AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Twelve
Kathryn
My stomach is positively stuffed to the gills, carbs be damned. Between the foot-long corndogs, lemon shake-ups, and the elephant ear, I couldn’t eat another bite. Just the thought of ingesting more food is enough to make me want to puke.
“Look, fried Oreos,” Jensen says, pulling me along toward the food truck, my hand still comfortably nestled within his much bigger one.
“Uhhh,” I groan miserably. “Jensen, I seriously don’t want to even think about more food right now.”
“But this isn’t food, Butterfly. This is deep fried Oreos,” he says, and for some reason, it sounds totally naughty when he says it. Like he’s seducing me…with food.
“No,” I reply, shaking my head adamantly. “I couldn’t possibly eat another bite.”
Suddenly, I’m moving, being pulled gently forward until I’m practically pasted against his rock-hard chest. My breathing hitches as I press firmly against the rigid planes of his midsection, his free hand wrapping around mine. “What if I did all the eating?” he whispers and my thighs clench. I can feel the wetness flooding my core, no doubt rendering my panties completely useless.
“Oh my God, did you just say something dirty?” I hear what sounds like a choking sound next to us and quickly turn my attention to our side. I recognize the woman right away.
“Harper. Don’t you have anything better to do?” Jensen asks his older sister without taking his eyes from mine.
“Actually, yes, yes I do. If you’re talking dirty I have sooo many other things I’d rather be doing. Like getting a root canal or maybe a bikini wax. Painful things that would hopefully dull the ache of hearing my little brother talking dirty to his ex-girlfriend,” Harper says without breaking stride and moving to stand behind us in line. Finally, she turns her blue eyes to me. “Hi, Kathryn.” It’s polite, sure, but not dripping with friendliness.
“Hello, Harper. How have you been?”
“Couldn’t be better. You remember Latham Douglas, don’t you?” she asks, her eyes lighting up when she turns to the handsome man behind her. I definitely remember Latham. He was a couple of years older than me and played sports. Every female in the school knew who he was, but I specifically remember how he used to torment Harper. Well, maybe not torment, but there were definite buttons pushed—on both sides.
“Oh, yeah. Hi, Latham. Good to see you,” I say, reaching for his hand. It’s large and welcoming, but doesn’t give me that warm, fuzzy feeling like when Jensen touches me.
“Good to see you too,” he says, turning a pretty sexy smile toward the woman at his side.
“Jensen mentioned you two were together now. That’s great,” I find myself saying. Even if Jensen hadn’t mentioned it, it’s obvious, considering his hands are dangerously low on her hip, as he tucks her into his side, and looks like he wants to devour her.
“He wore me down,” Harper shrugs, practically glowing with happiness as she gazes up at the big guy beside her.
“Wow,” I reply with a big smile, but gently lean toward Jensen and whisper, “Didn’t she once tell the school he was pleasuring himself on the football field with a traffic cone?”
“I knew that was you!” Latham bellows, pulling our attention (and everyone within a two-block radius) to his shocked face.
“Of course, it was her, love. You didn’t think the rumor of you screwing a traffic cone came from anyone other than our sweet little Harper here, did you?” a woman says as she comes up to stand beside Harper, licking a chocolate ice cream cone. I know her instantly. Freedom Rayne was Harper’s best friend in school. She was completely eccentric, and if her long, flowy shirt, braided hair with a ring of flowers around her head, and dozens of bangle bracelets are any indication, I’d say she hasn’t changed a bit.
Latham wraps his arms around Jensen’s sister and plasters his lips on hers. When he comes up for air, he says, “You’re going to pay for that later, Sweetheart.”
“I look forward to it.”
“Okay, you’re in public. Let’s not get carried away and spoil my appetite.” Jensen gives me a smile when he turns away from his sister and her boyfriend. “You remember Free, right?” he asks, nodding to the familiar woman who walked up.
“Of course,” I reply extending my hand. “Good to see you, Free.”
“You too, love. I didn’t know you were back in town,” Free says, taking another long lick of her cone.
“You’re getting that all over the place.” The man who walks up is as familiar as the man standing beside me. His older brother, Samuel, has always been as professional as they come, in his polo and Dockers. He was off to college most of the time I dated Jensen, but when he’d return home, his appearance was much the same. Now, it’s clearly no different as he’s wearing a charcoal gray suit and black tie.
“What the hell, Sammy? You’re at the Falls Festival. Dig out the mothy T-shirt and shorts and live a little,” Free chastises the oldest Grayson sibling as she continues to lap up the ice cream. She’s definitely a messy eater, but a part of me is thinking she’s doing it for fun.
Samuel’s eyes flash as he watches her eat the cone, a look most probably would have missed. Heck, I would have missed it if I weren’t looking directly at him. It was a look of desire, but was gone almost as quickly as it appeared. “I just got off work, Freedom. I just stopped in to see how the festival was going before heading home for the evening,” he replies, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Aww, you missed me? It’s okay to admit you knew I was here,” Free says with a shrug.
“Hardly,” he replies before turning his attention to Jensen and me. “Is my nephew here?”
