Page 98 of Better Hide

Cole rubs a hand on my thigh. “Let him make it beautiful.”

Jayden runs his hands aggressively through his hair. “You don’t have to hide from me anymore, Jo. I’m not perfect, but I’m going to keep working so you never have to hide again. None of us will.”

My chest hurts. I want that. I want that more than I’m willing to admit.

“We’ll never get bored of you, Jo.” Cole leans in. “We’re only beginning to crack the surface of Mary Jo Hall, and we’re already obsessed. There’s nothing that you can say or do that would make us less interested. You’ve tried. Didn’t work.” Cole chuckles.

“Stop,” I whisper, emotion clogging my throat.

“That word didn’t work before, and it won’t work now.” Cole plants a kiss on my head. “Even if you beg.”

I put my hands on both their thighs. They let me sit in silence, collecting my thoughts. Finally, I let out a breath. “I never beg.”

43

JAYDEN

One YearLater

I stepout onto the veranda, and the hot sun immediately beats on my head. Ahead of me, Jo suns herself beside the pool.

We were able to move out of the apartment after only a few months. Jo started another social media account, wearing a mask, and gained popularity making more food content. Cole joined in a lot, and very quickly, Jo reached the popularity she had on her first account. Then, superseded it. I had a lot to say about Jo’s choice of sounds and editing styles, and finally, she let me help. At first, I think it was to humor me, then she realized I wasn’t half bad at it and let me take over completely. We made enough money doing that to buy a nice house in Mexico and travel, making food vlogs like Jo always wanted to do.

I approach Jo quietly. She has her eyes closed with earbuds in and doesn’t notice me. I can’t help but admire her tanned skin in the sun. About a month ago, I gave her a rib tattoo with thorny vines crawling up her side, and it looks tantalizing on her. It’s healed perfectly, too.

I pluck an earbud out. “What you listening to?”

Jo jumps. “Jesus!”

I laugh. I love seeing her caught off guard.

“Damn it, Jayden.” Jo snatches for the earbud, but I keep it from her and hold it up to my ear. “Is this a filthy novel?”

I hear that it is, in fact, a spicy novel.

Jo raises an eyebrow.

I grin at her. I love it when she listens to her nasty books. Cole does, too. She always jumps our bones like we’ve been starving her of dick.

As I eye fuck her, I notice the seat under Jo is covered in sweat.

“Too hot out here for this shit.” I peel my shirt off. “Let’s cool off.”

Something flashes in Jo’s eyes, then it’s gone.

“No thanks. Go ahead, though.”

I frown at her. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen Jo in the pool since we got here.

“Nonsense.” I reach down and pull her into my arms.

Jo squeals. “My clothes!”

“They’ll dry.”

“My AirPods!”

“I’ll buy you more.” I tighten my grip as she scrambles to get away. “Ready?”

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