Untwisted by Cari Quinn, Taryn Elliott

shoulders that offered her a place to lean even when she couldn’t admit that she needed to.
    “Yeah, so what? I’m grown. I don’t need anyone taking care of me.”
    “Right. Seventeen is grown. And you’re not even seventeen yet.”
    Molly’s mouth curved in something awfully close to a sneer. “You’re not that much older than me and you’re some kind of married and knocked up.”
    “I’m plenty older than you and I’ve also been the next thing to on my own since—”
    “Since you were fourteen, yeah, yeah. I read your press bio. Until you moved in with this one’s family,” she pointed at Gray, “and scored yourself a rich man. But not all of us care about money and status.”
    Gray glanced around the apartment. “Yeah, I’d say that’s obvious.”
    “Who says we ain’t got money or status?” Junior dropped down on the coffee table and Jazz wondered how it didn’t break in half from his considerable bulk. “Just because we choose to live here doesn’t mean—”
    “You’re living with your boyfriend at the age of sixteen?” Jazz interrupted. “And Mom’s just gone?”
    Gray tugged the folded eviction notice out of his pocket. “Speaking of choosing to live places, I think your fortunate run here is almost up.”
    Molly snatched the paper out of Gray’s hand. “He doesn’t live here,” she said, obviously distracted as she read the paper she held.
    “Hell I don’t.” Junior pounded a meaty fist on the coffee table. “I cook, I clean, I take care of this place while you go out whoring around.”
    “Wait a second,” Jazz and Gray said simultaneously.
    But Molly didn’t need their help.
    She turned toward Junior and lifted a brow. “Did you just call me a whore?”
    Junior set his jaw. “And if I did? Then what? You gonna kick me out before you’re kicked to the curb yourself?”
    Without hesitation, she pointed to the door. “Get the hell out.”
    For a long moment, tension throbbed in the room like a heartbeat. Jazz felt Gray brace beside her and knew he wouldn’t hesitate to leap to defend a girl who hadn’t been kind to either of them.
    She’d never loved him more.
    “You know what?” Junior hauled himself up and stalked toward the bedroom. “I don’t need this. I’m outta here.”
    Less than a minute later, him and a raggedy duffel bag of his stuff were gone.
    Molly cupped her elbows and stared at the closed door, still vibrating in its hinges. For the first time since they’d arrived, she looked less than sure of herself. She actually looked…desolate.
    Jazz glanced at Gray, who was already looking at her. Then he sighed and stood. “Do you have any place to stay?”
    Jazz gripped the arms of the chair. She’d known he would make some sort of effort to ease Molly’s discomfort—as would she once the numbness that had descended over her wore off—but even she hadn’t expected that . There were kind gestures, and there was going above and beyond.
    “Yeah.” Molly stuffed her hands in her back pockets. “Right here.”
    “I think that eviction notice says otherwise. Do you have a way to pay?”
    “I’ve got it covered.” Molly smirked at him, but her eyes were as heavy and dark as bruises. “Don’t worry about it, moneybags. Y’all can just head on back to your fancy house up in LA now.”
    Idly, Gray stroked Jazz’s hair. “Babe, why don’t you take the car and go down the street to that convenience store we passed on the way in? Get those crackers we talked about.” While he spoke, he never took his eyes off Molly.
    Jazz pressed her fist against her growling stomach. At the moment, crackers sounded like a gourmet meal. But why was he sending her off? “What’s going on?”
    “Nothing. Just go get your crackers and come back.” He dangled the keys in front of her and she took them, too tired to argue. Besides, she knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm her in any way. It wasn’t like her relationship with her sister could be damaged