"It was just one sneeze. Come on. We were having so much fun."
"I rather you not catch pneumonia," Joel muttered, his grip on her hand flexing tighter.
"Fine," she gave him an evil little smile. "You're turning into a real uncle, you know that?"
Joel stopped in his tracks for a moment, tugging them all to a halt, his expression one of pure scandal. "The hell I am!"
Sapphire laughed. "I really enjoyed holding hands with my two newuncles." She made sure to stress the word uncles. "I finally got to experience what other girls probably get to when they're little." Turning to Hayden, she gave the stoic man a slow smile. "Thank you,UncleHayden."
Hayden's naturally stern face made no reaction, but his steely eyes cut to hers before replying. "Rejected."
"What? You can’t reject it," she cried, surprised to find herself enjoying this back and forth so much.
Reaching the truck, Hayden released her hand to unlock the door while Joel tugged her around to the passenger side, mumbling under his breath. "We are not your uncles."
Her smile fell away as she slid herself along the truck bench. Not meeting their gazes, she stared out the front window at the grey ocean peeking out between the sand dunes in the distance. "It felt nice pretending you were," she said in a quiet voice.
Sapphire could feel them glancing at each other over her head and felt their stares on the sides of her face.
The ride back into town was silent. The cold, dreary weather, along with the gentle sway of the old truck, worked against her, lulling her into sleep's pull. Sapphire tried to fight it, but the warmth of their truck was irresistible. On either side of her sat two towering pillars of glorious heat. Strong rounded shoulders that silently called to her traitorous body. With one sharp left-hand turn of the truck, Sapphire nearly lost the fight to maintain herself as she accidentally leaned for a second too long against Hayden's firm arm.
Sapphire ran a hand nervously through her hair and mumbled out a "sorry."
Turning his head only slightly from the road, Hayden glanced down at her. His eyes matching the warmth of the truck. "Don't worry about-"
Joel's voice cut in. "Feel free to lay on me," he offered, giving her a mischievous wink. "But I must warn you, my chest isn't nearly as soft as Hayden's."
She heard Hayden's sigh of frustration and turned just in time to see him shake his head.
Sapphire gave Joel a quizzical smile. "Are you serious?"
"I very much am," he said, opening his jacket so that she could see his chest fully. And boy did she see it. Her lips felt immediately dry, and she had to use all her willpower not to lick them. The t-shirt he wore under the thick jacket was molded to his torso in this position. She could easily see where his defined pectoral muscles rose from his chest. Feeling that she was looking a bit too long at his proud display, Sapphire forced herself to look back up at his face.
Joel gave her a smug smile. "Sometimes, it's more of a curse than a blessing to be this sexy. Zero percent body fat makes it hard to cuddle with, unlike with someone," he let the words hang in the air.
Sapphire didn't need to turn to look at Hayden to know his jaw was clenched. She could practically feel his desire to punch Joel.
"So, what you're saying is," she began, her words slow and edged with a cool smile that made Joel tense. "That Hayden is good to cuddle with. Good to know," she nodded.
For a second, something hard glittered in Joel's eyes before it was washed away by his usual cheerful smile. His arm, which was lying on top of the seat behind her head, dropped down, draping across her shoulder. With one tug, Sapphire found herself leaning fully into the heat of his firm body.
"Hush and let me prove to you how good I am," he ordered.
Instinctively her body had turned to stone at the uninvited touch. Twisting a little in his hold, Sapphire looked up to see that his eyes were closed. Looking at Hayden, she watched his jaw tick under his beard. She should sit up straight to restore the cold comfort of the boundary she always kept around her, but she was just so warm. Heavy and solid, the weight of Joel's arm felt far more comfortable than she wanted to admit. Closing her eyes just for a second, she let her body relax into the gentle sway of the truck.
"Stop glaring at me," the voice above her head growled, jarring her awake.
Opening her eyes, she looked up to see Hayden standing on the outside of the truck glaring into the open door.
"Wha-" she began to speak.
"We're here," Hayden gruffly announced.
She was still leaning into Joel's body. Tilting her head back, her heart jumped as her eyes met the familiar azure gaze of Joel looking at her. Even upside down, his grin was wicked. She sat immediately upright. Did she actually fall asleep against him? She tried to recall anything past the moment she laid against him, but the empty space of memory confirmed her fears. Mortified, Sapphire began scooting away from him just as his arm around her waist began to tighten.
"Here, give me your hand," Hayden's crisp command from the open door called her attention.
Without even thinking, she lifted her hand to his and watched it enclose hers like a Venus flytrap. With little effort, Hayden pulled her across the bench seat and out of Joel's grip until she was standing on the pavement beside him.
