BooksBarbecue
Back Parachutes
Chapters (93)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. One
  4. Two
  5. Three
  6. Four
  7. Five
  8. Six
  9. Seven
  10. Eight
  11. Nine
  12. Ten
  13. Eleven
  14. Twelve
  15. Thirteen
  16. Fourteen
  17. Fifteen
  18. Sixteen
  19. Seventeen
  20. Eighteen
  21. Nineteen
  22. Twenty
  23. Twenty-One
  24. Twenty-Two
  25. Twenty-Three
  26. Twenty-Four
  27. Twenty-Five
  28. Twenty-Six
  29. Twenty-Seven
  30. Twenty-Eight
  31. Twenty-Nine
  32. Thirty
  33. Thirty-One
  34. Thirty-Two
  35. Thirty-Three
  36. Thirty-Four
  37. Thirty-Five
  38. Thirty-Six
  39. Thirty-Seven
  40. Thirty-Eight
  41. Thirty-Nine
  42. Forty
  43. Forty-One
  44. Forty-Two
  45. Forty-Three
  46. Forty-Four
  47. Forty-Five
  48. Forty-Six
  49. Forty-Seven
  50. Forty-Eight
  51. Forty-Nine
  52. Fifty
  53. Fifty-One
  54. Fifty-Two
  55. Fifty-Three
  56. Fifty-Four
  57. Fifty-Five
  58. Fifty-Six
  59. Fifty-Seven
  60. Fifty-Eight
  61. Fifty-Nine
  62. Sixty
  63. Sixty-One
  64. Sixty-Two
  65. Sixty-Three
  66. Sixty-Four
  67. Sixty-Five
  68. Sixty-Six
  69. Sixty-Seven
  70. Sixty-Eight
  71. Sixty-Nine
  72. Seventy
  73. Seventy-One
  74. Seventy-Two
  75. Seventy-Three
  76. Seventy-Four
  77. Seventy-Five
  78. Seventy-Six
  79. Seventy-Seven
  80. Seventy-Eight
  81. Seventy-Nine
  82. Eighty
  83. Eighty-One
  84. Eighty-Two
  85. Eighty-Three
  86. Eighty-Four
  87. Eighty-Five
  88. Author’s Note
  89. Acknowledgments
  90. About the Author
  91. Books by Kelly Yang
  92. Back Ad
  93. About the Publisher

“Built in 2016,” he says. “Four bedrooms, five baths; 4.2 million US dollars. Excellent foundation.” He walks over to the window, glances at the direction of the house, and adds, “And good feng shui.”

As he’s talking, it’s hard not to be taken with him. Dashing young scion, charming and boyish. No wonder he has so many girls chasing him. Maybe I should just let that go. I close my eyes and imagine our future together, driving around, looking at real estate.

Jay grins at me. “Claire already has some ideas for remodeling,” he adds with a wink.

There’s a long pause, during which I worry his dad’s pissed that I’m here. But then Jay’s face relaxes into a smile.

“Sure, I’ll send you the pics right now,” he says. He gets off the phone, runs toward me, and jumps on the bed. “Guess what? We’re buying it!”

“What?” I exclaim. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Jay says. A dreamy look crosses his face. He kisses me, and he whispers, “Can you see us living in a place like this?”

The door bangs open and the real estate agent walks in. He sees us making out on the bed.

“What the hell are you two doing in here?” he barks at us. “This is Newport Beach, not Chinatown! Get off my bed!”

Jay turns to face the real estate agent and says, “Actually, it’s my bed. I just bought the place.”

“Did you see the way he looked at us?” Jay fumes as he drives. We’re in the car heading over to the Ritz-Carlton Laguna. I can feel his anger in the way he grips my hand. “No matter how fucking rich we are, they still treat us like second-class citizens.”

I’ve never seen him get mad like this before. He takes a water bottle and crushes it against the seat. I put my hand on Jay’s lap, trying to calm him.

“Take it easy,” I say.

“No!” he yells, flinging my hand away. He steps on the gas, and the car goes vroooom. “I hate this country sometimes! America’s the only place in the world that can make me feel like a shoe polisher.”

I laugh, trying to defuse the anger. “Well, that was pretty baller for a shoe polisher! Did you see the look on his face when you told him you’re buying the place?” I ask. Jay’s tense face dissolves into a grin.

“It was pretty fucking baller!” His shoulders relax, and my heartbeat comes back to normal as he takes my hand and kisses it.

We arrive at the Ritz-Carlton, where Jay checks us in to the ocean-view executive suite. It comes with a couch in the living room, which Jay swears up and down he’s going to sleep on; I can take the bed.