Page 96 of Entangled

“Yeah…” Jace clears his throat, catching on to the tension in the air. “Yeah. I did.”

The perky little blonde fidgets in the sand for one more second before cracking. “Okay, well, I guess I’ll see you around later, Jace?” She turns to Tiff. “Happy birthday, by the way!”

Tiff accepts her hug, shooting her eyes nervously at me. “Thanks.”

“See you around, Alyssa.”

No, you most certainly will not, Jace Dawson.

I watch Alyssa walk away while Tiff picks up the nervous shuffle in the sand where she left off, looking everywhere but at Jace and me. As soon as the last little blonde ringlet disappears into the crowd, I whip around and step out of Jace’s arms, glaring at him.

“El?”

He tilts his head at me in confusion. “Blondie?”

“El?!” I push at his shoulder. “You’re a fucking idiot, Dawson.” With that, I turn and stomp toward Andrea and Zane, like the five-year-old I am, leaving Jace to figure out why exactly he’s an idiot with his cousin.

Zane and Andrea are sitting in their pop-up chairs, eyes on me, and I’m guessing having caught what just went down by the fact they look entirely too amused for my liking.

I stop in front of them, taking a few deep breaths and raise my head, trying to maintain some shred of dignity. “Do you happen to have tequila?” I was not this girl. I had never had an issue with being possessive in my life and it was leaving me feeling all out of sorts.

“We do.” Andrea gives me a small smile, popping the cooler next to her and passing me the bottle.

My brows shoot up as I see the bottle is a nice añejo, and I am thoroughly shocked. “I’m impressed.” I tilt the bottle toward them in thanks before twisting the cap and taking a swig. “Añejo usually isn’t someone’s first choice.”

Andrea brings her cup up in an attempt to hide the smile on her face at my behavior. “Zane is the tequila drinker.”

I hold the bottle out to him, offering a sip and he takes it, cocking his head at me. “What’s the occasion?” His voice comes out amused, and unlike his girlfriend, he’s doing nothing to hide the smile on his face.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Your best friend is a manwhore.”

He laughs and takes a sip. “I believe he would prefer the term reformed manwhore now, and you already knew that.”

“Don’t get logical with me, Zane.” I take the bottle when he passes it back and spy a new tattoo on the inside of his hand, a firecracker in midexplosion. “Appropriate.” I scoff, nodding my head at the tattoo. “When’d you get that?”

He opens his hand and looks at the tattoo while I take a sip before bringing his eyes back to me. “Did it a couple days ago.”

“As in… yourself?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I’m pretty much the only tattoo artist within a hundred miles of this place so it’s a nice side gig.”

I run my eyes over the multitude of tattoos covering his body, some decidedly less professional looking than others, and give him an amused grin. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“Hey,” he grumbles. “Don’t judge. It’s not like there are people lining up down the street to be your canvas when you’re first learning.”

Huffing a laugh, I take another sip and give him a nod. “I would imagine not.”

I pass the bottle back to Zane and feel Jace come up behind me, gripping my hips and dropping his head down next to mine. “Are you jealous, Blondie?” he whispers, voice teasing.

I turn my head to meet his eyes and give him an irritated look. “No. But the abundance of your past flings.” Bringing my fingers up, I throw in some bratty air quotes. “I have to deal with is starting to become a tad annoying.”

“Ah, come on.” He flashes those dimples, eyeing me playfully. “Alyssa isn’t that bad.”

I push out of his arms and give a humorless laugh. “Are you kidding me right now?” He did not just say that.

Jace narrows his eyes on me, taking a step forward and closing the distance I just put between us. “So you’re telling me when we go to LA in a couple weeks, we won’t have any run-ins with people you used to sleep with?”

I hear Zane choke on something behind me before muttering. “Bad move, bro. Bad move.”

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