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“Shouldn’t we—”
I cut off Elora’s question with a jerk of my chin. No. We were not all waiting. We were already behind schedule, and I loathed being late. Everyone would be ready. Noel could leap into the car—moving, if she didn’t pick up her damn pace—and tag along when she deigned to get here. Axel’s snort of amusement caught my attention, his brows winging up skeptically.
“What?” I barked.
“Nothing.”
“You scoffed.”
“Dude, you’re just…really bad at this.”
“Weddings? No shit, man. I belong on the water, and we’re heading out late for the season so we can do this shindig, and now we gotta do the whole tulle and lace and frosting shit.”
“Not weddings, dipshit. No man with his testicles intact could be good atweddings. I’m talking aboutwomen.”
“I object on behalf of Max,” Broderick quipped, before ducking away from the glare I sent his direction. Maverick and Elora wisely skirted around to the other side of my silver truck, and I followed their lead to the driver’s side as Broderick slid into the passenger seat.
“Are youhigh?” I demanded, ignoring Broderick in favor of Axel’s comment and closing my door with a bit more strength than necessary. It was a good truck, it didn’t deserve my frustrations.
“On life,” Mav interjected dumbly, closing his with the proper amount of enthusiasm.
“You’ve got a thing for Red,” Axel declared for the entire fucking world to hear.
“Nope,” I said, popping the ‘p’ for emphasis.
“You’re in love with Brexley’s best friend,” Elora taunted, reverting from traveling public speaker to childhood antics in two seconds flat. I blamed the rest of these idiots. Their stupidity was clearly contagious.
“I barelyknowBrexley’s best friend,” I countered.
“Not saying you’re gonna pull a Rhyett and fall in love,” Axel argued. “But you definitely wanna do her.”
“Dude, not even withyourdick.” Alright. That was too far, the jab sour on my tongue. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, not about to give him the satisfaction of admitting how violently my mind was fighting itself. Hell, despite every ounce of logic pointing in the opposite direction, I’d barely stopped thinking about how much I enjoyed her company—yes, even her incessant chatter—or how badly I wanted her wrapped around my cock. Mouth, pussy, hands, it didn’t seem to matter. My mind conjured images of them all any time I got some shut-eye. I wanted to taste her. To serve her pleasure until the only word she could remember was my fucking name.
But she was twenty-five. And I was…not.
“Eww!” Elora protested, slapping my shoulder as Axel and Mav both laughed. Her face wrinkled up where I could see her in my rearview mirror. “Jameson Atlas Rhodes, that is wrong on so many levels.”
“Harsh, man,” Broderick said, suppressing a smile as he shook his head and buckled in.
“What?” I balked. “She’seightyears younger than me. That’s way outta bounds.”
“Oh, please,” Axel drawled from the back seat. “Since when are you one for formalities or societal expectations?”
“Technically speaking, women have always married or been married off to older men,” Elora countered. I made a mental note to take back all the good things I’d just been thinking about her.
“Plus, Rhyett’s got more than a year and a half on you, and he and Brex are legit,” Mav pushed. Jesus, these guys were like dogs with one big bone, playing tug of war while they gnawed me to death. Starting the truck, satisfied with the way it rumbled to life, I turned to Broderick, silently pleading for some backup.
“Come on, Professor. Weigh in here. Would it or would it not be philosophically appropriate for a man eight years older than a woman—who is obviously fleeing her old life—to pursue her?”
“Way to give him a level playing field to work with,” Axel grumbled.
“Well shit, when you say it that way,” Maverick concurred.
“What other way is there to say it?” I barked back. “That’s the long and short of it. Tell me I’m wrong.” Deep brown eyes focused on me as Broderick thought, nudging his canine with his tongue. He shifted on his seat, resting a hand on the oh-shit handle.
“Well—”
“Here we go,” Elora stage-whispered in the back seat like she’d just settled in for a movie with popcorn.
