Jenna rolled her eyes. “So, never?”
Rachel was about to respond, but she was cut off by the revving of motorcycle engines coming from the far end of the parking lot. As we approached the group of guys on motorcycles, I immediately noticed dude from the barbershop. He was hard to miss because, as much as I hated to admit it, . . . he was fine. His skin was the color of dark caramel—smooth and flawless. His eyes were small, dark, and serious. He had a baby face, but it wasn’t innocent. His lips were full and surrounded by a perfectly trimmed mustache and beard. His neck was tattooed, and both ears were pierced. He looked like problems and bail money. But when he smiled, he revealed deep dimples, white teeth, and the notion that he was a good time who was absolutely worth the trouble.
Mari grew up in Jackson Falls, so it was no surprise that she knew all of the bikers and spoke to them. Jenna did more than speak. I watched her sashay right up to barbershop guy’s bike and say a few words. After a quick conversation, Jenna threw her leg over the back of the bike and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Oh. Okay, I thought to myself as his eyes met mine. I looked away, not looking back at the bike until I heard Jenna call out. “Bye!”
Once all of the bikers were gone, and Rachel headed to her car, I turned to Mari. “Who was that guy? That’s the second time I’ve seen him today, and I don’t recognize him.”
“Oh, that’s Jonah. Everybody calls him Jones.” She eyed me. “He’s related to your in-laws.”
I sighed. “Ugh. Don’t tell me he’s a Strong.” All of my in-laws were Strongs. My mother, my sister, Collins, and my sister, Bailey, had each married a son of Bradford and Beverly Strong.Bradford and Beverly were the power couple who owned the most successful and most popular lodge in Oregon, The Manor at Sienna Sunset Resort.
I watched Mari thump her chest. “I’m a Strong.” That was true. Her name was Marigny Strong. Her father was the baby brother of Bradford Strong. “Jones is a Sumners. From what I know, he just recently moved here. He was living in Colorado or something. He has a few cousins here, Lex, and this guy, Uzziah, so he’s giving Jackson Falls a try.”
“He’s damn sure giving a fair share of women a try,” I commented. “I saw him at Lex’s barbershop this morning with some girl. Now he’s with Jenna.”
Mari waved her hand dismissively. “They were talking about him at the doctor’s office today. He’s been here, what? A few weeks? He’s already making a reputation for himself. I think he’s after the record for how fast he can fuck his way through the town’s women.” She turned to look at me. “You ready?”
Chapter 2
Jonah (Jones) Sumners
My cousins Lex, Uzziah, the chick on the back of my bike, and I ended up at Waterfalls. She probably thought she was going to my house, but the joke was on her. I didn’t even have a house. Not really. I was currently staying in my RV.
I didn’t plan for that to be my permanent circumstance. I was working and saving with intentions of purchasing a plot of land somewhere. First, I had to decide where I wanted to settle down. I just hadn’t figured out where thatsomewherewould be. But when I found it, I would have enough in the bank to purchase a piece of land and start building my house.
At almost thirty-five, I knew I was getting a late start. Late as hell, actually. There were kids in their twenties that were way ahead of me in the game of life. There was nothing I could do about the fact that I had fucked around in my twenties—more interested in chasing excitement and pussy than setting and achieving goals.
I moved from gig to gig, place to place, and woman to woman with absolutely no regard for my future. I kind of never planned to have one with the way I kept flirting with illegal activities. For most of my twenties, I expected to spend the rest of my twenties behind bars, but I managed to avoid that outcome.
Now I was in Oregon. It was the fifteenth state I’d called home. Maybe it would be the last. I had finally started to get my shit together. I worked for my cousin, Bright, on his construction crew. I’d been in Jackson Falls, Oregon, for two months, and Bright had kept me busy, kept me working, and kept me making money. I liked it.
The town was just so fucking slow, though. There wasn’t a lot to do, and that wasn’t good for a person like me. I was the very definition of the saying,idle hands are the devil’s workshop. The minute I got bored, I started searching for trouble. But I was trying to be a different me—a more grown-up, mature me. There had to be something interesting to do in the area that didn’t involve me putting myself in a bad situation.
So far, I’d been filling my idle time with women. That shit was unsustainable. Not because I couldn’t get women, but because the last thing I was trying to do was have all the small-town residents looking at me sideways because I was running through their precious daughters. Besides, at a few months shy of thirty-five, it was whack as hell for me to still be looking for entertainment between some woman’s legs.
But even as I had those thoughts, I was forced to look at the back of the woman I was wasting time with at the moment. She was leading us to a small table front and center of the dance floor. Both of us knew that there would be line dancing on the dance floor, so it was clear to me that she wanted to be seen.
I walked past that table, toward one closer to the back wall where Lex and Uzziah were seated, not really caring if she followed or not. I came to get a drink and hang with my cousins for a minute, not be seen. I sat down at the table next to my cousins with my back against the exposed brick wall.
She came over and sat across from me with a pout on her full lips. “Why we sitting in the corner like we’re on punishment?”
“You can sit wherever you wanna sit, sweetheart. This is where I’m sitting.”
“Why are we sitting here, anyway?” She batted her dark eyes at me. “We could be at your place, and I could be sitting on your dick instead.”
I chuckled lightly. “We could do that, but honestly, I’m drained. I spent the entire day with a chick named Kylena from Chinook Woods. She fucked me and sucked me all afternoon. I’m literally bone fucking dry.”
Her facial features arranged themselves into a frown as she stood up from the table. “I see my friends.”
“Take care.” I smirked at her.
She threw up her middle finger before putting a twitch in her hips and prancing away with a, “Fuck you.”
I had to laugh. My eyes followed her as she joined the girls she’d been with at the football game. My eyes lingered on the pretty, curvy one I’d seen at Lex’s barbershop. I’d wanted to ask about her then, but Kylena had been all in my face. “Who’s ol’ girl in the jean jacket? The one who came through the shop earlier today?”
Lex followed my eyeline. “Oh. That’s Church.”
