AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ah.” He tucked his hands in his back pockets. “So why are you crying? Isn’t a break from school good?”
“Um…”
Her eyes were not on his. They were on his chest. And shoulders. And stomach. And Beau became aware that he was shirtless. He’d pulled his shirt off while he mowed. And that shirt was still over in his mom’s driveway.
His skin heated as her gaze roamed over him. He coughed and pulled his hands from his back pockets, tucking them into his front pockets and slouching a bit.
Jesus, he was self-conscious? WithBecca? Really? She’d had her hands, andtongueon every inch she was now studying.
He shifted, trying to surreptitiously pull his fly away from his cock that was sayingyep, I remember.
“Bec?” he said.
Her eyes finally came up to his. “Huh?”
“Why are you crying?”
She pulled in a breath and seemed to collect herself. “Oh. Um…it’s nothing.”
He frowned. “Tears are not nothing.”
Her shoulder slumped. “Just…” She looked over her shoulder at the front door. “My dad and I had a fight.”
Fuck.
“Wanna go get coffee?” he asked before he thought about it too hard.
She was on fall break, which meant her dad was on fall break as well. Which meant they were home together. If they’d just had a fight, she probably didn’t want to go back inside.
Were there a dozen other places she could go with a dozen other people? Yes.
Did Beau want to be the one that helped her with whatever this was? Yes.
“Coffee?” she asked.
“Since you’re off today, we could drive over and get coffee at Bad Habit,” he said of the quaint little coffee shop that was a favorite of Autre residents even as they maintained that Bad, Louisiana was their “rival”. That might be true on the football and baseball fields, but honestly, the two towns already shared some resources and would probably share more in the future. And truly, the people in Bad were good people. Who had a lot in common with the people in Autre. And everyone in both towns knew it.
Becca pressed her lips together, considering his invitation. Then she nodded. “Coffee sounds great.”
“Let’s go.” He turned on his heel and started for his truck.
“You’re going to put a shirt on, right?” she asked. “Or should I take mine off?”
He made himself keep walking. It was going to be a long fifteen-minute drive to the next town if she was feeling flirty. “I’ll put mine on, but you do you,” he tossed back casually.
She laughed and he felt his gut tighten. That’s what he wanted—to turn her tears to laughter.
Jesus, he was feeling poetic this morning? That was just great.
She was right behind him, still with her shirt on, as he grabbed his t-shirt from the front seat and pulled it over his head. She climbed up and he slid behind the wheel.
“Text your dad to tell him you’re with me.”
She opened her mouth, no doubt to protest, but then simply muttered, “I really need my own place.” Still, she pulled her phone out and typed in a quick message.
Beau turned them toward Bad. As soon as they were up to highway speed, he said, “Okay, what happened?”
She sighed and turned a little on the seat to face him. “I finally tried to talk to him about the arts program. I wanted to know what had gone down in that school board meeting where they’d decided to use the money for the football field.”
