Page 6 of Thick & Thin

I grinned, knowing I was about to be a hundred dollars richer.

“Hide and watch, bitches,” I said, pulling my arm from Josh’s grip and following the group of guys.

Maybe it was the moonshine talking, but my balls were bigger than JJ’s, and I was going to prove it.

2

Joshua Black

Jenny Michaels was going to bethe death of me. Either she was going to give me a premature heart attack at nineteen from all the crazy shit she pulled, or I was going to get beat to death when I finally met my match and tried to fight some fucker who wouldn’t keep his eyes and hands away from her.

The worst part was, she was clueless. She was blind to the way guys reacted to her. They openly flirted, and she laughed it off as if they were joking.

They weren’t.

The fuckers were never joking.

Why would they be?

She was the full package. A guy’s wet dream. Hot beyond measure with her flowing dark hair and piercing green eyes with a body Iknewwas gorgeous hidden behind the comfortable clothes she wore. Baggy or not, I had been around her enough to get peeks of skin every now and again, and I knew what was hiding under those large T-shirts.

What guy wouldn’t want a woman who could wear his clothes better than him, eat wings without fear of barbecue on her face, and watch football like she was coaching the team? There was nothing cuter than Jenny screaming at the TV and knowing the plays before they even got a chance to play it.

She was damn near perfect, yet she was untouchable to me. Years of being her best friend made it so. I wasn’t even sure how it was possible to look at someone you had grown up with and see them as more than a friend, but it happened, and I fucking hated it.

She drove me crazy with her wicked tongue and amazing sense of humor. She wasn’t afraid to be herself, no matter who was involved. She wore what she wanted to wear, said what she wanted to say, and did what she wanted to do, which was exhausting since I was usually the one cleaning up whatever mess she left behind.

Along with those things, she never listened. These were the things I loved and hated the most about her. She was one of a kind, and I was lucky enough to watch her bloom into the amazing creature she had become.

Beautiful.

Smart.

And so headstrong I wanted to strangle her some days.

It was the most irritating shit ever, yet it filled me with pride.

“Seriously, Jenny!” I called out after her.

She didn’t turn back, instead stomping her way up the side of the hill as if she was queen of the fucking bridge above them.

“She’ll be alright, man. We’ve all done it,” Tony said, tapping me on the arm.

He was right, but that didn’t matter.

“It’s different,” I snapped.

He chuckled, took a swig from his beer, and stepped away.

I didn’t care that I was being a dick. I didn’t like people telling me what I should and shouldn’t worry about when it came to Jenny. It was a game to them and all in fun. But for me, it was the girl I cared about more than I would ever admit putting herself in danger.

I prayed she would chicken out as she reached the top and realized how high it was, but I knew it wouldn’t happen.

Rocks rolled down beneath her flip-flops, and she pulled them from her feet and threw them down toward the sand below. She had no problem keeping up with the guys, even with her dainty feet bare to the rough rocks.

Her long men’s swim shorts reached her knees, and her T-shirt, which was wet on the back from floating, clung to her ass and her shoulders. Her long ponytail was wet at the end, weighing it down and keeping it from bouncing.

She was strong, but she couldn’t do everything.

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