Page 115 of Dove
“And breaks hearts!” someone interjected with a shout after Eddie.
“Cállate, mocoso,” Eddie hissed in Spanish, voice muffled like he was covering the speaker. “Dove’s on the phone. You know, Rev’sbest friend.”
“Shit,” the voice cursed, likely one of his brothers. “Sorry, Dove! We just don’t want Zeke heartbroken again. Makes the pizza taste weird.”
I snorted. “First off, Rev’sfive foot five,don’t let her hear you calling her anything less. Second, give Zeke some credit, I think he can hold his own.” He had to if he wanted to be with Reverie again. The way they’d ended before… I couldn’t imagine he’d sign up for that willingly twice. Rev was my best friend and I’d always have her back, but what she did to Zeke? She was wrong for that.
“We hope,” Eddie said, sounding less than sure. “Anyway, I texted him on the off chance he could help you guys out. Saidhe’ll swing by and drop off some gas, just might be a half hour or so. Probably needs to recover from all the boning he’s doing.”
A chorus of outright disgust drifted out over the line from his brothers as Eddie snickered with glee at their reactions.
“Gross, Eddie,” I chided. But probably true.
“That’ll work,” Josh agreed, holding back laughter. “Thanks, Ed.”
“No es nada, my friend,” Eddie replied breezily. “Wish I could help, but someone’s gotta pick up the slack for the one brother actually getting some around here!”
Eddie’s laughter and his brothers’ objections carried over the line right before the call ended, the cab growing quiet without Eddie’s voice booming through it.
“So,” Josh drew the syllable out. “Thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes,” I echoed. “That’s not long.”
Josh set his phone on the dash while he outstretched the other until it was resting on my knee. “Long enough.” His voice was heavy with suggestion, just like it had been a minute ago.
“Josh,” I murmured his name doubtfully as his hand trailed up my bare thigh, stopping just below the hem of my shorts.
“You don’t think I can get you off in thirty minutes?” He gave my thigh a meaningful squeeze. “It didn’t take me that long before.”
A surge of heat curled through me. The throb was damn near painful now, matching the pounding of my racing pulse.
“We’re on the side of the road,” I argued weakly. “Anyone could see us.”
“I won’t let them see,” Josh promised as the pads of his fingers slipped under my shorts to caress my inner thigh. “You’re for my eyes only.”
His soft, coaxing touch made it difficult to think of why it was a bad idea. Each stroke of his fingers made me want to give in, to toss caution to the wind and climb into his lap, and?—
“We shouldn’t,” I finally managed to say, even if everything within me wanted the opposite. “What if someone drives by? The whole town will know by the end of the day.”
Josh’s hand stilled.
“You’re right,” he agreed after a beat. “We shouldn’t risk it.” His hand left my shorts to cup my face, his thumb running over my bottom lip gently. “I shouldn’t risk you,” he murmured to himself softly.
I swayed forward, following Josh’s hand as he pulled back so he could climb into the truck properly, slamming the door closed behind him as he sat behind the wheel, keeping one arm bent out the window, in an attempt, I imagined, to keep himself as far from me as he could in the small space.
While we sat in silence, waiting, my mind reeled with the thoughts he’d planted in my head. They played like a slideshow across my mind: Josh pinning me against the door, Josh kissing me into the seats, Josh slipping his hand down my pants until I was gasping against his mouth.
Somehow before I’d even decided to move, I was sitting in Josh’s lap. A surprise noise left him, but his hands settled on my hips without hesitation.
I wish I could say the same. My stomach flipped with nerves, and I was aware of just how in the open we were, how anyone could pass by at any moment and find us in this position. “You won’t let anyone see?” I hated how my voice shook with uncertainty.
Josh’s eyes turned steely with determination, and his hands tightened. “Dove, I promise you, no one will see.” They darkened with his promise. “They won’t have time to see.”
His words sparked a thrill of goosebumps to erupt across my skin. I couldn’t hold myself back even if I wanted to. Now that he’d suggested it, Ineededhis touch—needed it to quell the firethat had been smoldering like an ember under my skin since he’d been sweaty and shirtless under the truck’s hood.
His large palms glided from my hips to curve under my ass, shifting me so that I was straddling both of his broad thighs properly. His hands urged me closer, and I moaned softly as his stomach pressed against the seam of my shorts, sending a jolt of something white hot through my body.
“Take what you need,” he encouraged, his voice growing gruffer with each word.
