Page 66 of Highest Bidder
Jess giggles, grabs his biceps, and stumbles as he walks her backward. “You are so strong. What are you doing later?” Her attempt at wiggling her eyebrows nearly makes me lose it.
JT looks at her tenderly. “I think a sleepover on the bathroom floor is inourfuture.”
“JT, are you going to keep this old lady waiting, or what?” Mama signals to the bartender to get her another drink.
Giving Myles one last peck on the lips, I pry Jess away from JT and take over getting her something to eat so JT can continue hisgame. He plants a kiss on Jess’ temple and goes back to lining up his next shot.
“Hershey! Are you ready to go?”Myles calls from the living room. I woke up late so I’m rushing to get ready.
“You kept me up late last night after getting home from the bar.” I pull my bra on over my head. “Then, you didn’t wake me up before you went to the gym this morning!” I yell from my bedroom, throwing a shirt on. His head peeks inside the room.
“You weren’t complaining last night,” he says, his voice gruff.
I roll my eyes.
“You could have woken me up before you left this morning. That’s all I’m saying.” I look in the mirror, trying different hairstyles. “What’s the big deal anyway? We’re going for a horseback ride. It’s not like the horses have somewhere else to be,” I shoot back with a sassy tone.
“Oh, believe me, I tried to wake you up before I left, but you sleep like the dead. I shook you, talked to you, kissed you. Surprisingly enough, you even responded to me a few times. But you never remember these things and always claim I didn’t try to wake you up.”
I shake my head. There’s no way he did all those things.
“You must not try hard enough to make sure I’m awake. I’m almost ready, okay?” I flip my head over, settling for a messy bun since my hair won’t cooperate for anything else. He sighs and walks into the living room. I pull on my boots and grab my Yankee baseball hat just in case. “Ready!” I walk out of the bedroom to see he already has the front door open. I roll my eyes at as I walk by. “Love you, weirdo,” I say. He shuts the door and wraps his arms around my waist, walking wide-legged behind me.He snuggles his face into my neck and kisses me right below my ear.
“I have to keep you on your toes. If I always acted the same, you would be bored.” He playfully tickles my side, and I screech, trying to squirm away. He stops and kisses my neck again. “But last night was all about celebrating. Mama hasn’t stopped texting me today. She seems more excited than I am.”
We definitely celebrated. His mom’s something else, and when we got back to my house, we celebrated in a more intimate way. I get butterflies just thinking about it.
“Of course, she's excited. We’re all so proud of you. You have worked your ass off, and now you’re finally the full-time auctioneer you’ve always dreamed of being. I’m going to miss you being my ringman though.” I pout getting into his truck. He pecks me on the lips and shuts the door. I watch him rub the back of his neck as he climbs into the driver’s seat.
“It feels surreal. I won’t believe it until my voice feels worn out from announcing cars all week instead of just during the breaks,” he admits.
We pull up to JT’s house and walk inside. Jess is sitting at the kitchen island, covering her eyes and massaging her temples. She groans when we shut the door.
“Not too loudly,” she whines. Nickelback barks and comes barreling over to greet me. Jess groans again. Myles and I kneel to greet him before walking toward Jess.
“Where’s my perky morning friend?” I tease. She really does look like shit. Her hair is standing up all over the place, and she’s wearing baggy, wrinkled clothes and somehow has on only one sock.
“This girl can’t seem to keep up with how Mama parties.” JT emerges from out of his bedroom and kisses Jess on top of her head.
The gesture makes me smile. They officially started dating sixmonths after we did, and it has been the best thing. The four of us are always hanging out.
“Jess, I warned you.” Myles shakes his head. “Mama’s like another breed when it comes to partying. It’s impossible for her to get drunk,” Myles says, looking out the back windows toward the stable.
“She kept giving me drink after drink after drink…” Jess looks over at me, and I jump a little. Her makeup is smeared all around her eyes. She even has a smudge of something on her jaw. “It’s not like I could tell a little old lady I couldn’t handle it.” She rubs her head again trying to ease the pain.
“Here, babe. This might help.” JT sets some strange concoction in front of her.
I don’t even want to know what is in it. It looks disgustingly orange with something floating in it. My stomach rolls just at the sight.
“What the fuck is this?” Jess’s eyes look up to JT, pleading with him not to make her drink it.
He strokes her back and shakes his head. “You don’t want to know.”
“Okay. We’re going to go for a ride,” Myles states, grabbing my hand and basically dragging me out of the house.
“See you later, Fun-Size.” JT waves.
Poor Jess looks like she’s trying to convince herself to consume whatever JT has given her.
