Page 29 of Cold Foot Curse

“She asked me.”

“How do you know my sizes?”

“Well, I told her your waist is like this…” He cupped both hands in a fairly accurate portrayal of her waist size. “And hips like this.” He made them wider. “And an ass like this.” He made a butt-grabbing gesture that made her laugh. “Tits like this size.” He did a titty-grab gesture, and she cracked up.

“I mean, it’s kind of accurate.”

“What can I say, I’m good at measurements.”

“Mmm hmm. We’ll see when I try the clothes on. Please tell Raynah thank you so much from me.”

“You got it. What’s next on the list?”

She’d been so excited by the prospect of trying clothes on, she’d forgotten about the check list. She thought about it. Food was taken care of. Raynah had stocked the kitchen, and now she was eating her fourth slice of pizza. She probably had enough for a week, actually. She had shelter. “I probably need to check in with Sister’s Edge and see how mad they are at me.”

“I don’t think you have to do that at all.”

“Why not?”

“Because fuck Sister’s Edge. I asked them nicely if I could talk to you, and ask you to leave with me, and that it would be your choice. You know what Derek said?”

“Hell no?”

“Correct. He said you don’t have choices anymore.”

Ew. Jess sank back in the chair and stared at the firepit flames as disgust rippled through her. “He really said that?”

“That’s a quote, Jess. Derek said, ‘she doesn’t have choices anymore’.” The truth in Kade’s tone chilled her blood.

She nodded slowly, absorbing that. Yesterday if she would’ve heard that, she wouldn’t have had any feelings about it at all, but now? Now things felt different for some reason.

Some of the numbness was wearing off, but not all of it. “Lots of Crews act like that,” she defended Sister’s Edge softly.

“I did that too.”

“Did what?” she asked defensively.

“Tried to justify the things I’d just grown to accept. Things I knew were wrong, but I’d convinced myself otherwise.”

“You don’t know me,” she said softly. “Don’t compare us. I’m not justifying.”

He was kind enough not to point out the lie in her tone, and she gritted her teeth in frustration with herself.

“You’re like a little cactus, aren’t you?”

Jess said, “I don’t know what you mean,” and then shoved the last bite of crust into her mouth and drew her knees up to her chest like a shield.

“You’re pretty. You’re flowering, but if anyone gets too close, you get defensive and teach them a lesson. You’ve learned how to sting them.”

“And don’t forget it,” she said primly, refusing to meet his eyes lest he see how touched she was by him calling her pretty. Flowering? Her? No. She’d never been one for flowers. Maybe a mesquite tree with no vibrant colors, and all thorns.

He pulled another slice of pizza out of the box—the last one—stood, and offered it to her. She looked from the pizza to him, and then back to the slice, considering. She was still a little hungry, but the rules. The rules, the rules, the rules. Males got the biggest portions, and this would mean she got one more slice than him.

“I like when you eat as much as you want,” he said gruffly, and she could tell he wouldn’t budge. He would probably be all stubborn and refuse to eat it, even if she pretended to be full.

She accepted the food, but didn’t unfurl her body as she ate it. She still felt on edge, and defensive. She felt like he was seeing her too easily, like he had a microscope, and she couldn’t escape his watchful gaze. Kade was smart, and more observant than any male she’d ever known. He was intimidating and kept her on edge.

“What’s your angle?” she asked.