Page 44 of Sugar
“Nice,” I say. She’s pretty, sure. Honey-blonde hair curls around her face from the humidity, long tan legs dipping out of a stark white skirt. Not my type, but I can see why he likes her.
Myeyes move to the girl next to her, and my heart stops.
Ava wears a pair of jeans that mold to her curves, the waistline cut low enough to steal my breath. She’s got on an oversized black Mustangs tee cut just below her chest, baring the soft skin of her stomach. The neckline hangs off one shoulder, revealing the line of her collarbone, and I get lost in the way it disappears beneath the cotton.
“You should really do something about that,” Richards teases.
I turn to look at him, thrown off-kilter. “About what?”
“Ava Jones.”
I force a small laugh. “It’s not like that. I just . . . I know her from a camp thing we were both at a couple years ago.”
He arches a brow. It’s clear he doesn’t believe me. “Word on the street is she’s single again.”
“Oh yeah? Says who?” The question comes out sharper than I mean it to.
Richards’s smile grows wider. “Look man, just talk to her. What’s the worst that could happen?”
If he only knew.
Ava laughs at something Molly says, playfully shoving her away. She shakes her head, her long hair dragging along her shoulders as she brings a red plastic cup to her lips. She’s got a damn lollipop dangling from her mouth.
I swear, she’s only gotten more beautiful in the last couple of years. I thought it hurt to look at her before, when she was spitting mad on that ranch. But now . . . now she’s lightning in a bottle, so bright and violent I can’t help but to be drawn in.
Her eyes dart toward where we stand as she sips from her drink, and I swear there’s magic in the way our gazes touch, something supernatural in the way her focus sends a shiver up my spine. Thunder sounds from somewhere over the water, far in the distance, a sure sign of an impending storm. But the electricity in the air is coming straight from her blue eyes.
“I’ll be right back,” I say to Richards.
He snorts. “Good luck, Bennett.”
Shuffling across the sand, I make my way toward Ava and her friends. When she notices me coming, she trails away from the group to intercept me, her eyes dancing with a teasing edge.“Kasey,” she says through a grin, the white stick of her lollipop sticking out the side of her mouth. “Surprised to see you out for once.”
“Are you?” I ask, a smile pulling across my face. We both know damn well she baited me here.Andthat it worked.
She ignores the question. “Big game next week. You ready?”
“You really here to talk about football, Ava?” My eyes are fastened to her lips, the way they swell around the candy hidden inside her mouth. It sends a lick of heat through me.
“No,” she admits, the corners of her mouth rising, revealing a bright red stain on her tongue.
Fuck.“What are you here for, then?”
“Had to get out of the house,” she says. “My dad’s been insufferable lately.”
I can’t help but laugh. Ava’s father is certainly that. “I bet he hates not being able to control you.”
She shrugs. “Driving him crazy is one of my many joys in life.”
“I bet I know a few ways I could help with that.”
She arches a brow. “Oh yeah?”
I nod. “Yeah.” I step closer, anticipating that she’ll move away or find a reason to run, like she always does. I brace for it, for the letdown.
She doesn’t.
I watch in fascination as she licks her lips, tilting her head back to keep her eyes focused on mine. “I’m all ears,” she whispers.
