He wasn’t angry with me? Relief spread through me in a huge wave.I am…in spirit.
A rolling eyes emoji appeared, and I burst out laughing.Goodnight, Jack.
A winky emoji flashed.
13
Jack
I squintedmy eyes against the glare as I rested an arm on the open door of my car in the teeming street leading to the park. The midday sun beat down on me, and I slipped on my shades. Yells and chatter crowded my ears. Except for the surfing competitions I used to enter, where a shitload of people flocked to watch the spectacle, I’d never been to a country festival before. The noise, the excitement stirred an expectancy in me, unlike the pretentious events I’d been forced to endure.
Hell, I felt like a child discovering candy for the first time. Not that I like sweets—except for the tart one with me today.
“Ready? Or do you need more posing time?” Ray’s drawling tone drew my attention to her standing on the opposite side of my car. Posing? She couldn’t see my narrowed eyes since I wore my Wayfarers. So I shut the door, locked my car, and strolled over to the sharp-tongued woman.
Though I’d been with Max and Ila at the pub last night, I’d missed Ray and had left an hour later after our bantering text. But she’d been asleep when I got back. Now, here we were, with her taunting me.
A smile tugged her mouth upward—lips I hungered for again, but she wasn’t willing to share that part of her either unless she rolled high on sedatives. Difficult woman.
She wore faded denim cut-offs and a black tank that had me frowning.
“Doesn’t the tight top hurt your wound?” I asked since it seemed to be hugging her like a second skin, cupping those tempting breasts I’d seen and longed to taste. Hell, just looking at her had my cock straining painfully against my zipper—a sad state of affairs these days.
She lifted a tan shoulder in a half-shrug. “It doesn’t hurt so much today.”
After last night, when she ran a temperature? I place the back of my hand on her brow, and she hastily stepped back, eyes wide. “What are you doing?”
“No dunk tank,” I warned.
A grin appeared, causing those tempting dimples to flash. “Yes,Father.”
Her words a trigger, I slipped my fingers around her nape, dragged her close, and kissed her hard, showing her just how un-parental my thoughts about her were before I let her go.
She bit her lush lip, color streaking into her face. It wasn’t as intimate as I would have liked, not with so many curious eyes on us.
“That’s brave of you.” She’d recovered real fast to toss me the barb. “You know the paparazzi could be around.”
About to shrug off her comment, I paused, recalling the shitstorm they’d caused Max two years ago, raking up the accident which had caused his mother’s death, and spreading rumors about his so-called drunk driving. Now that Max lived aboringlife, the press hounded War or me when they needed something to spice up their damn papers. Except I’d been on hiatus for a long time. But those hounds would be on my tail if they sensed me out and about again.
Yeah, I had shit in my life, too, but that crap had been bolted inside a steel box and buried. Grandmother had made sure of that. While I might not care about making the society page headlines, the backlash could hurt those close to me, and I wanted Ray protected from the shit that sometimes dogged me.
But I had to know. “And it bothers you being connected to me?”
“Why would it? You’re Max’s best friend, and we’re all in the wedding. Besides, I know you aren’t the relationship type, so there’s nothing to hide. However, to be safe…” She cast me a wicked sideways smile, flashing those tormenting dimples once more. “Youcan keep to the other side of the park to protect your rep from my greedy little claws.”
Says the girl who would give away the last cent she had to help those in need.I was sure even her cat ate better than she did.
“Rayen, know this, you only have a modicum of peace from me since you’re hurt. But Iwantthose greedy claws scratching my back when I take you with my mouth, my cock—” She flew across the space separating us and slapped her hand on my mouth, making me grin. I lifted an eyebrow. “Touching me in public, Ray? I’m shocked,” I teased against her palm. “What’s next?”
Red-faced, she yanked free and stomped off. I grinned, going after her.
RAY
Lord, I must have done something terrible in a past life to have Jack in my current one, tormenting me. I bit my lip, still tingling from his firm kiss, trying not to laugh as I shifted my backpack to my other shoulder. It struck me then that no guy made me laugh—not truly laugh—like Jack did.
At his teasing, and recalling the genuine warmth in his gaze, and breath caught in my throat. Usually, I found it hard to spontaneously touch Jack unless he did it first. There was always this thought that if I did, I’d cross the barriers I’d put up, opening the door to something I wasn’t sure would end well for me.
Jack strolled alongside me, hands in his back pockets, seeming content now that he’d scored one against me. Sadly, I had no comeback for his wicked mouth.
