Page 67 of Carry Me Home
But it’s for Jack. He’s a hero. Are you going to say no to a hero?
Jack
No one’s buying me a drink. You know I hate that shit.
See you at 3. Janie’s coming, too.
“So,um, are you going to be around this weekend?” Janie fidgeted with the seatbelt as I started the truck. Since Janie only fidgeted when she had something on her mind she wasn’t saying, it caught my notice.
We hadn’t had a chance to talk about last night. Frankly, I hadn’t thought it was necessary. Everything thing we needed to say, we laid it all out under the stars. I knew where I stood, and I thought she did too. Clearly I was wrong about that, or she wouldn’t be asking such a ridiculous question.
“Of course I’ll be around. Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked, shifting into reverse and backing out of her driveway with one hand on the back of her seat.
“You officially have weekends off now that I’m only working at the bar Monday through Friday. I thought maybe you would want to go see your mom or use one of the Lodestar cabins.Not that youhaveto leave,” she added hastily when she caught sight of my expression. “You live there, too. I just figured that weekends are your time now, so there’s no reason to stay.”
“You’re my reason, Janie.”
Her head whipped to look at me. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
It really was that simple. I loved hanging out with Maya, but having Janie all to myself for a few days? That was too good to pass up. The second I had learned she would be staying with her aunts for the weekend, I’d cleared my schedule—not that there had been much to clear, but I had briefly considered heading to Mercy River for a long weekend. And that wasbeforesex on the porch. If we spent the whole weekend fully dressed, playing cards, then that was fine with me. I’d take Janie any way I could get her.
Not that I was going to put that offer on the table. I planned on getting Janie naked as much as possible this weekend.
I reached for her hand across the console and threaded my fingers through hers, leaving our palms clasped on her thigh.
“We probably shouldn’t make a big deal about it. If it’s just sex?—”
I stopped the truck right there in the middle of the road. No one was behind me, but people in Aspen Springs were used to dodging cows. They could dodge my truck just as well.
I twisted in my seat to look at her. “What do you mean,if it’s just sex?” I demanded. “It’s never been just sex with us. Not even that first night in the snowstorm. I thought we made that pretty clear last night when you said you wanted all of me.” Something was happening in my chest. It felt like a fucking heart attack. I didn’t like it.
“That’s not what I—” She tried to tug her hand free, but I didn’t let go. She gave an exasperated huff. “I don’t mean that there aren’t feelings involved. Of course there are feelings.I like you, Jack. I like youso much. But with you leaving in September, we can’t have a real relationship. If I call you my boyfriend, Maya will get confused. She might think you’re staying. I know it’s going to hurt her when you leave either way, but I’m trying to minimize the damage here.” She squeezed my hand. “Can you understand that?”
A car honked. I rolled down my window and waved them around. Idiots. They couldn’t figure that out themselves?
“I can understand that,” I allowed. More than understand.
The thought of hurting Maya made my whole body physically ache. Ihatedit, even though I knew it wasn’t something I could or evenshouldprotect her from. People moved away, friendships disintegrated, family members passed away. Heartache was human. But I didn’t want to be the cause of Maya’s heartache. I wanted to be the one comforting her through it.
I shifted into drive. “You’re right. We probably shouldn’t make a big deal of it around Maya. That’s fair. But she’s not here now, and I don’t think any of our friends are going to rat us out.”
Apparently we weren’t the only ones with the bright idea to use the library parking lot because by the time we rolled up, it was crammed full of cars. We texted the group to let them know we’d catch up with them when we found a spot and ended up parking a couple blocks away.
I strode around the front of the truck to open her door and found her still buckled. With a laugh, I unclasped her seatbelt and helped her out. Then I pressed her up against the door and kissed her because it had been a whole thirty minutes since I’d had my mouth on hers and that was way too fucking long.
“Jack,” she protested, my name smothered between our mouths. “Someone will see.”
I pulled back to look at her just in time to see her pupils flare with heat. She liked a little danger. “Good. I hope they do.” Ileaned in to kiss her again, but she twisted her face away and slipped under my arm, laughing. I snagged her wrist and hauled her back. “Don’t run from me, Ace. There’s nowhere for you to hide.”
She made a show of looking at all the buildings, people, and cars, then back to me with raised brows. “Are you kidding? With this crowd? You’d never find me.”
Her words hit like a struck gong. A low thrum of excitement vibrated through me. “Careful, Janie. Hunting people was my specialty. I might take that as a challenge.”
“I dare you,” she taunted, her eyes laughing.
I caged her against the truck. “Are you sure this is a game you want to play, honey? I’ve been chasing you for months now. You know what that does to me, living under the same roof as you, so close and so untouchable?” My fingertips ghosted her soft cheek, traced her jaw, found her throat. She swallowed, her throat bobbing under the light pressure of my palm. “I’m out of patience. If you run, I’ll chase you. And when I catch you, I’m not letting go.”
