He doesn’t shift or hedge or hesitate, and that lightens something in mychest.
I suppose it’s possible he’s cleaned up his act since I left forFlorida.
Or you’re so strung out on him, like a drug addict, you want to believe him to get your nexthit.
A rough palm smooths over my neck, and he tilts my head up to face him. “Jojo, let me prove it to you. Let me prove you can trustme.”
He’s saying the right words, and I want to believe the guy I’ve known my whole life, but I’m worried we’re too different. That he needs wild and willing strippers who can contort their bodies into exotic sex positions instead of the girl nextdoor.
Uneasy, my pride still smarting, I lift a shoulder and offer him the same words he spoke last night. “How about we play it by ear? See where things takeus?”
Because I have one week left to figure out if Logan and I stand a chance or if we’re too different afterall.
22
Logan
The rich smellof dark chocolate wafts from the pan as I pour it into athermos.
“Yum!” Renee leans over my shoulder, making mecringe.
“Careful. This is hot.” I move away from her, annoyed that she’s in my space when I’m pretty sure she spent the night withPatrick.
But her being with my buddy is not why I bolt across thekitchen.
I didn’t need Joey to spell out how she was feeling this afternoon after running into those women at the gas station. The hurt and embarrassment was stamped on her face. It guttedme.
When I realized Joey was standing a few feet away, listening to Tanya and her friends blather on, I reached for her. I wanted to throw my arm over her so Tanya knew I was with someone, but Jojo either ignored me or didn’t hear me when she stalked up to theregister.
Tanya’s family spends a shitload of money on horses, and I didn’t want to risk offending her. Our ranch is too small to afford making enemies. I was cordial, but I didn’t hug her back or flirt like I usually would. Not that I wanted to. The only person on my mind since she stepped off that bus isJoey.
Sitting in my truck while she struggled to look at me made me think back to the other times this has happened, to the times before she left for Florida. Did it bother her, and she just hid it? Was I too dense tonotice?
Surely she hasn’t had feelings for me since her freshman year of high school. That would be crazy. I almost laugh out loud.Take your ego down a notch, asshole. Not every woman is in love withyou.
I won’t deny I’m uneasy going down this road with Joey because we could screw up our friendship, but the alternative—potentially losing her forever—terrifies me. So if I have to test out having a relationship to keep her here, I’ll do it. Our dynamic is changing so quickly, I’m scrambling to catch up, but I can’t deny the magnitude of what’s happening betweenus.
We didn’t even have sex last night, and I’m already losing my head for her, something that’s never happened to me before. I’ve never had the kind of connection to a woman the way I do with Jojo. And I can count the number of times I’ve slept in the same bed with a woman after getting intimate—that number would bezero.
Snuggling up after the deed is not something I do. Ever. But I didn’t want to let go of Joey last night, and I certainly didn’t want to leave our bed this morning. Although I’ll admit I’m a little unnerved to find out how much this girl might unravel me when we finally do havesex.
Renee moves in front of me as I reach for my backpack, interrupting mythoughts.
“Can I have some of that? I’m really in the mood to get warmed up.” Renee bats her eyelashes at me. Are we talking about hot chocolate rightnow?
“I made this for Joey, but there’s the container. You can make more.” I screw on the lid to the thermos and pack the rest of the snacks I brought for thebonfire.
“She doesn’t have to know,” she sing-songssoftly.
What thefuck?
“It’s spoken for. Make your own.” I toss her the container and laugh when she nearly dropsit.
“God, you’re adick.”
“Never said Iwasn’t.”
With my backpack on my shoulder, a small ice chest in one hand, and the thermos in the other, I stroll out of the condo and down the wooden boardwalk toward the bonfire on thebeach.
