Page 146 of Sweet Temptation

Fuck. I really didn’t want to tell her there was an armed biker at her brother’s party. Something told me she’d just go blazing back in there to try to save baby Justice from his poor choice in friends.

Luckily, Andre backed me up. “It’s okay, Summer. I’ll be faster alone. You’ve got those sexy boots on.”

He was right, and she knew it. I would’ve considered all three of us going, but a) I really didn’t want her going back to that party, and b) if this road broke our car, it was definitely breaking her ankle in those boots.

“I’ll find my way back to the house and call for a tow,” Andre said. “There’s gotta be someone sober at the party who can give us a lift.”

“Ask Mia,” Summer said, giving in. “My brother’s wasted.” She met my eyes.

So… she knew he was high as hell on coke?

“Got it. What’s the best music for scaring bears away?” Andre mused, thumbing around on his phone.

“Loud music,” Summer said.

He put on a song and cranked it up, probably as loud as his phone could go. Even I recognized this one. It was “Summer of ’69,” one of the songs from their road game.

Summer applauded. “Well played, sir.”

Andre raised an arm in the air, waving as he disappeared into the dark, the flashlight app on his phone lighting his way.

When she looked at me, she stopped clapping. As the music of Bryan Adams faded into the distance, the car’s headlights went out on their timer.

“I feel painfully Canadian right now,” I said in the dark.

The sky was semi-bright, but there was no moon that I could see; I stared up at it, as if there might be a map in the stars. There was, of course, but knowing that wasn’t doing shit-all to help us out of this situation.

“Are we really stranded in the woods?” Summer said, voicing my own thoughts. She stood in front of me, hugging herself in her furry coat.

“Apparently,” I muttered, realizing how alone we really were. “Let’s, uh… go keep warm.”

Said every guy stranded with a beautiful girl on a dark road since the beginning of time.

“Yeah. Let’s.”

We headed back to the car and she got in behind the wheel.

I sighed and got in the passenger seat. I put the seat back as far as it would go, trying to get comfortable.

Summer said nothing. She didn’t even attempt to put any music on, which I figured was a bad sign.

We probably had a while to kill here. So I decided to break the ice.

“Did you know your brother had a naked wedding?”

“Oh, God.” She eyed me. “How did you know that?”

“He told me.”

She groaned a little. “My brother likes to be naked more than he likes to wear clothes. So that’s a thing. He married Mia like two weeks after they met. At a music festival. In the woods. And yes, they were naked, apparently. I wasn’t there.”

“Would you do that?” I asked, stupidly curious.

“Marry someone naked?”

“Marry someone you just met.”

“Hmm.” She considered that, briefly. “How hot is he?”

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