talk. I was All-State. I didn’t pay attention to the wannabe football legends. I was busy becoming one.
Five minutes later, Jess pushes through the doors with Amy trailing. Finn and I stand, stepping away from her Acura and taking a few steps before stopping when Jess sees us. She turns to Amy, shaking her head. They speak for another minute, and the hand gestures tell the tale—Amy is apologetic, and Jess is shrugging her off.
Turning her back, Jess shoves her fingers into her hair and pulls out her ponytail. She leaves Amy watching as she shakes out her hair and crosses into the parking lot.
“You good?”
“Why are you here?” Jess asks the moment her shoe taps mine. I hesitate a beat too long, and she adds, “Were you meeting the guys?” Her gaze travels past my head to Finn and Frey.
I could lie and save face. Maybe she’s pissed because we threw ourselves into her business. What right do we have? Then I think of the way she pulls me in when we’re alone. The touch of her tongue on my skin when she’s hiding her face in my neck, and I’m sinking deeper and deeper into her heat. I won’t lie to her, she’s got me hooked, and she deserves to know.
“Frey sent me a text.” I admit as her fingers adjust around the purse strap crossed over her chest. “He warned me Sonny was here.”
“And so you came?” she asks, eyeing me with an arched brow.
I glance down and see myself as she does. I’m dressed for the country club with a light blue button-up, khaki shorts, and boat shoes. The outfit is for Mom, I’m uncomfortable as hell in anything but workout gear or worn tees and jeans.
“I was at my parents’. Family day,” I say, accepting her curiosity at my clothing.
Her brown eyes were steel when she arrived. Her anger and frustration at whatever happened inside overtaking her beautiful face. The glint fades, and her gaze warms as she looks at me. “You left your parents because Frey told you Sonny was here? They stepped up, bossy as hell, and trailing my every move. You didn’t have to come.”
“That’s unacceptable.” Sure, my boys have my back, but she didn’t understand.
“Why?”
Nine days since she wandered back into my world, but fuck. “You know why.” I scratched my jaw.
Jess moistens her lips and rolls onto her toes. “Say it. Tell me why.”
I seize her purse strap and tug, pulling her off balance, and giving her two options: brace her hands against my shoulders or fall into me. She goes for the bracing, and I slip an arm around her.
“Because you’re my problem, Little Aggie. When you need something, I want to be there.”
“I’m a problem?” she asks, clasping her hands behind my neck.
“Best fucking problem I’ve had in a while.”
She pops up, her mouth touching mine, and I hold her tight, catching her bottom lip between my teeth and prolonging the kiss for one good sweep of my tongue through her sweet mouth. “Thank you,” she says, dropping to the flat of her shoes and lowering her arms.
She rocks back a step and reflexively my fingers curl into her spine, coveting her nearness. Her mouth twitches, and she returns to my loose hold. Her palm comes to rest on my stomach as it did earlier, and shit if I don’t love it. I’m so damn enamored with how she shows me affection that I miss her peering around my shoulder until she’s speaking with the guys.
“Thank you for texting him”—she says to Frey, and I shift in time to see his head tip— “And, Finn, if you hadn’t pulled me away…”
“I’d hate to have seen what you would have done to him, love.” Finn winks.
I’ve spent many nights with these two womanizing assholes since Owen introduced us, but the way they stare at Jess. The protective gleam is rare, I’ve only seen it when he’s around Chase, or O’s mom or mine.
Frey steps around Finn, his brows lowering over his green eyes. “We were watching their every move. They were nowhere near you,” he says, but his gaze flicks to mine. “What happened?”
“I don’t think—”
“No, it’s fine.” Jess cuts off my attempt at saving her from spilling details she may not want to share. Ruffling her fingers through her loose hair, her face twists as she says, “Um, I guess you would need to know the story with my mom to understand.”