Page 52 of The Winning Ticket

“Wow, Bri, you’ve done a great job making this place feel like someone actually lives here now,” Annelisa says, stepping out on the large terrace and staring at all my planters.

My collection has grown even more since they were last here.

“Yeah, I never got to have a garden at my last place, so I thought, seeing as I have this amazing terrace now, I’d give it a go. So far, I haven’t killed anything, so, yay me,” I say with a smile.

Jake stands close beside me, and I feel his hand when it moves to my butt, squeezing gently. I shoot him a look out of the corner of my eye, and he grins at me.

The others all move out onto the terrace, completely oblivious to where Jake’s hand is right now.

“It’s going to be like that, is it?” I whisper, and he winks. “Fine… two can play at that game, JJ.”

“Bring it, Little B,” he says with a smirk, squeezing my butt again.

I swat his hand away, and he laughs while he starts opening containers. I look outside again to see where everyone is. They are all looking out at the view, their backs to the kitchen.

Sliding behind Jake, I reach around and cup his crutch, causing him to jerk back.

“Fucking hell, Bri,” he says with a laugh.

I rise onto my tiptoes and whisper in his ear, “Game on, JJ.”

22

FUN TO SNEAK AROUND

JAKE

“So, how are things going with Bri living here?” Will asks when the women head out to the terrace to hop in the spa.

The guys and I are watching the last of the cricket, although my eyes drift towards the terrace door, where I can hear the women talking. With Tara and Kylie here again, it feels like old times.

“It’s been great. I think she’s really happy here, too,” I say.

“Morgan mentioned you were back last weekend and hung out with her,” Chris says.

I turn to find him regarding me closely. “Yeah, so? We’re friends.”

He’s quiet for a moment and then nods. “I think you’re right. She’s happy here. I think part of that has been because she’s been spending more time with you.”

Will keeps his eyes trained on the TV, but I know he’s listening to our conversation.

“Well, we were always close back in school. We’re just picking up where we left off. And she needs a friend right now.” I purposely avoid outright lying, but I still feel shitty.

But I respect that Bri isn’t ready to tell anyone else about whatever is going on between us, and seeing the look on Chris’ face, I understand why she wants to avoid it.

“She really does. Morgan is worried that she is avoiding talking to her about the break-up. Has she spoken to you at all?”

I shrug. “A little bit. But she’ll talk about it when she’s ready. Morgan just needs to give her time. Bri was never one to talk about her feelings much, you know that.”

I’m pretty sure I’m trying to convince myself just as much as Chris. Bri has mentioned she hasn’t really let herself think about everything with her ex, and I’ve been avoiding thinking about it too much since last night. Even though I am very aware that what we’ve started is most likely going to lead to one or both of us getting hurt if she doesn’t deal with it, it is hard to remind myself of this when all I want to do is kiss her.

“True. I’m just glad she’s back,” Chris says, and that’s the end of the conversation, thankfully.

When the game is over, we head out to join the women, beers in hand. All of them except for Annelisa, who is sitting on the side with her legs dangling in, are in the spa. Chris and Will slip in beside their women, and I pause momentarily, wondering where I should sit. I’ve always been affectionate with Bri, so it wouldn’t seem weird if I sat beside her and slung an arm around her…

Would it be weirder if I sat between Tara and Kylie instead? Fuck, now I’m second-guessing everything.

Bri moves over slightly, and I take that as my queue to sit between her and Kylie. Settling myself in the water, I focus on the beer in my hand and remind myself not to grab Bri’s thigh, shoving aside the memory of the last time we’d been in the spa together.

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