as your spirit girl wasn’t some great service you did for him? Because I can refuse to do it and you can ask for another girl.”
He stilled then made a trail of kisses up my neck to my ear.
“The thought of you doing things for Sawyer on game day is hard enough. I couldn’t imagine you making cookies for some other guy and decorating his locker and kissing his cheek at the pep rally. The only spirit girl I’ll ever want is you.”
I turned around in his arms and stared up at him.
“I’m not real strong emotionally right now. With everything going on at home and then coming to school and seeing you . . .” I stopped explaining. Telling him how much I hated seeing Nicole in his arms and hanging on him wasn’t fair. He cupped my face in his hands.
“And I’m the biggest asshole in the world for not thinking about that before treating you the way I did. I’m so sorry, Ash, please forgive me.”
I stood up on my tip toes and kissed him. “You’re forgiven,” I whispered then reluctantly took a step back. “We should go,” I said then turned to go to his truck.
I didn’t scoot over to sit beside him as he pulled out of the parking lot. I glanced down at his hand and noticed the tight grip he had on the stick shift. This wasn’t how tonight was supposed to go. I was in Beau’s truck again. We were alone and it was okay with Sawyer. I sighed and turned my head to stare out the window and watch the trees pass by as Beau drove back to Hank’s.
“Wait here. I’ll be right back,” he said then jumped out of the truck and went inside. He returned seconds later with a takeout bag in his hand.
I watched as he climbed back in the truck and gave me his crooked grin.
“Bacon cheese burger on a toasted bun,” he explained as he held it out to me.
“Thank you,” I replied, feeling my heart swell up from the simple fact he remembered what I liked to eat here.
“I couldn’t let you go home tonight without feeding you. Especially after I’d made sure we would be eating somewhere you actually liked. I didn’t save you from the Shrimp Shack for nothing.”
So that was why Sawyer had changed the location. I grinned and opened the bag.
“Well, you still owe me your company while I eat.”
He raised his eyebrows. “Really . . . you think so?”
“Definitely. I’ll feel gypped if I’m forced to eat alone.”
He nodded and turned his truck towards the outskirts of town. It looked like we would be ending our night with a game of pool.
“You think you can remember those skills I taught you? Because I’d really like to see you bent over a pool table the rest of the evening.” The teasing tone in Beau’s voice did little to distract me from his words. My face felt warm and I cut my eyes over toward him.
“Damn. My imagination got away with me,” Beau said in a tight voice as he shook his head. “I need to think of something else. Fast.”
I needed to think of something else too but my mind kept replaying the night in the back of his truck. Every sound. Every touch. My body tingled from the memory.
“Please, Ash. Don’t look at me like that. I’m going to drive us to the bar. We’re going to play pool. That’s all. I can’t think about anything else. If I do . . . well, I just can’t.”
My breathing was a little shallow but I nodded then forced my mouth to open so I could take a bite of my burger. Anything to get my mind off how good it had felt wrapped up in Beau’s arms.
Neither of us spoke again until he pulled into the parking lot of the bar. I opened my truck door before he could do it for me, and jumped down. Having Beau touch me while my body was on high alert from the knowledge of just how good he could make me feel, was a bad idea.
“With Sawyer back in town I didn’t expect to see you walking back in here with her,” Honey Vincent said when Beau and I walked into the bar.
“I’m entertaining her for Sawyer, Mom. Leave it alone.”
Her eyebrows shot up and she glanced back at me. “So Sawyer’s okay with you hanging out with Beau, huh? Well, I’ll be damned.