Page 74 of Jump

“The fuck I do!” I set down the potatoes and sneer at Drake. “This is a family-friendly event, bro. Get your hands off her and dial your shit down before we all catch chlamydia.”

“Matt!” Viv’s face blisters a humiliated crimson. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

“He’s eternally miserable,” Axel snorts. Whipping a bread roll from the basket Hannah set out long before we arrived, he rips it open and drops a dollop of butter inside. “It’s a holiday for feeling thankful, so of course, Count Depresso over there is gonna shit on us all.”

The women Viv was colluding with in the kitchen eat with their heads down but their eyes up, calmly working through their meals, while the guys accompanying them watch this exchange like we’re a fucking live-audience sitcom.

“We get it,” Axel pushes on. “Life sucks, cheerful people annoy you. I wasn’t all that keen on inviting someone who was once friends with my ex-brother-in-law, but—”

“Assigned partners,” Drake corrects, serious now. I find it almost funny how different his tone is from that fuck me smoothness he uses when speaking to Ana. “We were colleagues,” he clarifies. “Not friends. In fact, I would tell you my exact thoughts of him, if only his daughter wasn’t sitting four feet away.”

But because she is, he only picks up a bottle of wine from the middle of the table, turns to Viv, and tops off her glass. “So, Vivian… You and I share mutual friends, and you’re a hero. Some have said the same about me.” Setting the bottle down and resting his hand on the back of her chair, he strokes her arm with his thumb like they’ve known each other for a lifetime. “That’s a solid start to what could be our happily ever after.”

“Why are you so tense?” Ellie Solomon leans a little closer to study me, though she’s seated across the table and two spaces down. “We haven’t even said grace yet, and you already look pissed. Are you seeking therapy for your anger issues?”

“Slim!” Troy, her husband, flings his arm over her shoulders and tugs her in till he practically smothers her face with his chest. “Woman, you’re playing with fire.”

“It’s a legitimate question,” Sophia murmurs over the lip of her wine. “If he’s so angry that he can’t even get through dinner while someone else shoots their shot with a single, available, beautiful woman, then what is even the point of celebrating a day of thanks?”

A single, available, beautiful woman? “Bull-fucking-shit!” I shove up from my chair so it scrapes along the floor and drags everyone’s rapt attention to me. Then I point toward Sophia and snarl, “You’re setting me up!”

She takes another sip, entirely too cool. Too relaxed. “You’re a strange man.” Then leaning forward, she focuses on Drake. “There’s a special showing at the movie theater this weekend. They’re marketing it toward lovers and basically saying they won’t turn the security cameras on—ya know,” she smirks, “in case people get a little busy in the dark.”

“Oh yeah?” Inspired, Drake turns to Vivian and twirls a lock of her hair around his finger. “I just so happen to have this weekend off work. So if you’re interested in a night out, I’d love nothing more than to spend a little time with you in the dark.”

“Oh my gosh,” Kit works hard to keep her tone smooth, though she looks about ready to burst. “What a lovely offer.” She glances toward her fighter husband and smiles. “I’d like to go to that, too.”

“With me?” He plops a kiss on her lips. “Sure thing. But with him,” he jerks a thumb toward Drake, “no chance.”

She snickers, but I’m less than amused.

“You’re not available this weekend, Viv. We have that thing at our place.” I remain standing, my fists on the table, and stare into her eyes. “The tenants’ meeting to discuss the trash collection schedule?”

“Oh please,” Hannah chokes out. “You can handle that on your own, Matt. Leave the woman alone and let her get freaky at the movies for the night.”

“What does getting freaky mean?” Juniper questions.

Her mother’s face hardens as she shoots a glare toward her future sister-in-law. “Really, Hannah Sullivan? You’re crossing all the lines to piss someone off?”

“I didn’t turn this into this,” she points at me and giggles. Picking up the green beans and scooping a heap onto her plate, she looks to her completely oblivious boyfriend. “Beans, handsome?”

“I know what you’re doing,” I growl.

Adrenaline courses through my veins and pumps me up in preparation for a fight I had no clue I would be participating in tonight. But a man touches the woman I love, and her entire body says she’s uncomfortable with his proximity. Her arms and legs folded tight. Her neck angled away, so her head has to follow, and her hands twisting and worrying her napkin until her knuckles turn white.

She’s rostered on in a game she doesn’t particularly want to be a part of.

“Hey, Juniper.” Ellie leans forward and eyes the little girl. “Don’t you love that Little Mermaid movie?”

Juniper bobs her head enthusiastically. “I do! And Casper, too. Have you seen Casper?”

“Yeah, but the mermaid one… I really enjoy the scene in the little boat.” Glancing toward Drake, Ellie runs her tongue along her bottom lip and grins. “At that point, Ariel can’t speak, and she’s running out of time before everything goes to shit. So her animal friends are helping her out, singing to her prince to kiss the girl.”

Drake’s eyes light up, like, ‘Fuck yeah! Fantastic idea, Ballerina. You’re the shit,’ then he brings his gaze back to Vivian and cups her jaw, tilting her head back until her throat is stretched long and her gulp of nerves is visible for everyone to see.

I have no clue where they found this clown to come in here and flirt with my girl, but it’s a game that Viv herself cannot have willingly committed to. She’s too introverted. Too shy. I know the fact everyone watches her as this unfolds hurts her the most.

“Yeah, go on and kiss the girl,” Soph snickers behind the lip of her wineglass. “I’m starving, so if we could get this part ov—”

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