Total pages in book: 180
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176012 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Parting it in the middle, I pull it back into two French braids, securing it with the two rubber bands around my wrist. Then I tug at her blue T-shirt. “May I?”
She stiffens, but after a moment, she nods. Lightly, I pull it up, over her head, leaving her in her white tank top that’s more blue-gray than white anymore.
Taking off Lucas’s blue Cubs cab, I put it on her and dab a little of Aro’s red lipstick on her mouth.
“There.” I smile. “Red, white, and blue.”
I bring up the camera on my phone and try to show her, but she looks away instead.
Is she mad? She swallows, but she looks back up and nods again with a gentle smile. She doesn’t look in the camera, though.
I put it away, and she stands for the first customer.
“Codi, cute.” Mace bobs her head in approval as she steals a muffin and takes a bite.
Codi shies away, but I see the little smile she holds back.
In an hour, the park is packed, and I spot Dylan and Aro chasing AJ, James, and Aro’s brother Matty around. Noah lurks around the booth, devouring two cheese danishes, four cookies, two Rice Krispies Treats, and a whole bag of red, white, and blue chocolate-covered pretzels. He hands Codi money. He looks at her, I look at her, she doesn’t look at him, I look at him, he looks at me, he looks away, and I fold my lips between my teeth to stifle the smile. He likes the quiet ones, doesn’t he?
“What the hell happened to your leg?”
I hear Jared’s voice and inhale a long breath before I face him. Lucas stands just behind him, talking with Madoc and Jax, but everyone’s attention is on me now. Lucas’s mouth hangs slightly open as he fists a frozen drink. And all of a sudden, the bruises that were a minor tingle earlier now burn. Everyone is staring at the marks left by his fingers last night.
“Oh, um…” I shake my head, trying to think of a lie.
Damn, even Noah is staring at me.
Lucas steps up, about to say something to Jared, but I recover.
“I hooked up with this guy at the gym last night,” I joke. “We dry-humped in the locker room.”
Dylan, who I didn’t realize was that close, bursts into laughter, while Madoc rolls his eyes.
Jared gripes, “I’m not amused.”
Heh. They think I’m lying. I’m almost insulted they think I’m not capable.
I restock the paper sleeves, mocking, “Well, are you done then? I’m working.”
They drift off, Jax and Madoc taking a free treat, and I risk a glance up at Lucas. He barely breathes.
While nervous a moment ago, his eyes linger on my legs like he’s retracing every second of last night, same as me.
He’s going to come up to me. He can’t stop himself.
He’s going to take my ass in his hand and pull me in. In front of everyone.
Noah would. Farrow would. My brothers would with their wives. Hunter and Hawke would with Dylan and Aro.
Looking like he’s got two lungfuls of air locked in his chest, he pivots and follows my brothers, though.
I hood my eyes, sighing.
Whipping around, I’m about to throw the rest of the sleeves back into the box, but Noah stares at me as he stands between my booth and another vendor. His brow damn-near touches his hairline as he no doubt saw the two of us eye-fucking each other. He grins, and I’m sure he knows exactly where I got the bruises now.
When I look back at Lucas, he’s leaving. Walking over to Madoc, he downs the rest of his drink, kicks off his shoes, and joins him in the volleyball pit.
“Quinn?” Noah says.
“What?”
He leans against one of the poles that holds up the tent. “I knew it when he crashed your party the other night. He was out of his mind.”
Taking tongs, I place the rest of the danishes and cover them with the lid.
Noah plops his ass up on a stack of coolers, gulping down his Solo cup of beer. “He was jealous.”
“Nothing happened,” I whisper, checking that Codi and Hailey are tending to customers on the other side. “And get down from there.”
I give him a little slap on the cheek as I scold.
But he doesn’t get off, leaning in to catch my eyes. “Jared is going to kill him.”
Looking over, I see Lucas tear off his T-shirt as he glows with sweat already on the volleyball court, the muscles in his arms and chest flexing as he comes in for shots. His damp hair sticks up in places and catches the wind in others, and he looks twenty again. I had my legs wrapped around that body last night. “God, I don’t care,” I breathe out with a laugh.
I’d rather not admit I’m anything like my brothers, but now I understand. When it comes to wanting someone, I can’t stop.