“A little to the left.”
“Jackson Murphy Holt!” Lillian, Walker’s wife and Jackie’s mama, yelled.
He smirked, and I laughed at him.
“You riding this weekend?” I asked.
Jackson nodded, “Yeah. We’re in ‘Bama this weekend. Gee Mom and Gran Dad will be here.”
“Good luck, and keep the dirty side down, kid.”
“Will do. You look like you’re hunting trouble.”
Smirking, I laughed and said, “Always.”
“Don’t forget to wrap it.”
“Jackson, I’m going to wash your mouth out with soap!”
Walker, Jackson, Linc, Heidi, and I all burst out laughing. The whole family loved to rile up Lillian and her twin sister, Elizabeth. They were two prim and proper New England WASPs. Elizabeth fell for a filthy rich guy who became a doctor, but Lillian fell for a Texas cowboy turned Navy SEAL who worked his ass off for every dime he made, refusing the family’s wealth and help as much as he could. She was just as comfortable roping a steer as she was serving tea to the upper-crust society she came from.
I glanced at the clock on the stove. It was time to bolt. Patting Walker on the back, I waved to Linc and Heidi and called out farewells to Jackson and Lillian.
9
HAYDEN
The last week has been fucking weird. I’d not dated anyone since my almost wedding, and while I wouldn’t say I was dating Declan, it sure fucking felt like it. We texted back and forth all week. It wasn’t anything substantial, but it was regular contact with someone I was fucking.
Or had fucked since we hadn’t since. Not that I didn’t want to.
I wasn’t lying when I told him he screwed with my head. I thought about him all the damn time. I smiled when he texted, and whenever anything happened, I couldn’t wait to tell him about it. Sometimes we didn’t even talk. It was just a barrage of photos in an ongoing war of memes, social media posts, and short videos.
Declan
I’ll meet you at your place at 5.
Hayden
See you then, vato.
Declan
I smirked. He was an emoji lover. Nearly every text included them.
“What has you grinning like a fucking loon?”
Looking up, Lucia stood across the cargo hold from me, leaning against one of our pallets. She’d been giving me the side-eye all week, but so far, I’d avoided her. With us all heading to Vegas this weekend, I knew the reprieve was ending, and I dreaded it.
She knew me better than almost anyone, and I knew seeing me and Declan together would hurt her feelings, which I hated, but I was powerless to stop it. Well, there was one thing I could do.
“We need to talk.”
Her face lit up for just a second, then fell. “Okay.”
We headed through the ship and made our way to the mess hall. Before sitting down, we grabbed some coffee. When we settled at a table by ourselves, I said, “I met someone over the weekend.”
She stared down at the table, scratching her thumbnail against a cut in the top. “I know. Scott told me.”
