Page 78 of Always You

“We’re hoping Jacob is adopted,” I deadpan. Biting my tongue, I temper my possessive streak, the one that wants to growl and tell her to never come within a ten-foot radius of Jacob Spencer. “Just do me a favor? Stay away from him. He’s bad news.”

“He’s dating my best friend. How do you expect me to do that?” Her lashes flutter with a little bit of incredulity, her plump lips parted, just enough for me to imagine what they would look like wrapped around my….Fuuuuck, Hunt.Shut up.

I rub a hand over my face, a groan vibrating against my palm. “I know. Just… tell Julie to be careful. Please?”

I tentatively hold her gaze, our eyes locked, as if she’s trying to look for answers in my features. Finally, she nods, then offers me a sweet smile, melting my possessive heart within a second.

“I’m gonna hang out with her for a bit, okay?”

“Sure. Come find me after?”

She nods in response, then exits the truck, jogging toward her friend. My eyes trail her movement as she launches herself at Julie. I let out a chuckle as I lock my truck and make my way to Jason and the rest of the boys, giving them all fist bumps in greeting.

“Where’s your girl?” Jason asks, a smug grin on his face.

“Hanging out with your brother’s girlfriend.”

My eye catches the shift in his jaw as a feral expression hits me. “Don’t even go there.”

“I gather you haven’t told her.”

“I told her to be careful. She told me she was a big girl.”

“Ouch.” My brows knit together.

“Hey, I tried, man.” Jason throws up his hand, but he can’t hide his disappointment. It’s set in his tight smile and the quick glance thrown Julie’s way.

“She’ll figure it out. She’s smart.” It’s a fucking lie, because she’s been hanging out with Jacob for weeks and is still not fed up with him. In my book, that’s the equivalent of sticking a red flag to his forehead and choosing to pretend it’s not there.

“Let’s hope so. Anyway…” Jason’s smirk gives away the subject he wants to address, and my eyes roll to the back of my head hard enough to fall to the floor like marbles.

“Everything good with you and your girl?” His dirty blonde eyebrows flick up and down.

“She’s not my girl, man.” The lie makes it hard to hold back the grin tuggin’ the corners of my lips.

“Yet, you know exactly who I’m talking about. Besides, you didn’t correct me just two minutes ago. Just admit it. She’s your girl.”

“Shut up.” I chuckle.

Jason takes a pull from his beer, eyeing me from above the bottle.

“What?”

“You know, I took bets at the beginning of the year. Saying she’d be your first girlfriend by the end of the semester.”

“Well, I sure as fuck hope you didn’t put a lot of money on that.”

“I didn’t, thank fuck.” He looks up to the sky with a look of gratitude, then turns his gaze back to mine. “But I still think it’s true, though.” He pushes me a little farther toward the tree line, out of earshot of anyone else, lowering his voice. “When are you finally going to make it official?”

My chest burns up at those words, feeling busted as fuck. Jason isn’t the type to gaslight me into anything. I know he likes Charlotte, and it’s no secret he’s been suspicious of our relationship from the beginning, but hearing him encourage me to go for it... to officially make her mine? It does weird shit to my organs.

“I don’t know, man,” I say, simply because I’m not sure what to say. Denying it would be a lie. But I also don’t want to tell him anything if I’m not a hundred percent sure Charlotte and I are on the same page.

“Look, I have no clue what she sees in your dumb ass, and I think you should thank God on your knees for the fact that she forgave you after what you pulled at the last bonfire, but fuck me. Stop torturing yourself, man.” His hand drops forcefully on my shoulder with a firm grip. “Youloveher.”

The wordlovehas me snapping my head toward him with a deep frown. Like… do I care about her? More than anything in the world. Is she special? I’m sure heaven has a special corner for people like her. But love? That doesn’t exist in my vocabulary.

“I don’tloveanyone. Love is bullshit. Yeah, she’s my friend. And I care for her. And I’m not gonna deny that I want to throw her against the wall and fuck her like she’s mine. But I’m not sure I can’t do that. Not without risking what we have, and that’s what matters most.”

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