Page 158 of Happy Hour

He had to put the skunk jeans back on because the bear ripped apart our other clothes as though he was a gerbil or something. Emma was very—very upset about that...something about destroying a two hundred pair of jeans.

Insanity if you ask me—Emmaandthe jeans.

“Don’t you think I know I stink, asshole,” Aiden walked a good thirty feet in front of us down the gravel road. “It’s on my skin. I can’t get it off.”

“I’ll get it off when we get back to Sway’s.” Emma assured him. “Tomato soup should work. I’ll wash you clean.”

At that point, I knew she was just trying to provoke Jameson and Emma knew damn well how to do it with twenty-one years of practice.

“Shut up!” Jameson kicked rocks towards them. “I don’t need to hear that shit.”

It was at that point when I’d met my max with those two. They never stopped arguing all night and frankly, I was sick of it.

“Both of you shut up.” I gave my own childish kick of the rocks. “I’m not going to deal with any of your bullshit today, understand? We are going to behave like normal human beings!”

They didn’t behave like normal human beings though. There was no way we could. We were in fact four people, who’d been forced to sleep in a car, inches from one another because of a cougar, a bear, and Aiden’s skunk. Normal was not an option.

Emma started in again and I was about to pummel her tiny ass when Jameson’s phone rang. I didn’t know you could even get reception up here. That knowledge would have been good to have last night.

Jameson looked down at the screen, his eyebrows furrowed together. “That’s strange.” The phone twisted with his fingertips, he seemed to contemplate answering it.

“What?” we all asked eagerly, praying it was the towing company.

“It’s Tate.” Jameson told. “Hello...yeah...” There was a long pause and then Jameson started shaking his head with a smirk. “No...I’m sorry but I can’t say I didn’t warn you this would happen...yeah, my senior year...I walked in on her and my brother’s best friend.”

What?

Looking towards Emma for answers, she just shrugged and jumped on Aiden’s back.

Another few minutes later, Jameson started talking again. “I appreciate the warning but I can handle myself...okay, see you on Wednesday.” He hung up the phone and looked over to me, nodding with that smirk again.

“That was Tate.” He held up his phone. “He walked in on Darrin and Chelsea. Looks like the whores back to her ways.”

We all began walking towards the road again when Jameson continued talking. “He tried to warn me that he overheard Darrin talking to Frank that he’s looking for revenge.” He shook his head.

“Jameson,” Reaching out to his shoulder, I stopped walking. “I think you should listen to them. Darrin is out of his mind.”

“Sway, I can handle it.” He assured me with that defiant stare I knew so well. “It’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I’ve been racing since I was four...I’vebeenthreatened before.”

“I know...I just think there’s something more to it this time.”

His arm slung around my shoulder. “It’s adorable when you’re protective.” He bit down on his lower lip and I knew where it was heading again.

“No,” I held up my hand walking away. “I’m not doing it in the woods again.”

“There you go with therulesagain.” He kicked at the rocks again. “So many rules,”

“I still have splinters in my ass!” I reminded him. “So yes, I have a fucking rule now. No trees. And did you forget what happened with the cougar?”

That shut him right up.

“Is that why you and Chelsea broke up?” I asked after a few moments of silence when my curiosity got the better of me.

He was quiet for a minute as though he was decidingwhathe wanted to say or maybe how to say it. “That...among...other things.” His eyes focused in the distant. “We just weren’t right foreach other.” I knew by the way he insinuated each other, he meant me.

“I for one...am glad you guys broke up.”

“Me too,” He agreed kissing my head.

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