False Start - Jessica Ruddick Page 0,73

flaking off so badly, I couldn’t determine what picture had originally been on the worn boards. They were a giant splinter waiting to happen.

“Awesome.” Carson circled them, appraising them like he would a vintage car. “Where did you get those?”

“Some guys were moving out of the house down the street, and they put them out for garbage collection.”

“Uh, yeah,” Rachel interjected. “Because they’re trash.”

Jake huffed. “They’re broken in and well loved.”

Rachel cocked her head. “If they’re so well loved, then why were they out in the trash?”

“Hell if I know,” Jake said with a tone of disbelief in his voice. “Do you want to play or what?”

Rachel hopped up. “Of course. I just hope everyone is up to date on their tetanus shots. There are some rusty nails on the bottom.”

My team got to go first since we were the guests. Carson’s first throw went wildly to the left, while Jake’s landed solidly on the board. When Carson’s second throw was nowhere near the board, I groaned. “What was that?”

Rachel and Jake laughed as they gathered up the bags.

“Those were warm-up throws,” Carson protested. I eyed him skeptically. Lame-ass excuse.

Luckily for us, Rachel’s aim was about as good as Carson’s. On his next round, though, he didn’t do much better.

“I thought you were supposed to be an athlete,” I teased. At the rate we were going, I was going to have to carry our team.

“My job is to catch, not throw.”

I sighed so dramatically, Lucy would have been proud. “Don’t embarrass me, Fleck.”

Grinning, Carson sauntered over. “I forgot how competitive you are.”

I arched a brow. “Now that you remembered, can you tighten up?”

He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me close. “I’ll definitely tighten up,” he whispered in my ear, sending tremors running through my blood. I would never tire of his innuendos now that we acted on them.

Since his back was to Rachel and Jake, I reached around and grabbed his ass. “Is that a promise?”

He let out a little growl. “You’re so fucking hot. I wish we were at my place right now so I could—”

“Hey!” Jake called. “Are you going to play or what?”

With a reluctant sigh, Carson released me and gave Jake the middle finger. He retrieved the bean bags and pressed them into my hand. “You can complete that sentence however you’d like. Your wish is my command.”

I took my place at the throwing line, trying to pretend that my entire body wasn’t quivering. Fat chance. I totally missed my throw.

***

Carson

I THOUGHT BECCA would never be ready to leave Jake’s house. I’d just about had her out the door when Jake’s youngest sister, Emily, came outside to ask if we were ready for dessert. I was about to decline, but once Becca learned Emily had baked the pie herself, she insisted we stay. She was a much better person than I was.

Now she held on to the oh shit handle in the Jeep, and I took corners too sharply on the way back to my place.

“Uh, the speed limit is thirty-five.”

I was doing fifty-three. “You said to hurry.”

“Yes, but if you get pulled over, that’ll take way longer.”

She made a good point, but I’d never gotten pulled over. I liked to believe I’d been blessed by the traffic gods. Still, I slowed down to a respectable forty-five. It felt like we were crawling.

Watching Becca hurl those bean bags had been such a damn turn-on. When it was her turn, she would narrow her eyes in concentration at her target. Then she would stick her ass out as she positioned herself to toss the bag. It was so fucking hot.

I pulled into my parking space and had my seat belt off before I’d even turned off the Jeep. I strode to the passenger side, and as soon as Becca got out of the Jeep, I closed the door and pulled her up the walkway. Though I didn’t have to put much effort into it—she was in just as much of a hurry as I was.

Once inside, I closed the door and pushed her up against it. My mouth assaulted hers, taking everything she had to offer and still demanding more. No matter how many times I tasted her, it would never be enough.

She wrapped her leg around my thigh, and I responded by gripping her ass and picking her up. I carried her to the couch and laid her down. I was about to climb on top of her when she put a hand