Page 18 of Steel & Jenna
Jack chuckled. “Good. There’s a thrift store down the block from the bookstore you were in. We generally find a good selection there. If not, there’s two others around town, but they’re smaller.”
“Do you think Lilly would mind me tagging along?”
“I doubt it.”
Jenna blinked, confused by his answer. They were nearly to the door that led into the counter service. Her old school had professional chefs and staff to serve the students and faculty. Entering a lunch line had been different and new for her, so she was watching the other students and Jack closely.
“Why do you say that?” she asked him, wanting to make sure that there wasn’t going to be an issue with his little sister if she went shopping with them.
Jack leaned down, creating room at her side by drawing their linked hands behind her back. His hot breath fell on her ear and Jenna was coming to realize that sensation was extremely arousing. Even in public.
“First, because you have her eternal gratitude for buying her that book set. We’re almost halfway through the first book, by the way.” The way he saidwemade her think that he was reading them too—or maybe reading themtoLilly. “And second, because I have it on good authority that you were checking out my butt on Saturday. Pretty sure she approves.”
Heat blazed on Jenna’s cheeks as her eyes widened. A silent gaspescaped her mouth. Jack’s chuckle in her ear made the rest of her body heat rise too.
The line moved forward and they stepped as one.
“I… I…” Shehadbeen checking out his butt on Saturday, but she hadn’t realized hislittle sisterhad caught her doing it.
“No need to be embarrassed,” he soothed her. “Iwantyou to look at my ass. It’s yours. To look,” his teeth nipped at the shell of her ear, “and to touch.”
That swirl of possession she’d felt during their kiss rose up in her gut again.Mine. “Jack…”
The door to the serving counter was directly in front of them now. Jack stepped behind her. Without letting go of her hand, he crossed his arm over her front so they were still pressed together, now with her back against his chest. He was so much more coordinated than she was. But, regrettably, they couldn’t keep the pose for long. They would each need both hands to hold their trays.
There were still two people in line ahead of them before they had to let go, but they didn’t continue their conversation. Just leaned into each other and savored the moment.
One more person. Jenna closed her eyes as she felt his lips in her hair on the back of her head. Unlike other girls, she didn’t put product in it to make it large and poofy. Her hair was already an unruly mane of orange frills. She didn’t need chemicals to achieve that look.
Jack nudged her gently. Jenna opened her eyes to see she was next to grab a tray. Reluctantly, they broke apart. As Jenna reached forward to take a brown tray from the upside down stack, Jack pulled the strap of her shoulder bag down her arm and then looped it over his shoulder. Surprised by the action, she paused with her arm outstretched.
She’d seen boys holding books and bags for other girls before. No one had ever offered to take hers before. After that kiss, she shouldn’t have been surprised but she was. In a way, the action seemed more possessive than their kiss.
Jack gave her a pointed, amused look that snapped her out of her daze. Jenna grabbed a tray and continued down the line. The smell of grease was heavy in the air. A lunch lady with a hairnet and pinkuniformed dress with a white stained apron stood behind the counter. Jenna saw a tray of lasagna next to a tray of burgers.
The food selections were drastically different too.
“Lasagna please.”
The woman handed a plate over the splatter guard. She did not smile or offer Jenna any other options, so Jenna placed the plate on her tray and moved on. She asked for broccoli over peas from the next lady and Jello over a cupcake from the last.
It wasn’t until she was waiting at the register that she realized Jack didn’t have a tray of food too. She frowned. “You’re not eating?”
He shook his head. “Not hungry.”
But she saw through the lie and her frown turned into a scowl. Didn’t public schools have programs for students who needed help to pay for meals?
At the register, she saw a barrel of apples for a dime each and grabbed two before handing over cash. Whatever reason Jack wasn’t eating be damned. She was going to shove some food down his throat. If he valued his life, he wouldn’t protest.
CHAPTER 6
Upon her request for privacy, Jack led her out to the courtyard behind the school building. It was where he’d come a lot the previous year to sit in silence rather than partaking in the den of teenage angst that was their high school cafeteria. Depending on which teacher was scheduled for detention that day, he sometimes could persuade them to give him a lunch detention instead of an afterschool one. It got both him and the teacher out earlier, which was a win-win in Jack’s book. But Principal Foote had not approved when he’d found out. The pompous ass.
The ‘courtyard’ wasn’t fancy or special. The school certainly hadn’t put any money into the area in a long while. Five old picnic tables with peeling green paint stood on the single concrete slab surrounding a failing fifty-five gallon trashcan. Based on the melted plastic, it had caught on fire more than once. Jack looked around but did not spot the bucket of sand that was usually present to encourage students and faculty to put their butts in.
The only covering offered from the sun or elements was the small overhang that protected the line of three payphones against the school’s brick wall. Jack had never used them because he had no one to call, but they were usually very crowded during lunch.
They had maybe a half hour left of their lunch hour. Thankfully, they were the only students outside. Being the first day of school, most were trying to catch up with their friends, catch their bearings, or were out by their cars in the parking lot. They likely wouldn’t have this sort of privacy again.
