Page 52 of The Auction
Reluctantly I turn because it would look ridiculous if I tried to walk backward all the way to my room. I nearly feel his gaze on me just as hot as the fire a moment ago.
“Is that…” he pauses, voice a little hoarse. “You sleep inmyshirt, Cricket?”
God I’m so fucking stupid.
I glance over my shoulder. “It’s just an old shirt.”
We know it’s not. It’s his. His old baseball shirt with his name on the back. “KANE” and the number “18”. My birthday.
I’ve always wanted to ask if he picked the number or if they gave it to him. But I’d die first.
Jaxon had bought a house for himself and his mom, Sandy. I was barely thirteen and he was celebrating with a pool party. Jonathan pushed me in at night when the swimming was over. My clothes were soaked, and he gave me this shirt. A pair of boxers too.
Our parents came to pick us up and he told me to keep them. And I did.
He takes another step closer. “Just an old shirt huh?”
“Yup.” I swallow hard, crossing my arms over my chest to hide my nipples that are hardening with each second. “I didn’t even pay attention when I put it on.”
Another step. “Sure you didn’t.”
His eyes drop again, and for a second, I think he might kiss me—right here in the smoke-scented kitchen, with the fire extinguisher still on the counter and a burned pan still hissing behind us.
But instead, he backs off, and leans against the kitchen island. Stomach muscles flexing as he’s still calming his breathing.
“Get dressed,” he nods toward my bedroom door. “I’ll take you to breakfast.”
Back at Jaxon’s apartment, he disappears behind his office door, mumbling about a few meetings and that he won’t be long.
I head to the guest room—the one that’s mine for the next thirty days—but I barely make it past the bed before my phone buzzes with an alert.
I freeze when I see the bank notice of a deposit.
$500,000,000.
I blink, then blink again, thinking maybe my eyes are playing tricks. Maybe there's a glitch. Maybe the comma’s in the wrong place. But no—it’s real. All of it.
Half a billion dollars.
And change.
In my name.
It doesn’t even register at first. I sit down, phone still in hand, and try to catch my breath.
And this is only half.
Half of what my virginity was apparently worth.
That thought alone is enough to send me spiraling. But I don't let myself go there. I can’t. Not right now.
Because this money—this unimaginable, world-altering amount—could fix everything.
Not just the house but… everything.
I pull myself together, change into jeans and a t-shirt, and send Jaxon a quick message letting him know I’ll be out for a bit.
By the time I pull up to the house, my nerves are a wreck. It looks the same as it always has—but at the same time it doesn’t. It looks different.
