A Bad Day for Sunshine (Sunshine Vicram #1) - Darynda Jones Page 0,50

eyes glistened as Sun walked toward Levi.

Without waiting a second longer, Hailey ran to the bike, hopped on it, and took off, but the boys stayed for the show. They all stopped riding and watched, their eyes just as hungry, just as greedy, but for a very different reason.

He didn’t let go of his handlebars when she reached over and put her right, non-sticky hand on his stomach. But his muscles did tighten. His breath did still as he watched her.

She bit her bottom lip and slipped her fingers down the waistband of his shorts.

His skin was hot and smooth. His stomach hard. When her hand slid lower, he licked his lips.

“Come on, Levi,” one of the boys said, craving more. Craving violence. “Throw her down. Show her what you’re made of.”

Her heart beat so fast and so hard, she could hear her blood rushing in her ears, but she still didn’t feel the key. She slid her hand even lower down his abdomen, so low another couple of inches and she’d be between his legs.

“Yeah, Levi,” another boy chimed in, his voice soft as though mesmerized. “Get her on the ground. We can take care of the rest.”

Her fingertips dipped farther until he wrapped a hand around her wrist, the movement slow and calculated, effectively putting a stop to her exploration. He lifted out her empty hand then he reached down his shorts and brought up the key himself.

She reached for it, but he pulled it toward him. Not to be mean like Hailey, but to study it, his dark hair with sun-streaked, coppery-blond locks falling over his face. He was the kind of boy summers were made for.

“Can I have that back, please?”

He ignored her, took the broken link, and re-clasped the chain so she could wear it again. Then he lifted it over her head, put it around her neck, and examined his handiwork.

She didn’t know what to do. Thank him? She’d had her bike stolen. She’d been threatened with physical violence from a pack of jackals. And she’d touched, for the first time in her life, the boy she’d been in love with since forever.

Emotion threatened to spill over her lashes. The last thing she’d wanted was for him to see her cry. This perfect boy who came from a perfectly broken home. A home that had been broken for generations.

With back ramrod straight, she turned and walked home, mortified and humiliated and more in love than she ever imagined possible.

She didn’t see him again that summer. She’d heard from other kids around town that Levi spent most of his summers on the Mescalero Apache reservation, but they didn’t know why.

Sun did. Thanks to her parents, she also knew he almost died because of it. His mother hadn’t been so lucky.

Levi’s gaze finally landed on her and he paused, his expression incredulous, the sinew in his arms straining as he flexed. “Really?” he asked, the edge in his voice razor sharp. “On your first day?”

Quince started to come to her defense, but she couldn’t let him. She needed to set the precedence for their interactions from here on out. “There’s a girl missing,” she said, her voice just as sharp. “We got a tip that she’s been seen several times with your nephew, Jimmy. We need to talk to him.”

If Sun had told him she was going to burn down his world and kill his family, she doubted he could have become more enraged. He stepped toward her, and both men closed in. Fields held up a hand, warning him to keep a safe distance.

The passenger got out of the truck. She couldn’t be certain, but she thought he was one of Levi’s cousins. A shorter, stockier cousin like they all were.

Levi took note of the FBI agent at last, his expression a blatant confession of just how unimpressed he was.

“What are you doing here?” the cousin asked.

Before she could ask Levi where his nephew was, an older man came out of the front door with Levi’s sister, Hailey. She screeched to a halt when she saw the officers, but then she ran to Levi, her eyes like saucers.

“Did you find him?” When Levi didn’t answer, hysterics took hold. “Levi!” she shouted.

“What are you talking about?” Sun asked.

Hailey finally noticed Sun specifically, and her face morphed into one of disgust. “What the fuck is she doing here?”

“Hailey,” Sun began, but the woman lost it.

She bolted toward her and was only held back by her much larger