at me?
    “Aren’t I in trouble?” I ask when she finally releases her grip on me.
    Mrs. Adams laughs. “My son is in trouble, not you.”
    “Mom!” Jett says, slapping his hands on the granite counter. “I was just helping out a friend. You’re the one who told me to be nice to her and help show her around town.”
    “Yeah, but I can’t have my sixteen-year-old having girls sleep in his bed,” she says, giving him one of those classic Mom looks.
    “So what exactly happened?” Becca asks, squeezing my hand while she takes a seat on the barstool next to me.
    Jett decides to tell the story. “I ran into Keanna at McDonalds. Her mom is MIA and I didn’t want her to be alone so I told her to come stay with us.”
    “That was very kind of you, Jett.”
    Mrs. Adams clears her throat. “It was kind, but then Jace found them curled up in bed together this morning.”
    Becca laughs. “I almost don’t believe that,” she says, eyeing me. “You seemed to think Jett was a little bit of a jerk last time I talked to you.”
    My cheeks are so read they’re probably in danger of catching on fire. “What can I say? I needed a place to sleep.”
    “You’ll stay with us,” Becca says. “I got your note and it broke my heart, kiddo. You’re welcome to stay with us as long as you want. Actually,” she says, holding up an intimidating finger to me. “I demand it. You’d be safe with Jett but I don’t think his parents quite approve.”
    Mrs. Adams playfully slaps Becca on the arm. “Don’t make me the bad guy here! If you had a daughter would you let her sleep in Jett’s room with him?”
    Becca pretends to consider this. “Didn’t we always daydream about having kids close in age so they could grow up and marry each other?”
    Jett groans, rolling his eyes like he’s heard this story a million times and his mom laughs.
    “You’re supposed to be on my side,” she tells her best friend. “Keanna, you’ll stay with Becca and Park until we hear from your mom.”
    “And no more running away,” Becca says, wagging that finger at me again.
    “Okay . . . I guess,” I say, but it ends up sounding like a question.
    Jett looks over at me and gives me this assuring look that makes my stomach flutter. Every instinct I have is telling me to deny their help and grab my things and run away again. But Jett’s dark blue gaze has me frozen to the barstool. As much as I may want to leave, I know there’s really nowhere else to go. And I don’t want to leave Jett.
    There, I said it.
    Now I have to find a way to make those feelings go away.
     
    *
     
    It’s like another freaking episode of some perfect family TV show after everything settles down. Mrs. Adams, who now insists