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“About what?” I played dumb, even though I knew what he was talking about.
“Jonna,” he growled, not at all amused by my attempt at stalling. As much as I didn’t want to be the girl who’d agree to his proposition, I was that girl. I’d already had a taste of Mack King and I was hooked. Conscience be damned. All I had to do was just be smart and not fall in love with him.
I shrugged, grabbed Mack’s phone out of his hand, and dialed my phone number. When my cell buzzed in my pocket I pulled it out to show him. He gave me a satisfied nod as he scanned my body, his eyes full of wicked promises I knew he could deliver.
“Later, Firefly.” I watched him turn and stride away as if he owned the road he walked on, and in a way, he did.
Chapter Four
“Jonna Lee!” my mother called from outside my door. “We’re gonna open in thirty minutes. I need you down here.”
I was still lying in bed, but I hadn’t been sleeping. All I could think about was why Mack would throw the race for me. While it was flattering that he would do such a thing, I hardly thought that the one night we spent together could get such a reaction from him. And what was with the firefly nickname and why did it make my insides feel mushy?
“Jonna?” Mama called my name again.
“Alright, I’m coming,” I yelled as I got up and walked three feet to my tiny bathroom. It was so small that it wasn’t large enough for a bathtub, only a stand-in shower. I’d convince my dad to convert the space above the restaurant into a studio apartment. Of course, Mama hated the idea, but Daddy did it for me anyway. He and Woody spent the entire winter, which was the off-season for the restaurant, building it for me. However, he did agree with my mother on one thing, I couldn’t move in until after I graduated.
I loved the space. It was small but just right for me. I had a tiny kitchen with a short marble countertop that also doubled as my kitchen table. A small couch and coffee table were my only living room furniture. A flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall and my bed was all the way to the far wall on a built-in platform—which was Woody’s idea—with stairs leading up to the elevated space. This effectively separated the bedroom from the rest of the area and was my favorite thing about the place. It was a cute little apartment, and it was mine.
I also had to agree to work at the restaurant since I decided not to go to college. School was never for me. There wasn’t a single thing that I enjoyed doing or was even good at. Tayia has wanted to be a writer for as long as I’ve known her. She’s a talented storyteller and a creative liar, which is part of the reason we’ve remained friends for so long. She also loves books. Nearly every surface in her room is covered with them. It was quite annoying. I didn’t like reading; I didn’t like books. In fact, I didn’t like many things except my little apartment.
After I’d showered and forced my wild blonde curls into a ponytail, I threw on an Annette’s Catch T-shirt and shorts. Then I made my way down the stairs and walked into the back entrance of the restaurant.
“Morning, Daddy,” I called when I saw my father standing in the storage room stacking boxes.
“Morning, baby girl,” he said with a wide smile. Hal Fox was an intimidating-looking man for those who didn’t know him. I was told when my family first moved to the island there weren’t very many varieties of people living here so a six foot four African American weightlifting champion took some getting used to. It didn’t take long for Annette’s Catch to become successful. It was centrally located and right next to the ferry dock. My mother had always been a real people person and could charm anyone. She was the reason we had so many regular customers and a full bar nearly every night.
“Oh, there you are,” Mama said as she came through the kitchen’s double doors. “Time to get to work, Missy.” She handed me a tray full of salt and pepper shakers and nudged me into the direction of the dining room. “Make sure there are two shakers on every table, one salt, and one pepper.” I rolled my eyes at her turned back. I hated how she always treated me like a child who needed to be told what to do all of the time. Of course, I knew to put one salt and one pepper shaker on every table. I may only be nineteen, but I wasn’t an idiot.
“Mama, I’m gonna quit.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she replied over her shoulder.
****
If I wasn’t already obsessed with Mack, it had gotten even worse after the night of the race. I tried to put him out of my mind and almost had managed to fool myself, until I’d caught a glimpse of him that night at a party at the Risto house. The family was new to the island and had bought up a lot of land. Throwing these big lavish parties seemed to be their way of making friends. James Risto, or Jamie as he preferred to be called, was in the crowd with Mack and his crew. Jamie was also the newest heartthrob on the island with reddish-brown hair and deep dimples. He seemed like a loner, though, and pretty much kept to himself, which was why it was odd that he was hanging with Mack.
The men were all talking in low tones in a back corner of the room, and it was clear that it was a closed conversation judging by the way they had their backs turned to everyone. I needed to get out of there fast because I didn’t want him to see me, so I set down my cup and promptly walked away from whoever was talking to me. I had no idea what he was saying anyway, just a bunch of blah blah word sounds coming from his mouth.
I hadn’t even wanted to come to this party, but I’d gotten notifications that everyone who was anyone on the island was going to be here so, of course, I came. There was no way I was going to hear all the evening highlights second hand. Except when I looked around all I saw were the same annoying faces from high school. The drama queens, the slackers, and some who’d been considered the cool kids. Everyone was just here for the weekend, to be seen and brag about their new grown-up lives. Yeah, it was definitely time to go.
I was feeling a little tipsy as I stumbled through the crowd looking for Tayia, and when I found her she was on the phone outside, talking rapidly and shaking her head.
“Blake. Stop it. No, you won’t.” When I reached her, she put a hand over the phone so that Blake wouldn’t hear and said, “Are you ready to go? He’s being a jerk.” Then she began talking back into the phone.
“Yes. Yes, you are being a jerk?.?.?.” I tuned out the conversation. It seemed like those two were constantly arguing, and it was getting old. A few minutes later, Tayia ended the call and we were making our way across the lawn when I noticed moving shadows on the side of the house. As we got closer to the car, I saw the same group of men Mack had been talking to. They were crowded around a single guy who was staring at one person in particular.
My eyes nearly bugged out of my head at the action in front of me. It was like a scene out of a movie, not something you’d see happening in real life. Three guys, including Jamie, were standing in front of a man I instantly recognized as Knight, the shithead racer who had been pissing off everyone and building a long list of enemies.
“Do you think I’m playing some sort of game with you?” a deep voice growled.
“I have no idea what you are talking about, man. Listen, I got my own problems to worry about?.?.?.”
“Problems? What you thought were your problems are going to seem like a goddamn fairy tale if you keep getting in my fuckin’ way.” When the man behind the voice stepped from the shadows, I saw that it was Mack.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, then hiccupped before covering my mouth. When heads started turning my direction I quickly grabbed Tayia’s arm and dragged her out of sight.
When we were driving away all I could think about was how dangerous that situation looked, and I wondered what sort of
