Jensen’s brow furrowed. “Why would I? I had it handled.”
That familiar muscle in my cheek ticked. “Sure, why would you tell me anything?” I started back up the hill. She didn’t owe me anything, we weren’t together, we were simply bed buddies. For the first time in my life, I hated that. I wanted more. I wanted the right to call her mine. But that wasn’t in the cards. Maybe we needed to end this thing now while we could still be friends.
“Tuck, wait.” Jensen hurried behind me, but her shorter strides couldn’t compete with mine. “Would you slow down, you giant behemoth?”
I wouldn’t let her adorableness melt my resolve. I kept right on climbing.
“Seriously? Oh, shit!”
I turned just in time to see Jensen’s arms wind-milling as she teetered backward. I dropped the sled and ran towards her, but I wasn’t fast enough. She fell back and began rolling down the hill.
“Awesome! I’m gonna do that!” Noah shouted from the hilltop.
I jogged after Jensen, doing my best not to bite it myself. By the time I reached the bottom of the hill, Jensen was a human snow cone. She spluttered and coughed as she wiped snow away from her face.
“Are you okay?”
“I think so.” She extended a hand. “Will you help me up?”
“Of course.” I reached out to pull her to her feet when she gave my hand a swift, hard tug. I always forgot how strong Jensen was, but that lean frame packed a punch. Soon, I was lying face-first in a snow bank. “What the hell was that for?”
“That,” she said, pelting more snow at me, “was for being a jackass and not stopping to explain what I did to piss you off.”
My teeth ground together, but I said nothing.
Jensen let out an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to tell you the same thing that I tell Noah. Use your words.”
I grunted.
“Well, that was a sound, so it’s closer.”
I tossed a pile of snow at her. “I wanted you to call me.”
Jensen’s forehead furrowed. “You wanted me to call you?”
“When some jackass shows up at your shop and gives you trouble? I want you to call me. Even if you have it handled, I still want you to call. I know we’re just friends who are fooling around, but I want you to call.”
Jensen’s expression gentled. “Next time, I’ll call.”
My jaw dropped. “That’s it? You just agree?”
A smile stretched over her face. “That’s what happens when you’re a big boy and use your words.”
“That’s it. You’re going down.” I dove for Jensen, heaping as much snow on her as I could. “Come on, Noah, we gotta get her.”
Noah charged over from where he’d landed at the bottom of the hill and leapt on us both. As I held them both in my arms, this woman and her son, both giggling and shrieking, I knew one thing with absolute certainty. No matter how this thing ended…I was totally and completely fucked.
20
Jensen
I studiedthe girl who sat across from me at one of the tables near the front windows of the Kettle. She wasn’t at all what I’d expected. She was young, maybe in her early twenties. While her clothes were just the slightest bit worn, there was an elegance to her that I couldn’t quite explain.
I took a sip of my tea. “So, Kennedy, what brings you to Sutter Lake?”
Kennedy set down her cup. The movement came with practiced ease, her back remaining straight, and the cup not giving even the slightest rattle in the saucer. “To be honest, I needed a fresh start.”
My brows rose. “There trouble that’s going to try and follow you to this fresh start?”
