Page 6 of Jett in Jeopardy

Screw it. I was making a big deal over nothing. I would have to change him into the pajama pants myself. We were both grown-ups, and I would avert my eyes to give him as much privacy as I could.

With my eyes fixed on the far wall in front of me, I gripped the waistband of his shorts and dragged them over his hips and down his legs before tossing them into a wet heap on the floor. Unfortunately, pulling on the pants wasn’t quite as easy, and I had to look down a couple of times as I slipped them up his tangled legs.

Jett stirred a little but didn’t wake, just enough to roll onto his side and flash me a glimpse of his perfect, rounded ass. I’d thought of his ass more than once when I’d been alone with my hand wrapped around my cock. The last thing I needed was to see firsthand proof that it was better than anything I’d imagined.

I jerked my gaze back to the wall while pulling the pants the rest of the way up.

With him clean, dry and out cold, I pulled the covers over him, smoothing them over his shoulders. His hair was a damp mass of tangled black waves falling into his face, and I brushed them back from his sharp-angled cheekbones and straight nose. Again, I was struck by his beauty, his features soft and relaxed during sleep.

I’d never let anyone sleep in this bed that Ryan and I had shared, and it was strange seeing Jett curled up asleep on Ryan’s side. I told myself that this was different from letting someone I’d fucked sleep there. Jett and I had never done anything in all the years he’d been coming into The Dunes… but I thought about it — more times than I cared to admit.

I turned away from him abruptly and gathered our dirty clothes from the bathroom before tossing them into the washing machine, then settled on the sofa to try and sleep. I covered myself with the blanket draped over the back of the couch, but it was a while before I drifted off. My churning thoughts kept drifting to Jett asleep in my bed.

For over three years, I’d watched the kid drink, party and go home with strangers. He had a wild side that definitely came with a self-destructive edge—and he’d been balancing on it for as long as I had known him. Lately, he’d been sliding down that self-destructive side of the edge more often than not—as tonight proved.

Someone needed to take the kid in hand and teach him some self-control before he did something stupid and really hurt himself.

Did I think that someone should be me?

I didn’t hate the idea, but even I knew that would be a mistake. He had to be at least ten years younger than me. Whatever Jett needed, I didn’t have it in me to give.

Tomorrow, when he woke up, I would give him his clothes and send him on his way. It would be better for both of us that way.

Chapter Three

Jett

Iwokeupslowly,with a sort of low-grade anxiety humming deep inside me, leaving me feeling like something was off, but I couldn’t quite remember what. Besides dancing with Sam at The Dunes the night before, I couldn’t remember much else.

I opened my eyes, blinking in the shadowy gloom. Dull daylight seeped through a narrow gap between dark gray curtains that I had never seen before in my life. This wasn’t my bedroom… or Sam’s.

Where the fuck was I?

Panic pierced my chest like an electrical jolt. I jerked upright in the unfamiliar bed but regretted moving so quickly almost immediately.

Pain gripped my skull as though someone had trapped it in a vise and was tightening it by the second. I squeezed my eyes closed and pressed my forehead into both hands.

What did Idolast night?

My heart pounded, and I opened my eyes, taking in the unfamiliar bedroom. It was tidy and not very big, just enough room for the dresser and queen-size bed. The furniture was dark wood; the walls were painted dull gray, colorless and nondescript. There was nothing here that hinted about who lived here or whose bed I had just woken up in.

I looked at the empty spot next to me. The comforter was still smooth, the pillow full with no sign it had been used last night. Maybe I hadn’t slept with anyone. Except… I looked down at myself, naked from the waist up and wearing someone else’s pajama bottoms that had to be at least two sizes too big for me.

I glanced around the room, looking for my clothes and, more importantly, my phone, but didn’t see any of my belongings.

My insides knotted, and I slipped out of bed, noticing for the first time a glass of water with two Advil on the nightstand. I said a silent prayer of thanks to the universe and whoever had left this for me — whoever I had spent the night with, I presumed. Heat crept into my face. Going home with and fucking someone I couldn’t even remember didn’t exactly fit into my getting-my-shit-together plans.

I swallowed down the pills and downed nearly half the glass of water before setting it back down on the nightstand, then padded quietly across the wood floor to the door. After opening it a crack, I held my breath, listening for any signs of life.

The savory scent of food cooking wafted from down the hall. My stomach growled.

Carefully, I eased down the short passage, wishing I at least had my shirt… and pants that I didn’t have to keep holding the waistband to stop them from falling down.

The hallway led into a wide space with a living room on one side and open to a kitchen on the other. Floor-to-ceiling windows took up almost all the wall opposite from where I stood, offering a stunning view of the slate-colored waves of the Pacific beneath low-hanging gray clouds.

“You’re up?”

I startled and spun to see Brody standing at the stove, spatula in hand.

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