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CHAPTER SIX

❝BETTER KEEP THAT BITCH ON A LEASH, BIEBER.❞

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Winnie woke up to the faint sound of squealing and laughs making her crease her eyebrows and turn in her bed as she sharply inhaled a breath.

Just ignore it, Winnie thought.

Only she couldn't. The sounds just kept going on.

Winnie huffed heavily and removed her sheets from her body and looked over at her digital clock and saw that it was almost 7 o'clock.

She puffed one of her curls out of her face with her breath and jumped out of bed and quickly walked out of her bedroom and out to the source of the sound.

Once she got to the source, she found herself at the pool area and seeing Justin in the pool playing with Iris making her cross her arms over her chest when they saw her too.

"How was your nap, sleepyhead?"

"I don't think you want my answer."

"What's the matter? Woke up on the wrong side of the bed?" Iris asked as she creased her eyebrows and placed her sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.

"No, just got a bitchy wake up call."

"Pardon?"

"Nothing!" Winnie shouted as she turned around and made her way back into the house and slamming the door shut making Justin and Iris jump.

Once Winnie was back inside, she groaned and lazily walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to grab the almond milk and grabbed the box of Cheerios.

Once she poured herself a bowl and sat down at the kitchen table, she had finally felt a little bit more calm making her let out a breath through her nostrils as she chewed her cereal.

But it was quickly interrupted.

The sound of the door opening and Justin coming into the house with Iris giggling loud made Winnie pause from eating her cereal and slamming her spoon down into the bowl making a loud clinking noise.

"Winnie, how are you, dear? You look a little pale, babe."

Winnie clenched her jaw. "Just haven't been out as much, Iris."

"Oh. . .poor thing, no car?"

"Iris, honestly I don't want to have this conversation with you. . .can I eat my cereal in peace?"

"Sure. . ."

"Thank you."

"Are you leaving soon though?" Iris asked softly as she leaned against the wall near the fridge making Winnie sigh heavily and shrug her shoulders.

"I have—"

"Can you try and leave in about an hour or so? Justin and I need some alone time."

Alone time my ass, Winnie thought.

"Got it."

Winnie huffed and quickly picked up her bowl, knowing she wouldn't be getting any peace downstairs. She made her way out of the kitchen and met Justin at the door. "Hey, Winnie."

Winnie completely ignored Justin making the smile on his face fade as he creased his eyebrows and looked at Iris seeing her picking at her acrylic nails as Justin walked in.

"That was weird, did you see that?"

"Willow? Yeah, I know. She said she wasn't feeling good."

"Winnie."

Iris creased her eyebrows. "That's what I said."

Justin rolled his eyes playfully and shook his head as he went to open the fridge and check to see what him and Iris could eat.

The sudden sound of the doorbell made Justin pause and crease his eyebrows and turn around to see Iris looking at him the same way.

"You expecting someone?"

"No. . ."

Justin puffed out a breath and made his way to the front door and opened it to see Jade making him crease his eyebrows. "Did my dad send you, love?"

"What? No, I'm here for Winnie."

"Too bad."

"Move, white boy." Jade scoffed as she moved past Justin and heard him chuckle softly as he shut the door behind him.

"Winnie's upstairs. . ."

Jade smiled and nodded as she headed up the staircase and went to the only room that looked like Winnie's — the one that had the light on and the sound of music coming from it.

Jade giggled softly and knocked on her door and waited a moment before the door opened and Winnie appeared with a white towel wrapped around her body.

"Justin, I don't have time — oh, Jade!"

"I'm offended you thought I was that guy downstairs."

Winnie giggled and opened the door for Jade to come inside. "I'm sorry, come in."

Jade nodded and followed Winnie into the room and shut it behind her as Winnie walked back into the bathroom and shut the door, but left a crack to talk to Jade.

"Thank you for coming."

"No problem."

"I'm honestly freaking out about this date with Pete. . ." Winnie breathed out as she dried off her body and Jade creased her eyebrows and sat down at the edge of her bed.

"Why's that?"

Winnie opened the door a bit and peaked her head out. "I've never been on a date before."

"Never?"

"Never."

"Well. . .all I can say is if Pete's the one, things will come easy to you."

Winnie creased her eyebrows. "Things will come easy?"

"Yeah, talking and such."

Winnie nodded and pursed her lips as she popped her head back into the bathroom to get back to dressing herself as Jade chuckled softly.

After a few moments, Winnie came out of the bathroom dressed in a black tube top that stopped at her belly button, a pair of denim blue ripped jeans, and a pair of checkered vans. She topped it off with a gold necklace and bracelet and her curls in a nice curly bun on top of her head.

"Winnie you look so cute."

"Do I? Pete said I don't have to dress up—"

"Girl, you look like a whole entree, he's going to love it."

Winnie smiled wide and giggled softly as she looked down at her clothes and rubbed her somewhat sweaty palms on her jeans.

Just then, the sound of a knock at Winnie's door made her crease her eyebrows and walk around Jade to the door and open it to see Justin.

"Your Prince Charming just arrived."

"So, this is the part where you turn into my carriage, right?"

Jade snickered as Justin rolled his eyes and leaned against the doorframe of Winnie's door as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Can you just tell him I'll be there in a few minutes?"

Justin nodded and licked his lips slowly as he stepped back from the door and watched Winnie smile at him one last time before shutting the door back.

He turned around and made his way back downstairs to see that Peter was standing near the front door with his hands in the pocket of his jeans.

"She'll be down in a minute."

"Thanks, man."

Justin nodded and pursed his lips as he walked away from Peter, only to hear him call him making him stop in his tracks and huff as he turned around.

"Hey um. . .I know we didn't start off on the right foot. . .truce?"

Justin looked down to see Peter extend his hand out to him making him chuckle softly and extend his hand out and shake it. "Truce, man."

"Well isn't this a lovely sight."

Justin and Peter both let go of each other's hands and looked over to the staircase to see Winnie coming down as she placed her phone in the pocket of her jeans.

"Wow. . ."

Winnie smiled as she approached Peter. "Do I look okay?"

"Beautiful. . .um, are you ready to go?"

Winnie hummed in response as she looked over to Jade and saw her wink as she leaned against the wall. She then looked over to Justin seeing him give her a smile and nod as she returned the gesture and headed to the front door with Peter.

Peter opened the door for her and she thanked him as the two headed out, shutting the door behind them leaving Jade and Justin in the middle of the room.

"So, I'll just stick around until Winnie gets back."

"Wait, who are you?"

Jade rose an eyebrow. "My name is Jade Carter anything else you want to know?"

"Sorry, just not everyday you invite strangers into your house."

"I get it, but next time, just ask, got it, white boy?"

Justin snickered and rose an eyebrow. "Got it."

"So, how long?"

"How long what?"

"How long have you liked Winnie?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow as she followed Justin into the living room as she heard him scoff.

"Excuse me?"

"Come on, it's pretty obvious."

Justin sighed heavily as he plopped down onto the couch. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay, if you say so."

"Listen, Jade, I have no feelings for Winnie. She's just like a roommate or whatever, but I already have someone I'm seeing."

Jade nodded and plopped down onto the couch as she slipped off her chestnut brown leather jacket and fixed the sleeves of her thin smoke gray hoodie.

"So, popcorn or what?"

"What?"

"I'm bored and hungry, go make something."

Justin sighed heavily and rolled his eyes as he jumped up from the couch making Jade grin as she got comfortable on the couch and reached over to the other side of the couch for the remote to find something to watch.

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"Pete, how much longer?"

"Just around this corner, here."

Winnie sighed softly and held onto Peter's hand a little longer as the two walked down a boardwalk to where Peter said their dinner would be waiting for them.

Just when they turned the corner, Winnie looked around and saw there was a picnic set up for them neatly at the end of the dock overlooking the water.

"Oh. . .Pete, this is sweet. . ."

"I thought we could eat breakfast for dinner, do things a little different."

Winnie giggled. "I love it."

Peter smiled wide and guided Winnie over to the pillow seats on the ground and made themselves comfortable before getting their plates together to eat.

"So, how are things?"

"That's how we start the conversation of the evening?" Winnie giggled softly as she rose an eyebrow and saw Peter's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.

"Is it obvious?"

"Is what obvious?"

"That I'm. . .nervous." Peter murmured softly as he scratched the back of his neck as Winnie bit her bottom lip softly.

"You're nervous? I was nervous. I've never been on a date before. . ."

"Really? Well uh. . .," Peter murmured softly as he cleared his throat and smiled softly as he cut his waffle to eat. "Can we restart?"

"Absolutely."

"Peter Solano, how do you do?" Peter asked as he stopped cutting his waffle and held his hand out for Winnie to shake making her smile.

"Winnie Stone."

The two shook hands and went back to eating their food and chatting as the sun began to set and the breeze began to go a little smoother.

And for once, Winnie felt comfortable around someone. Peter was making her happy and she could be herself around him, she felt like she'd known Pete for a while when they talked. Pete himself was just an amazing person to Winnie and she felt herself growing feelings for him.

"The sun's going down."

Peter looked out at the sunset. "Yeah. . .beautiful sight, huh?"

"Yeah. . ."

"Not as beautiful as this one right here." Peter spoke in a whisper as he looked over at Winnie and saw her still looking out at the sunset almost in a daze with a small smile on her lips.

"Well, I'm stuffed, you?"

"Definitely."

"Help me pack up?" Winnie asked as she placed her plate down next to the other empty plate and opened up the basket next to her.

Peter nodded and helped Winnie pack up the plates in the basket and place it to the side as Winnie stood up and walked to the edge of the boardwalk to watch the sun start to go down making Peter join her.

Peter stood next to Winnie and looked down at Winnie as she watched the sun go down, she took the chance to look up at Peter and smile softly as she let her hands slowly find Peter's and interlace them with hers as she rested her head on top of his shoulder.

"I have one more place for us to go, you up for it?"

Winnie smiled and looked up to Peter's gaze down on her and nodded slowly. "Of course."

˚˚˚

"So you make six figures every year just by your name?"

"If you want to put it that way. . .sure?"

Jade hummed in response as she popped another kernel of popcorn into her mouth as she looked back over to the television where they were watching Supernatural.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"What question?"

"How long have you liked Winnie?"

"Jade, please. . .," Justin murmured softly as he shook his head a puffed out a breath and reached for some more popcorn only to have Jade snatch it away. "I don't know what you mean."

"Justin, please, be honest with yourself. I saw the way you looked at her when she headed out with Peter."

Justin scoffed. "And how's that?"

"Like you wanted that to be you."

Justin swallowed a lump in his throat and cleared it as he went silent on Jade making her purse her lips and rub the sides of the popcorn bowl as she went silent as well.

Just then, the sound of the doorbell made Justin cough softly and jump up from the couch and head to the front door, once he opened it, he came face to face with Iris.

"Iris. . ."

"Hey, sexy." Iris murmured softly as she smiled wide and cupped his cheeks to give him a peck on his lips and invite herself inside.

"Um. . .I thought you said you couldn't make it?"

"Got out of the board meeting with my daddy, I wanted to surprise you. I got some wine in my car."

"Iris. . .I have a guest here, so. . ."

Iris snickered. "Are you kicking me out?"

"I believe he is, sweetheart."

Iris and Justin looked to see Jade leaning against the wall with the bowl of popcorn still in her hand making Iris crease her eyebrows and look back at Justin. "Who's she?"

"Jade Carter, what's up?"

"Well, Jade Carter, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, Coco Chanel, I'm not stealing your mans. I'm here for Winnie."

Iris rolled her eyes. "Of course you are."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing. . .Justin, can we—"

"Listen, I'm not one of your friends, rich girl, talk to me nice or don't talk at all, your choice."

Iris didn't speak, she just simply clenched her jaw and looked over Jade as she did the same making Justin clear his throat and grab Iris gently by her forearm and open the front door to take her outside.

"Excuse us, Jade."

"Mm, you're excused."

Justin pursed his lips and nodded as he headed outside with Iris, once he shut the door, Jade scoffed and ate another popcorn kernel.

"Better keep that bitch on a leash, Bieber."

Justin sighed softly and crossed his arms over his chest as Iris looked up to him with pleading eyes. "Want to explain what that was?"

"I. . .I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. . ."

"Really? Because I think I know."

"What?"

"You're jealous of Winnie." Justin murmured softly as he rose an eyebrow making Iris chuckle softly and run a hand through her curls.

"Funny, you think I'm jealous of someone like Winnie? What even gave you that assumption, huh?"

"What?"

"What do I have to be jealous for, Justin? I'm with you not her."

Justin sighed softly and shook his head. "Iris, I think we need some space."

"Space?"

"Yeah. . .this isn't going to work if you—"

Justin was interrupted by the feeling of Iris's hand slapping his cheek making his head fly to the left, throwing him off guard.

"How dare you? I've been nothing but good to you! And here I was, thinking you wouldn't hurt me! But you're doing what you promised you wouldn't do!"

"Iris—"

"Fuck you."

With that, Iris stormed off the porch and headed to her car leaving Justin there to hold onto his sore and red cheek as he watched her slide into her car and speed out of the driveway.

Justin sighed heavily and closed his eyes momentarily before heading back into the house and shutting it back, he then turned around to see Jade standing there with a wicked grin on her lips.

"Not a word."

"I was going to ask if you wanted some ice."

Justin puffed out a breath. "Please."

Jade snickered and motioned with her head for Justin to follow her to the kitchen where she went into the fridge and got him the ice for his stinging cheek.

˚˚˚

"Jesus, Pete."

"I know, I have to get this old thing fixed soon. . ." Pete murmured softly as he put his truck in park after hearing a loud bang come from the motor.

"Do you want to fix it? I can wait."

"We should be good, plus, we're here."

Winnie nodded and got out of the truck with Pete as the two joined hands once they met at the front of the truck and started to walk.

"The clouds are rolling in."

"Shit, I hope it doesn't rain. It could mess up my truck—"

"Pete, we can go if you'd like, do this another day?"

"Winnie I want you to enjoy this, okay?"

Winnie blushed. "Okay."

Peter smiled and bit his bottom lip softly as he guided Winnie over to the entrance of what looked like a carnival making her crease her eyebrows.

"Where are we? A carnival?"

"Yes, the best one this place had."

Peter opened the gate and him and Winnie walked inside. "What happened?"

"People stopped coming, they went out of business."

"Aw. . .was this baby Peter's favorite place as a kid?"

Peter chuckled. "Laugh all you want, this was a great place to go."

"Did you have a favorite ride?"

"You read my mind."

Peter stopped in his tracks as Winnie looked up to see they were in front of a merry go round that still looked as if it was in good condition except for the rusting and the chipped paint from some of the seats and poles.

"Wanna ride?"

"It doesn't work."

Peter held one finger up and smiled wide as he walked off to the side and went over to a big room making Winnie crease her eyebrows and giggle softly.

After a few seconds, the sound of the machine winding up made Winnie gasp and step back a bit as the machine began to spin around and the music played.

"Pete!"

Peter then came out of the room with the biggest smile on his lips as he jogged over to Winnie and held his hand out. "Care to ride?"

"You're insane."

"Just a kid at heart, Ms. Stone."

Winnie giggled and bit her bottom lip softly as she held onto Peter's hand and jogged with him over to the ride and hopped on with him.

The two walked over to a white horse and Peter helped Winnie get onto the ride as he stood by her side and held one hand on her waist and the other onto the pole.