“But you don’t know for sure?” my mother asked.
“We don’t,” my brother answered. “Chasm came to Rosewood to check on Morgan. He said he wasn’t going to make contact. I don’t know what changed.”
“He got jealous,” I said softly.
“What was that, baby?” my father asked, leaning over my shoulder.
I sat up straight and looked around the table. “He saw me at the Tavern with the girls when David Gearing tried to dance with me. He’s been trying to get me to go out with him for years. Jude got jealous and broke into my house. He was there when I got home.”
There was a sound behind me similar to that of a rabid wolf. I didn’t look over my shoulder. I knew it was my father. My brother reacted much the same way. His hands clenched into fists on the table and only relaxed when Grace touched his arm.
“Then why did he leave?” Frank asked.
I’d always liked Frank. When people met him for the first time, their reaction was always the same.
Fear.
But he was a big teddy bear.
At least to us women.
“Because he’s a stupid, stubborn son of a bitch,” my brother answered.
I couldn’t stop the smile. He wasn’t wrong. Jude was stubborn. And because of that stubborn streak, he often made stupid decisions. Like the time he got us stranded in the middle of nowhere, with no cell service.
Seven years ago...
“You could have stopped for directions,” I said with a grin, knowing he’d think that was absurd.
“I didn’t need directions. We aren’t lost.”
“Then why are we sitting on the side of the road?”
Jude mumbled something I couldn’t understand, and I asked, “What was that?”
He mumbled a little louder, and I still had trouble hearing what he said.
“One more time?”
“We ran out of gas,” he admitted.
I stared at him for a moment, my eyes blinking rapidly as I tried to process what he’d said. “We... ran out of gas?” I asked, wanting to clarify that I’d heard him correctly.
When he nodded, I laughed. The more I thought about it, the louder my laughter became. Before I knew it, I was bent over, holding my stomach as tears slipped from my eyes.
“What is so fucking funny?” he asked, his arms crossed over his chest as the corners of his mouth twitched.
“How long have you been riding a motorcycle?” I asked between coughs as I tried to pull myself together.
“What difference does that make?”
The look on his face had me laughing all over again.
“You didn’t know you were getting low on gas?” I asked, expecting his answer to be an excuse. But when he glared at me with a smile on his face, I knew the answer.
“You stubborn fool.” I shook my head, and he grabbed me around the waist, pulling me closer. My hands flattened on his chest, and I smiled at him. “Did you avoid stopping for gas because you didn’t want me to ask for directions?”
“I didn’t stop for gas because I can’t fucking think straight with your tits pressed up against my back and your thighs wrapped around my hips.” His voice vibrated against my neck,and my laughter died off as arousal pooled between my legs. “You make me forget how to breathe, Morgan.”
