Page 24 of Hung Up
I sputter in surprise, shooting up as I whip to face him. “You two talk about me? You talk about my sex life?”
“Lack thereof, you mean.” He chuckles at the horrified look I know is on my face. “Come on, Freckles. She’s your best friend and we’ve become close. Of course she’s going to want to gossip about you with me.”
“Unbelievable,” I groan, bending my knees to rest my elbows on them. “You two are incorrigible.”
“Maybe. But we’re also right.” I scoff out a laugh. “So, tell me. What’s your type?”
I tilt my head back and glance up at the sky.Lord help me.“My type is none of your business.”
“Come on, Faith,” Kai whines, leaning a little closer into me. “I won’t tell anyone, I promise. Except for Rylie. Let us pick someone for you, at least. I swear we have good taste.”
“I am not having this conversation with you,” I tell him with a scoff of disbelief. “When I am ready to get laid, I can pick someone myself.”
A shadow suddenly covers us both, and our gazes whip toward the figure. My eyes widen in horror while I know Kai is sporting nothing if not a cocky, pleased smile. Jesse doesn’t spare Kai a second look, his attention entirely focused on me.
“If you pick someone, pick me, Sweetheart,” he says, and I swear my heart stops. “I’ve wanted you since the moment I saw you.”
Recovering quickly from my surprise at his appearance and a brief moment ofoh my god, I can’t believe he said that to me, I lean back on my elbows, look up at him, and say, “In your dreams, Pretty Boy.”
“Oh, you can count on that.” He gives me a teasing smile, and I raise a brow. “Come on, Sweetheart. You know I’d take good care of you.”
And that right there is part of my problem.
“Not sure you can handle me,” I tell him with a sly smile of my own. “I’m a lot harder to handle than one of those bulls.”
“Promise?” Kai laughs but tries to disguise it as a cough when I stare at him. “Are we making waves, Sweetheart?”
I gesture to the three bull riders behind him, who are staring at us. “Get back to your game. Your friends are waiting.”
Jesse starts walking backward, his eyes never leaving mine. He places a hand over his heart before saying, “You know where to find me, Sweetheart. I’ll be waiting.”
“You’ll be waiting a long time, Pretty Boy.”
“If you say so.”
He jogs away before I can get in the last word, and I fall on my back with a groan, covering my face with my hands. I can’t believe that just happened. Now, not only do I have to worry about the fact that Kai and Rylie are suddenly friends, or that Jesse just offered to sleep with me, I need to worry that I was considering his offer for a brief moment.
But before I have the opportunity to tell Kai something along the lines of, ‘this is all your fault’ or ‘please snap me out of it’ or even ‘I beg of you to keep me on a short leash’, Dean just goes ahead and makes it worse.
“Ten bucks says they sleep together before Louisville.”
Kai laughs. “I’ve got twenty on them not making it out of Jacksonville.”
I abruptly stand, tossing my book into my tote and grabbing my towel, staring down at the pair who seem to think that my misery and sex life are something to be betting on. Kai looks sheepish as he tries to get his laughter under control while Dean is now blocking the sun with his hand as he gives me a small smile.
“I hate you both,” I tell them. But as I walk away, both of their laughter now reaches my ears, letting me know I did not, in fact, say that with gusto.
As I reach the edge of the beach where the sand transitions to a strip of grass before the parking lot, I turn back around to see Jesse standing where my towel had been, staring at me. Spinning around, I march toward my car with only one mantra in mind: stay strong.
But as it’d turn out, Kai is right. I don’t think we’re making it out of Jacksonville.
9JESSE
JACKSONVILLE
I really hope this isn’t a dream
“Look,not every ride can be perfect,” I tell Stetson as he leans against the wall in the locker room, waiting for me to change so we can go to the bar. “We still have over half of the season left. Don’t sweat it.”
