“Right?” I smile up at her. “Pretty sure I didn’t know that word when I was nine, but yes. The fucking nerve. And you want to know what’s worse?”
Her eyes light up. She likes playing along. “Is there any crime more heinous?”
I shrug, looping the bandage around her ankle. “You tell me. All I know is that later that summer, somebody drew a dick on our counselor’s forehead while he was sleeping.”
Maggie bites her full bottom lip, and fuck, I want those pouty lips wrapped around my dick. “My god. Who would do such a thing?!”
After securing the wrap with two flimsy aluminum clips, I lean back and look up at her. “I’m not telling.”
“Woah, woah, woah. You’re going to leave me in suspense? I don’t think so, Mr. Gym Shorts Hottie Man. I hate suspense. Can’t stand it. I read the last chapter of a book before I read the first one.”
Now it’s my turn to be in shock. I shake my head and let out a low rumble of laughter. “I should have known. Hot as fuck, funny as hell, and clearly a sociopath.”
“Uh, no…” she says, drawing out the word. “I just like to know the end. If it’s awful or sad or unsatisfying, why bother reading the rest of the book?”
“Because the whole point of reading a book is to see how it ends?” I say, even though she’s already shaking her head at me.
“Nope. The whole point of reading is to enjoy it or to learn something. Starting at the end doesn’t prevent me from learning anything, and there’s no way I can enjoy a book if I’m worried about the conclusion. So…who’s the culprit?”
“Can’t tell you,” I insist. “I’m not gonna do my boys dirty like that.”
“Your boys?” She asks, laughing. “You see these guys on the regular, huh?”
“Not exactly,” I hedge. I haven’t seen any of them since that summer ended, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t pick any of the guys out of a lineup. ”But a promise is a promise. And Ikeep my promises.” To prove my point, I lift her ankle gently so she can see it’s securely wrapped.
“You…how did you? You distracted me!”
I nod. “It worked, didn’t it?”
“Yes, but… now I’m onto your tricks. There’s a nasty scrape on my shoulder. What are you going to do the next time I?—”
Maggie’s words die off as my lips cover hers.
CHAPTER 5
MAGGIE
JT’s lips meet mine,and even though I should be thinking rationally or taking it slowly or telling him that my only plans for tonight include curling up on Viv’s couch with a container of dark chocolate peanut butter cups while I scroll mindlessly on my phone until I fall asleep, I kiss him back.
There’s nothing tentative or delicate about the way he consumes me. It’s purposeful and powerful. I open for him and let his tongue tangle with mine as his hands glide up my body.
I lean into our embrace and surrender when he lifts me carefully and sets me on the edge of the vanity.
“This okay?” he asks, and I know he’s not only referring to my leg but also to what’s happening between us.
Because that wasn’t just a kiss.
I felt it in my toes. In the tips of my fingers.
Down deep in my belly. Between my legs.
“Definitely okay,” I answer, eager for more of his touch. Alarm bells are going off in some distant corner of my head. The rational side of me is screaming from somewhere in the depths of my mind, but she’s not in charge right now.
JT is.
The command he has over my body after touching me for mere minutes is probably a red flag of some kind, but I haven’t felt this treasured in far too long, so my body is giving his the green light.
My ass is precariously balanced on the thin lip of the vanity. JT’s hands bracket my waist as he stands in the vee between my thighs.
