“So you want to wander out onto the streets of Cancún in the middle of the night in search of food?”
“Yep!” she said brightly, then turned from him and rose onto her tippy toes, searching the crowd for Bethani. “Can you use all this”—she gestured at his over-six-foot body—“and find my friend?”
Within seconds, Jack was leaning into her and pointing. She followed the direction of his finger to the center of the dancefloor, finding Bethani tangled with a guy who looked vaguely familiar.
“That’s my buddy, Zach,” Jack told her. “You want to go tell them we’re leaving? See if they want to come with?”
“No!” she said quickly, and he turned a quizzical gaze on her. “I mean, yes, I want to tell Bethani where I’m going, but no, I don’t want them coming with.”
“You trying to get me alone, Jess? Trying to take advantage of me?”
“Absolutely not,” she said, but her mind spun with the possibilities of what would happen if shedidwant to get him alone. Would he be into that? They were at that awkward age where virgins weren’t uncommon but becoming less so. Jessica herself was still a virgin, but Bethani wasn’t. If she had to guess, Jack wasn’t either. Although, something about him, despite that face, thatbody, seemed innocent.
And why was she even thinking about this? She had only met this guy this morning, and was on vacation in a foreign country with hermother. Michelle Daniels was a lot of things—an incredible cook, fiercely protective of her children, easy to talk to—but she would not be okay with Jessica asking to have the room so she could lose her virginity to some guy she barely knew and would never see again.
Still, something about Jack had Jessica thinking if she were to go there with him, he would take care of her. Despite his size, when he’d kissed her, he hadn’t been demanding or insistent. He’d been gentle, never taking anything she didn’t give right back, never asking for anything she wasn’t willing to offer him. Distantly, she wondered how that would translate to the bedroom.
She’d been wondering that a lot lately, when she’d be ready to yield her v-card—and with whom.
“Jess?” Jack asked, settling a hand on her shoulder and jolting her from her reverie.
“Right, food. I’ll be right back!”
Without waiting for a response, she shoved her way through the crush of bodies until she reached the center of the dance floor and stood in front of Bethani.
Tugging on her best friend’s wrist, she pulled her away from Zach and leaned in to shout in her ear over the music.
“I’m going to get some food!”
“With Joe?” Bethani asked. She’d disappeared almost as soon as they walked in, presumably with Joe’s friend, Rick, so Jessica had been surprised to find her with her ass backed into Zach’s lap.
But that was a conversation for another time.
“No, Joe ditched me like an hour ago,” Jessica told her. “I’m going with Jack.”
“Jack as in…” She flicked her eyes over her shoulder at Zach, then back to Jessica, and Jessica nodded.
“You go girl,” Bethani said with a grin. She flicked her wrist to check the time on her watch. “It’s nearly one now. Do you want to rendezvous outside the doors in an hour and catch a ride back to the hotel together?”
Jessica nodded vehemently. “You know our moms will kill us if we come back separately.”
“Exactly.” Bethani squeezed Jessica to her, let go, and said, “Have fun!” with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes before returning to Zach’s waiting arms.
When Jessica once again reached Jack’s side, she slid her hand into his and said, “Let’s go.”
He didn’t argue, didn’t ask questions, didn’t utter a word; he simply let her tow him from the club.
Stepping outside was like stepping into a vacuum where all sound had been sucked from the world. The sudden plummetin noise level had Jessica’s ears ringing. She felt like she’d been plunged underwater, and she paused for a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
“You good?” Jack asked, louder than was probably necessary.
“Yes,” she said, quieter. “That’s just…weird.”
Jack nodded, sticking a finger in his left ear and wiggling it around. “I felt like my head was a balloon about to pop.”
She laughed and reached for his hand again, surprised by how easy it was to touch this boy, and how quickly she’d let him into her personal space.
They wandered away from the club and onto the sidewalk. Across the street, the lights of a Hooters blinked out, so they kept walking in companionable silence until coming to a crossroads. Down the way, a lighted sign read PEPPERS TACOS. Warm light spilled onto the street, and a small group of people milled around, either waiting for their food or already armed with Styrofoam takeout containers.
