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Blythe
“Wipe the scowl off that ugly face of yours,” Warren teases Gage. He wraps his arms around Gage’s neck and rubs his knuckles on the top of his head.
His face is anything but ugly, but I don’t dare make the correction out loud.
I laugh at the way the two of them give each other shit. I haven’t even been here a full day and I can already see how close they are. One of the rarest things in life is friendship. Real camaraderie. I can sense that they trust and respect each other. They wouldn’t poke fun so much if they didn’t.
“I agreed to go because…” Gage puts a hand in his pocket and looks like he’s unsure where he was going with that sentence.
“Because you love me and living and working with me just isn’t enough time together for you. We know,” Warren suggests.
“Just shut up and get in the truck,” Gage shakes his head and bites back.
“And how’s this going to work exactly?” I ask.
The four of us - Warren, Keanna, Gage, and myself - stare at the single-cab truck sitting in the driveway next to the bunkhouse. It’s gorgeous. Looks like it’s had a new coat of paint, possibly new tires, and an immaculate detail recently. But there’s just one long bench seat and apparently, we’re all supposed to pile in there to drive to the bar.
“My truck’s in the shop and that little rental car y’all showed up in is basically a two-seater. Gage’s truck is our only option,” Warren says.
Keanna flinches but surprisingly catches the ring of keys tossed in her direction.
“You’re driving. The rest of us have all had drinks already,” Gage directs to Kee.
She shrugs and walks straight to the driver’s side door and hops in. Warren and Gage follow close behind, Warren jumping in the passenger side first. From where I’m standing, I can see him slide across the seat to the middle. He flicks the pine tree air freshener hanging from the rear-view mirror and yells out. “You coming or what, sis?”
Hesitantly, I walk up to the passenger door and look inside. I’ve never really been good at Tetris, and I for damn sure don’t see any way I’m going to fit into the cab of this truck. There’s not an inch of seat open.
An outstretched hand enters my line of vision. It’s big and strong and belongs to the mountain of a man on the edge of the bench seat. I look up to meet his gaze and he gives me a smirk.
“I don’t bite,” he says.
“Somehow I highly doubt that.”
“You don’t even know me.”
“Exactly! I’m not about to sit on your lap. I just met you today!”
The truck starts up and a billow of exhaust fills the air. Music blares through the speakers and it convinces me to throw caution to the wind and take his hand. Fuck it.
I wish I could say I was prepared for how deliciously rough and warm his hand felt completely wrapped around mine. We touched earlier, but this was complete and total hand-holding.
What am I, a teenager?
What is it with this guy that is driving me crazy?
Either sex is dripping out of his pores or it’s been way too long for me and I just need to get laid. Maybe it’s both.
The cab of the truck is higher than I’m used to, so I hoist one foot up to settle on the running board. Gage’s grip on my hand tightens and suddenly I’m flying up toward him like I’m as light as a feather.
My landing is graceful somehow. It took all of a few seconds for him to perfectly place my ass directly on his right thigh. It was unavoidable that he had to wrap an arm around my waist to keep me from falling backward into the door. I’m sure of it.
Now I just have to hold my breath and stay completely still for the entire 15 minutes it takes to get to the only bar in town.
I’m finding it hard to breathe, so I reach over to the door to roll the window down. Where’s the fucking button?
“Old truck. It’s not an automatic window,” a deep voice whispers behind me.
I wish he would have just used his regular voice. He justhadto lean in and whisper it in my ear.
