Flipping her off, Four scrolled through Jamie’s iPod. “Just because I’m from the south doesn’t mean I listen to country.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t, either.”
Sauntering back into the living room as if nothing had happened, Jamie butted in. “Good music is whatever sets your soul on fire. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you have bad taste because you stayed true to yourself.”
“Unless it’s Justin Bieber!” Vaughn shouted from the kitchen.
“Oh, yeah,” Jamie agreed with a vigorous nod of his head. “Fuck that guy.”
I noticed he only had two beers in his hand just before he handed me one. Was I mistaken or was this a peace offering? Hesitantly, I accepted it. When I felt his finger caress mine at the very last second, I wondered if he should be tested for mania. He could be so cold one moment and setting me on fucking fire the next.
When he sat down this time, he was close enough for me to smell his body wash or maybe his shampoo? Whichever it was, it made me lean into him.
Hmm… maybe I need to be checked, too.
It was beginning to feel as if we were trapped on an emotional roller coaster—one that wasn’t planning to stop any time soon.
“Did you know that Rihanna is Jamie’s favorite singer?” I announced with a bat of my eyelashes. My mind needed a distraction before my body did something crazy. “Not someone notable like Elvis or even Michael Jackson. Rihanna.”
Jamie frowned as he took a sip of his beer. I found myself mirroring him and took a sip of mine, too. “Show me someone else who can be that savage and still sexy. Go ahead. I’ll wait.”
“Holy shit!” Four interjected, her southern twang ringing loud and clear. Her eyes were wide as she clapped her hands over her mouth. “That explains everything! There were far too many of her songs on your iPod.”
“You mean the one you keep stealing?” he shot back.
Four didn’t bother defending herself and bit her bottom lip with a grin. Standing, Lou suggested we watch a movie instead, and while she looked for one, Jamie finished his beer. Setting the empty bottle on its side on the coffee table, he grinned. “You guys want to play spin the bottle? I’ll even up the ante. Instead of seven minutes in heaven, we’ll go for fifteen.”
“Because that’s all the time you need?” Tyra teased as she came back into the living room.
When the hell had she left? Vaughn appeared only seconds later, and I realized he hadn’t brought back the beers.
“Sure,” Jamie said, and I knew by the wicked gleam in his eye that he was about to call them both out. “I guess you can relate. Did you at least take a hoe bath?”
Tyra’s lips parted. “A what?”
“You know, one of those baths where you wash your ass and pits in the sink.”
“It’s called a birdbath, Jamie.”
“Nah… it’s a hoe bath. I’ve watched plenty of girls do that shit after a hookup.”
Planting her hands on her hips, she faced off with Jamie. All five feet of her. “Are you calling me a hoe?”
“Are you telling me you didn’t just sneak away for a quickie?”
“I’m telling you it’s none of your business.” She sat down next to Vaughn and rolled her eyes at Jamie when he blew her a kiss.
“You know, I once took a hoe bath.” The room was silent, though Jamie didn’t exactly wait around for permission to continue. “This chick I met in a pub didn’t bother telling me she was a virgin before I bent her over. She bled all over me, and since I couldn’t shower right away, I had to scrub my dick in the sink.” When Jamie looked at me and winked, I wondered if that story had been told for my benefit. I didn’t doubt that it was true.
“I hope you wore a condom,” Lou replied, wrinkling her nose.
Stealing my unfinished beer, he saluted the room before taking a sip. “Always.”
Blushing for some reason, I fixed my gaze on the TV in time to see Lou scrolling past The Conjuring. My love for horror movies took over, and I sat up, but the request on my lips quickly died when I remembered that I was an outsider.
My disappointment was short-lived when I felt the cold press of Jamie’s lips on my ear and smelled the beer on his breath. “You know this timid act of yours isn’t going to make my dick hard if that’s your goal.”
“It’s not.”
“Mmm.” It was all the response he gave before sitting up. “Put something scary on,” he told Lou.
“Like what?”
Jamie looked down at me and perked a brow. I guess he wasn’t going to do the dirty work for me, after all.
“How about The Conjuring?” I asked.
Shrugging, Lou did just that before hitting the lights and returning to Wren’s lap. He hadn’t said much all night. I had the feeling he wasn’t much of a talker.
Jamie stayed close while the movie played, and I tried not to laugh whenever he jumped at something scary. I had the feeling Jamie would have rather sat through a romantic comedy than a horror. We’d just gotten to the part where the Warrens were attempting an exorcism when my phone buzzed in my hand. Peeking down, I saw that it was a text from Joe.
Outside, miss.
The hollow feeling that I hadn’t realized was gone now returned with swift vengeance. Time to return to reality.
As I started to stand and say my goodbyes, long fingers curled around my phone, stealing it from my hand. I watched Jamie read the text, and then my lips parted when he started typing with his thumb. Once done, he wordlessly dumped the phone in my lap. Picking it up, I read his reply to Joe.
Take the rest of the night off. She has a ride home.
My heart pounded in my chest for two reasons. One, Jamie hadn’t even bothered disguising that it wasn’t me texting back, and two, I’d get to stay in this fantasy just a little bit longer.
Before I could say anything to Jamie, there was a knock at the front door. Wren started to lift a sleeping Lou so that he could answer the door, but Jamie beat him to the punch. I watched mesmerized as he swaggered lazily from the room.
I could hear him speaking to someone, and the moment I heard Joe’s voice rising angrily, I shot to my feet and rushed from the living room. Joe seemed visibly relieved the moment he saw me enter the foyer while Jamie reluctantly stood back, allowing him to see me fully.
“Hey, Joe! Sorry. I should have texted you,” I said with a pointed look at Jamie. “I decided to stay a little longer than I planned, so Jamie is going to give me a ride instead.”
“That’s fine, miss.” The frown Joe wore now was troubled. “I’ll just have to let your father know.”
My heart sank to my stomach. I knew my father would demand I come home if he found out that I was with anyone other than Ever.
“Or don’t,” Jamie snapped with a scowl.
Without thinking, I placed both hands on Jamie’s chest, hoping it would silence him. It did, but I could tell he didn’t like it. Joe hadn’t missed the exchange, and I knew we were no closer to convincing him to risk his job by lying to his employer. He’d already bought me the beer. Maybe I was asking too much. Remembering the wife and daughter he had to consider, I dropped my head. I couldn’t allow Joe to lose his job because of me.