Page 26 of Jesse

But he pauses, tilts his head up to mine until our eyes meet.

And then he kisses me.

And I kiss him back.

And we taste like butterscotch-cherry and vanilla-chocolate.

His tongue is cool as he tangles it with mine. And his lips are soft.

And he pulls back too fast, but slowly too. Easing back into his seat. Staring at me.

Then he smiles, turns on the car, puts on his seatbelt, and backs out of the Tastee-Freez.

CHAPTER TEN - JESSE

Everything is different now.

Funny how that can happen. One pit stop at the Tastee-Freez and a little bit of truth goes a long way toward earning goodwill.

Zach has been telling me this for ages. Hell, everyone has been telling me this for ages. Not the ice cream and truth, but the act of being genuine, I guess.

I just never really saw it in action before tonight.

Because for sure, Emma Dumas had a chip on her shoulder when she first got in my car and now… I glance over at her. She’s staring out the window again, but everything about that stare is different. For one, she’s smiling. Just a little. Just barely. But it says a lot.

Now… everything is better.

This lake where all the city rich people come for the summer is huge. Very, very big. But every house comes with a pretty nice bit of land too. Ours has twenty-five acres attached to it. I think most of the lots are that size. Some of them are only ten, and there’s a few that have sixty or more acres. So even though there are like two hundred homes on this lake, they are spread out and well-treed. You can’t see anyone from our backyard but the glimmer of lights across the way.

And sure, everyone’s got a telescope so we would all spy on each other when the summer festivities really get rolling. But it’s early June right now and most people don’t show up until the week before Fourth of July. So it’s pretty quiet tonight when I pull onto Lake Road and start winding my way through the trees to our house on the far west side.

Lake Road is really just a big loop. And it’s a pain in the ass to get anywhere by car around here, which is fine. Because everyone has boats. There’s a floating restaurant in the middle of the lake. Busy as fuck during the summer. There are even live bands out there sometimes. And there’s a little—not quite town, but area, I guess—on the North side of the lake that has a bait shop, and a little grocery store, and a bar. Shit like that.

We’re like our own self-contained community out here.

Like the Hamptons, I guess. Except there’s a whole different vibe. Sure, everyone’s rich here, just like there, but it’s different. Everyone out here is mostly new money. People who aren’t so full of themselves yet that they think they’re above swimming and boating on a lake.

“Damn,” I mutter.

“What?” Emma asks.

“I wish we still had a boat. I could take you out on the boat.”

“I have a boat. I have a house here too.”

“You do?”

“Why are you so surprised?”

“I… don’t know. I guess I never thought of that. But yeah, makes sense. When did you buy out here?”

“A few years ago. It’s not just mine. My partners and I got it as a retreat house for the company.”

“Cool. So are you inviting me onto your boat?” I ask.

“Umm… well. I guess I’d have to make sure we… had insurance.”

“What?” I laugh.