“Not interrupting anything, am I?” she asks with a little sass.
“Not a thing.” I cross my arms and watch her try not to stare at them. “I wasn’t expecting you at my doorstep tonight.”
She shrugs. She’s wearing a light-blue top that hangs off her shoulders, and when she moves like that, her breasts perk up and jiggle. “Lenni and I ran into your crew on the street, and you know her and Cam; can’t pull them apart once they’re close. Anyway, the guys promised us hot food and cold beer if we came back here.” She smiles, but there’s a brief flash of uncertainty in her eyes as she says, “Hope you don’t mind.”
I can’t tell her that this is the best thing that’s happened to me in three days or that thinking about her is the only thing keeping me from going stir-crazy, so I say, “Of course not.Estás en tu casa.”
She groans but tops it off with a laugh. Her movements are loose, her smile like hot liquid. I’ve never seen her drunk like this before. Her cheeks are flushed, and there’s a slight sheen to the exposed skin on her collarbones. She was probably dancing most of the night. I imagine her body shaking and rolling, and my dick stirs in my shorts. I’d kill to see that. Jealousy sparks inside me as I wonder how many guys she danced with tonight. Then the sobering thought,Shit. I have a crush on this girl.
“So you’ll join us? Your friends just ordered like three hundred dollars’ worth of takeout.”
There’s a massive crash from the kitchen, followed by someone yelling cuss words. “Guess I better. Sounds like adult supervision is needed.”
Her smile deepens at getting a yes out of me, and she’s just reaching out like she’s about to take my hand when, at the other end of the hall, Cash pops up. “There you are, Dalton. Were you seriously in bed, you stupid asshole? Come out and join the family.”
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I grumble, watching Jade’s hand drop back to her side. “Just let me put on a shirt.”
“Put on a shirt?” Cash howls. “Yeah, fucking right, since when? You’d go to church naked if they let you, you prick. Come on out here; it’s about time we had a no-shirt showdown.”
“Easy, killer. No fair throwing down the hammer when I’ve barely been allowed to get a pump on all week.”
“I saw you in the weight room today.” He struts down the hallway toward us, chest puffed out. “Come on, Captain, let’s go.” He’s grinning, clearly at peak drunkenness, which means some kind of attention-grabbing behavior is about to follow. Right on cue, he plants his feet, grabs the neck of his T-shirt in both fists, and tears it down the middle.
Jade bursts out laughing, which only encourages Cash. He winks at her, looking ridiculous because the bottom few inchesof his shirt didn’t tear and he’s just standing there with mangled fabric hanging off his shoulders.
“Okay, stud, you win,” I tell him, not wanting Jade’s eyes on his bare chest any longer than necessary. “Now go back to the kitchen. I’m on my way.”
I pull on a T-shirt, and Jade and I follow Cash downstairs to the kitchen, listening to him crow like he really believes he just beat me at anything. Cam’s bent over the source of the loud crash, a mess of pots and pans and lids spilling out of the cabinets onto the floor. He looks up at me with unfocused eyes. “Sorry for the noise. Did I wake you?”
“What are you talking about?” He’s drunker than I realized, but good for him. Cam doesn’t let loose often enough. “Get out of the way. I’ll clean this up.”
“No, man, I got this. I’m cooking. Cam’s famous grilled cheese with a nice runny fried egg inside. You want one? I’ll make you one. Fact, I’ll make you a double-decker.” He laughs for no apparent reason.
“I thought you guys ordered a bunch of food.” I look at Jade for confirmation.
Lenni comes up behind her. “That’s right. Twelve minutes away.” She holds up her phone to show the tracking map on her delivery app.
Cam snaps his head up. “Twelve minutes?” he repeats, outraged. “Unbelievable. These companies always jerk you around. Let me fry up some grilled cheese real quick and we’ll be good.”
I shrug at the girls. “Okay, brother, I’ll leave you to it.” Grilled cheese does sound pretty damn good. “But at least wear the oven glove things. You burn those magic hands and Coach will kill all of us.”
I keep half an eye on Cam as he bangs around in the kitchen, but I stay close to Jade. She smells incredible, vanilla mixedwith something darker. Every time I catch a whiff of her, my pulse goes completely off the beat. I want to talk to her, try to make her laugh, but somehow I can’t think of anything to say—which is not a problem I’veeverexperienced before. I settle for sitting as close to her as I can without making it look like we’re together. I find excuses to brush my hand or my leg against her body, even though every touch delivers a jolt that leaves me even more unsatisfied than before. Most of these touches she pointedly ignores, but when no one’s looking, her gaze lingers on the sight of our bodies pressed briefly together.
Cash has calmed down, and we watch him give Lenni a lesson in rolling joints, which is kinda entertaining because she doesn’t smoke. Then Jade challenges him to see who can roll the perfect joint. I can’t keep my eyes off her as she sits working at the coffee table, her manicured fingers lining up the weed, the delicate tip of her tongue carefully wetting the rolling paper. Oof. It’s sexy. Now and then she tosses her hair over her shoulder and catches my eye in that burning gaze of hers. When our eyes meet, it feels like no one else is in the room.
When the joints are done, Cam is the taste tester—smoke tester?—and Jade wins by a landslide; then Cash declares the results invalid because Cam’s so drunk he can barely tell the difference between a joint and a ballpoint pen.
The food gets demolished even though I don’t eat and Jade barely touches anything. She follows me into the kitchen when I start to clean up Cam’s mess.
“You’re quiet tonight,” Jade says. “You sure we didn’t wake you up?”
“Nah. Just busy being Mr. Mom over here.” I turn off the burner that was left on and close the egg carton. “Usually that’s Cam’s job, but I guess he’s overdue for blowing off steam.”
Trying to prevent a house fire isn’t really what’s keeping me quiet, though. I feel completely off my game. I’ve had a hundrednights like this: me and my drunk friends hanging out, some beautiful girl at my side. But it’s never felt like this because the girl has never been Jade. I’ve always known she was different—smart-mouthed, unpredictable, totally unimpressed by the things that have always won me attention. What I never expected—and can’t deny anymore—is that Jade makesmefeel different. Do I like the feeling? I don’t even know. It’s unfamiliar and a little scary, but I can’t stop wanting more.
“Give me a rag. I’ll clean up this mess on the stove,” Jade says.
I toss her a wet rag and wash the pans in the sink, watching Jade work. With her bent over slightly and scrubbing like mad, I’ve got a perfect view of her body jiggling deliciously. I force myself to look at the dishes in front of me, but my eyes keep going back to her ass and the exposed skin on her lower back when her shirt rides up. I’m sweating. Is she doing it on purpose? If so, good job. I feel like I’m choking on my own lust. Finally, I can’t take it anymore.
