Page 5 of Forever Your Touch

“Look, I need to set him straight. I don’t want or need a watchdog, much to my brother’s dismay. I won’t be gone long. Promise.”

He frowned. “I don’t like this, not one little bit.”

Jo leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him. “Don’t worry. He’s just another bratty brother.”

“He isnotyour brother,” Ray all but snarled.

God’s truth, there.

“He might as well be since he’s gone and declared himself as such.” She shook her head at the sheer nonsense of that—FIBB, indeed. “The sooner I go, the sooner I get back.”

“Fine.” Ray looked like he wanted to argue, but for once, he didn’t.

Jo ran into the bedroom to grab her phone and purse before hurrying back to where Mason waited on the front porch.

Mason watched her come back into the living room, Ray following close behind. He’d nearly had a heart attack when he saw her. He knew her. Why the fuck didn’t Keith tell him his little sister was Mason’s favorite YouTuber? He talked about her gaming channel all the damn time. Fucker. He was going to beat his ass first chance he got.

God, she was tiny. Barely five feet if she was an inch. Wild blonde hair framed eyes so blue they made the summer sky envious. She was gorgeous.

The kiss she planted on Ray made him want to rip her away from him.Chill, he told himself.She’s Keith’s little sister.He’d asked Mason to look out for her, not try to get her in his bed. But damn, for such a little thing, she had a body that could cause more than a few stiff dicks.

“Let’s go.” She swept past him, clearly pissed off, and pulled the door closed behind her. He couldn’t resist inhaling as she went. The woman smelled like strawberries, his favorite fruit.

Her foot caught on the top step, and she pitched forward. Mason leaped to catch her before she face-planted. She sputtered out a mumbled “thank you” as she pulled away from him and hurried toward the drive.

He chuckled when she stopped at his beat-up pickup with a dubious expression. It didn’t look like much, but it ran like a dream and got him from point A to point B.

“This is your ride?” Her eyebrows raced toward her hairline, and he grinned at her incredulity. If she weren’t in sweats and a t-shirt, he’d swear she was a high maintenance girl. Then again, she was always in some kind of t-shirt when she recorded her Let’s Plays with her hair in a mess of some kind. He’d always thought it was cute as hell. She was funny too. He kinda liked this spitfire side of her as much as he did her online persona.

“Don’t be talking about Bess like that. You’ll hurt her feelings.” He patted the hood and leaned down to whisper, “Don’t listen to her, girl. You’re beautiful.”

Jo huffed and got in the truck. “You talk to your truck?”

He turned the ignition and backed out of the drive, aware of the woman staring at them from next door through her living room window. “Who’s that?”

Jo rolled her eyes. “Ray’s mother.”

“You live beside his parents?” It was his turn to sound incredulous.

The sigh that rolled out of Jo spoke more than anything she could have said. Chick wasn’t happy about it. “Yes.”

“Back to your question. Yes, I talk to my truck. How else is she going to know how I feel?”

“Cars and trucks don’t have feelings.”

He gasped like she’d shot him. “Watch your tongue, woman. Bess has sensitive feelings.”

“Where did you even find something this old?”

Mason didn’t miss the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth.

“It was my grandfather’s. My uncle gave it to me when I turned sixteen. None of my brothers wanted her, so I took her.”

“I can see why they didn’t. It’s straight out of the stone age.”

Mason stroked the dashboard. “She’s just jealous, Bess. You’re a good truck.” He shot her a glare. “Josephine clearly doesn’t appreciate a classic.”

“Just Jo,” she said and shifted in the seat, tugging at the seatbelt.

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