Page 18 of Fine, Dork

I bit my lip. “Ouch.” I reached over and took Selena’s hand in mine. Again, such an unnatural interaction for me. “I’ve been cheated on a few times, too, and it sucks, no doubt! But, I promise you that Preston is different.”

Selena gave me a little half-smile and said, “All right, girl, I’ll ease up on him.”

I smiled and patted her hand. Victory. I stood and picked up my camera bag. “I’m going in the water for a minute. Be right back!”

“I’ll come, too. I’m sweating my ass off here in the sun.” Lyla stood and followed me to the shore.

We stood with the waves crashing around our ankles while I snapped a few photos. After a minute of quiet, I turned to Lyla. “Why did you say Jaxon has always had a thing for me?”

Lyla lowered her sunglasses again and gave me an incredulous look. “You’re joking, right? That kid’s been in love with you since middle school.”

I shook my head and laughed. “No, no way.” I tried to ignore the warm tingly feeling that was spreading through my chest. What if maybe J and I could actually be something? I’d marry the shit out of Jaxon Wood in a heartbeat.

Whoa. Simmer down, Kinley. I laughed again and pulled my camera back up to my eye. The wave rolling toward us was epic and needed to be photographed.

“Blind and stupid, are we?” Lyla nudged me with her elbow and grinned.

“Bitchy and short, are we?” I shot back at her.

Lyla burst out laughing. “Apt description. But seriously, Kinley, Jaxon was giving you heart eyes at the waterfall yesterday.”

I laughed again. He was, though, wasn’t he? And last night… Mmm. I was getting all hot just thinking about it. Was it going to happen again? It had to happen again.

10

Jaxon

Preston let out a huge belch as soon as the front door closed behind the girls. “Damn, I’ve been holding that in all morning! New relationships are great and all because of all the sex, but I don’t feel like I can let that out in front of Selena.”

Beckett shrugged. “Lyla doesn’t care.”

“That’s different, dude.” Preston opened the fridge and pulled out three beers. “You guys have known each other since high school.”

“True.” Beckett chuckled. “I hated her back then. I thought she was so fuckin’ mean, so I farted in front of her to piss her off.”

I laughed and shook my head, taking the beer Preston handed me.

“Dude, Jax, I bet you could never do that kinda stuff in front of your prude.” Beckett laughed and downed some of his beer.

I raised an eyebrow. “Savannah wasn’t…” I was about to say she wasn’t a prude, but then Kinley’s tits flashed through my mind. Messing around with Kinley for an hour last night was hotter than any sex I’d had with Savannah.

“Too soon, asshole.” Preston shot Beckett a pointed look. They were both clueless dumbasses, but Preston was slightly more emotionally mature than Beckett.

I laughed and shook my head. “I’m fine, guys. Savannah wasn’t it. She did me a favor because I don’t know if I would have had the nerve to end it otherwise.” The more time I spent away from Savannah, the more confident I became that she was never the one.

Preston studied my face for a minute as if trying to assess if I was telling the truth. He’d known me the longest besides Kinley. Finally, he nodded. “Good.” He took a drink from his bottle and then grinned. “ATV’s today? Selena doesn’t want to do that, so now’s my chance!”

“Hell yeah!” Beckett held up his hand for a high-five, then his face fell. “Oh, wait, Lyla does want to do that because my girlfriend is cooler than yours. I better wait for her.”

Preston glared at Beckett. “Or, go with me here; we ride ATV’s anyway because they don’t own us.”

Beckett burst out laughing. “Yeah, they do. They do own us. I don’t know who you’re kidding, dude.”

Preston groaned and rested his elbows on the counter. “Those damn women and their sweet pussies.” He ran his hands over his face and glanced at me. “You’re lucky, man. No one owns you.”

I just laughed because, honestly, I was fucked. Kinley owned my ass, and she always had. I couldn’t even begin to wrap my brain around what we’d started last night. I couldn’t let myself think about where it could go or what I would do when it came to an end.

I already knew I couldn’t stand seeing anyone else touch K. Now that I’d had a little taste of her, it would ruin me.

---