Page 8 of Unraveled

“I’m so sorry. We’re dripping all over your floor. I’m Shelby, by the way, and that’s Gio.” She nodded at her boyfriend and then dragged the towel over her stomach before scrunching it through her hair. “You’re the guythat works at the shop with Ruby? Jet, right? She talks about you all the time. Always bets on you down at the races.”

“Shelby.” Ruby shot her a harsh look, and the girl shrugged.

“What? You do. Anyway, nice to meet you, Jet. And…”

“Annie,” I said. “Jet’s girlfriend.”

“Oh.” Shelby glanced at Ruby again, a weird silent look passing between them. “Nice to meet you,” she finally replied and then turned to Jet who was eyeing their exchange. “Do y’all have a bathroom we could use to go change back into regular clothes?”

He pointed to the back corner. “Right over there.”

“You coming, Ruby?” Shelby called over her shoulder, she and Gio already heading down one of the aisles.

“You go first,” she called back.

I was busy fuming, heat rising through me to sit like an electric prickle on my nerves as I watched Ruby dry off. Or whatever the fuck she was doing. She barely dabbed herself with that damn towel, leaving drops of water trailing down her body as she focused on her hair, making a show of tossing it over to press the towel to the dripping strands.

I glanced at Jet, my look asking him if he was seeing this. Catching on to any of it…

He just raised his brow, looking at me like I was the crazy one. Or maybe not crazy, but that he didn’tcare. Which should be a good thing, I guessed, if her blatant display wasn’t even a blip on his radar, but it didn’t mean I had to like watching her try toperformformyboyfriend.

“Hey, man! This door’s locked!” Gio called from the back.

“Ah, no! It just sticks like crazy! Hang on!” Jet walked off, leaving me to glare at Ruby and the smug little look on her face.

I raised an eyebrow and looked down my nose as I used my most condescending voice. “All you need is some heels and a pole and you could put on a show.”

Ruby’s smirk dropped, and her eyes narrowed dangerously, but I honestly didn’t give a fuck. She had no clue who she was playing with.

“Grab a swimsuit and we’ll see who looks hotter on a pole. Who Jet would look at first.”

I snorted. “Please, I don’t have to dress like a slut to know I’m hot.”

“Yeah.” Ruby looked down her nose this time. “You’re right. I see all the dried sweat and sand caked on your skin and clothes. I’m sure Jet loves the look.”

I rolled my eyes. “He lives covered in grease half the time. Trust me, he doesn’t care about a little sweat. We know how to make plenty, anyway.” My fingers tapped at the bite marks on my neck Jet had left on me last night in the limo, and I gave her a smirk.

Her eyes narrowed back into a jealous glare, but she quickly shifted back into a bright smile when Jet came around the corner.

“Hey.” He slowed as he walked up, his eyes going from me to Ruby as he read the vibe, hatred bouncing between us.

“Your turn, girl.” Shelby came out wearing tiny shorts and a halter top with sandals and grabbed a few umbrellas from a shelf, placing them on the counter. “We’ll take these.”

Jet rang her up as Ruby disappeared to change, and Shelby kept giving me not-so-discreet glances over the register. Maybe I couldn’t blame her. My bitch face was well on display at the moment, and as soon as the three of them finally left, I turned and glared at Jet.

“So much for seeing her less.”

“I didn’t tell her to come here, Annie.”

“You still told her where you work.”

“Which I mentionedbeforeI knew you didn’t like her. Do we have to fight about this again?”

“About you telling Ruby shit she doesn’t need to know?”

“No. About Ruby in general. I don’t care about her that way. My eyes are only for you.”

I felt my anger start to dissipate as those blue eyes looked into mine, like he could see down into my soul. Just like I could read his. He meant it. I knew he did. It just didn’t make the jealousy any easier with my stress eating at me with everything going on. That and knowing how hard she was trying to get her claws in him…

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