by Marika Ray
“Holy…” I muttered. The roaring in my ears threatened to drown out the party.
She reached up and wrapped her arms around me to say hello. I had to swallow hard and remind myself Red was right there between us. I’d just seen those boobs last night. No reason to freak out over seeing them in a swimsuit today. But, you know, boobs were boobs. They were glorious creations and Nora had a perfect pair.
Nora stepped back and I shifted Red’s weight, hoping I wasn’t embarrassing myself in the pair of swim trunks Bain let me borrow. Boners in borrowed shorts were bad etiquette, everyone knew that.
“Thanks for coming, Jayden.” Nora smiled, but it looked like it was put on for our audience’s sake. I wanted the intimate smile she gave me last night when I held those gorgeous breasts in my hands.
“So, the infamous Jay Jones is here acting like a local, huh?” Amelia sauntered up to our circle, her gorgeous body on display far more than Nora’s in a teeny tiny bikini, yet it did nothing for me.
I tossed her a smile and held my head high. A guy could go around incognito if he wanted to. “Yep, Nora invited Red and me to join you all.”
One of Amelia’s eyebrows climbed her forehead. “Oh, it’s Nora now, is it?”
Mentally I slapped a hand to my forehead while outwardly remaining calm. Pretty sure Amelia would eat me alive if I showed weakness.
“Lot better than Lenny, amiright?” Nora offered. She laughed and spun Amelia back around to the center of the chaos, tugging her away from me.
“Come on over and I’ll introduce you,” she called over her shoulder.
Without waiting to see if Bain and Lucy were coming too, I took off after Nora, watching the way her legs moved in the sand, those frayed edges on her jean shorts teasing me with a brief flash of the curve of her backside each time she stepped.
My God, one time with her wasn’t enough.
The realization hit me right as she came to a stop and grabbed a tall guy’s arm to turn him around. He swung my way with a beer in hand and a ready smile. He was taller than me, with an impressive display of muscle without his shirt on. Made me want to set down Red and do some push-ups before I took my own shirt off. Hard to feel like a player who could have his way with the ladies when you had an infant attached to you, drooling on your arm.
“Hey, bro. I’m Titus. Heard you’re Bain’s brother.” He stuck his hand out and I shook it, not surprised to feel callouses. You don’t get muscles like that sitting behind a desk.
“Sure am. Jayden Sutter. Nice to meet you, Titus.”
He reached back and grabbed me a beer, which meant he was all right with me, even with the stupid haircut I thought was left back in the seventies.
“Can I hold the little guy?” He lifted his head in Red’s direction.
I wasn’t sure how much he knew about babies, but it had to have been more than what I knew when Red’s mother dropped him off on my doorstep and said she was done. I handed Red over, watching the way Titus held on to him with one arm and talked to him, his voice in some silly falsetto.
I smiled, realizing I already liked the guy. Looking over, Nora was watching me, a soft grin on her face.
“Everyone’s going to love you, don’t worry,” she whispered under her breath.
Her words warmed me up more than the blazing fireball in the sky, but a brick of unease took up space in my stomach. For the first time I was realizing that I might actually like living in Auburn Hill, not just because Bain, Lucy, and Roxy lived there, but because of the friends I could make. And the realization that my choice of business may just ruin all of that before it could really begin.
“This quiet guy is Rip. Don’t let the lack of talking fool you, he’s one of the best people in the whole wide world.” Nora pulled over another guy, who put his arm around her in what I was sure passed as a friendly gesture to anyone else.
I still saw red.
Which was stupid for a guy who professed he didn’t want exclusivity of any kind.
“Hey, man. Nice to meet you.” Rip shook my hand, a tight smile on his face. With a different personality, he’d look like he was a TikTok star. Even had the head toss to get his dark hair out of his eyes.
“Nice to meet you too. I’ll be moving here soon and Nora was nice enough to invite me to get to know everyone.”
Rip gave Lenora a squeeze and then let go, much to my relief. “Yeah, that sounds like Lenora. Always making people feel welcome. But don’t let her niceness fool you. She’s a firecracker if you cross her.” He nudged her with his elbow. “Or drive with her.”
“Hey!” Nora laughed, reaching out to poke him in the ribs. “We don’t talk about my cursing.”
I grinned, remembering her cursing from last night. Little did Rip know, Nora cursed like a sailor in bed too. I felt a little better knowing that about her when he didn’t.
“Who’s ready for some more cliff jumping?” came a shout from behind me. I spun and saw a short brunette with her arms in the air and very little on in the way of clothing. A cheer came from the group of twenty or so adults around us.
Glancing back, Rip’s jaw clenched tighter than Red’s little hands when a bottle came near him. Guess Rip wasn’t a fan of cliff jumping, and based on how high up that ledge looked from here, I wasn’t a big fan either.
“Cliff jumping!” Nora yelled back like a battle cry.
Before I could try to talk some sense into her, she’d stripped out of her shorts and run to the brunette. Words failed me as my entire chest seized. I even bobbled Red, which was a dangerous sign.
Nora wore a pair of those swimsuit bottoms that bunched right up the middle, meaning a good portion of each of her cheeks was free for all to see. And every male in the vicinity was looking, even my douchebag married brother, though he did avert his eyes quickly. I swallowed hard and bit down on the instinct to go cover her up and talk her out of jumping.
I had zero rights to do either of those things. Guys who don’t want a relationship don’t get to tell the women they sleep with what to do. Pretty sure even marrying a girl didn’t give a guy the right to tell her what to do, but a man could always try. For the first time in forever, I was pissed at myself for my stupid rule about not getting serious with a woman.
Nora, the brunette, and Amelia were joined by a few opportunistic males I’d have to keep my eye on. They went up the path and then cut across the craggy rock ledge that extended out above the water. Just watching them made me nervous.
“Is this safe?” I asked Rip, panic clawing at my throat.
He didn’t answer me, just stared at the pack of idiots on top of the rocks like he could get them to stop with his death stare alone.
“Don’t worry, they’ll be fine.” Bain came up behind me, Roxy clapping her hands at the excitement in the air. “No one’s died from cliff jumping around here in years.”
I scoffed. “Great. That’s just great.”
I could feel Bain staring at me, but I couldn’t look away from Nora as she looked over the edge and giggled with her friends. “What’s your deal, man? Something serious going on with you and Lenora?”
At that, I did turn my head and so did Rip, suddenly interested in the conversation. As much as it pained me to say it, I had to tell the truth.
“Serious? No. But I do care about her, so yeah, I’m a little worried about the jumping thing.”
Bain didn’t say a word, just scanned my face like he was checking whether I told the truth. Red head-butted my chin, tired of being held and probably just as disgusted with my lame answer.
“Another one bites the dust,” Rip muttered and then wandered off to get a beer.
I cocked my head in his direction. “What’s with that guy?”
Bain shrugged. “Haven’t figured him out yet, but when my truck blew a tire a few months back, he was the one to drop everything and come bail me out. Figure friends like that are worth more than picking a fight over lackluster conversational skills.”
Well, shit. That was pro
bably true.
Another holler went up as the brunette plunged into the water. I held my breath until I saw her head clear the water’s surface.
“Come on in, the water’s fine!” she shouted up to Nora, who gave her a thumbs-up.
“Jesus fucking Mary, don’t do it,” I mumbled.
She looked over at me and with our gazes locked—hers brimming with excitement, mine filled with fear—she stepped off the cliff and plunged to the water below. I pushed through the crowd and went to the water’s edge. Her head bobbed up and she let out a whoop.
I sighed and turned back around to grab a beer. She was fine and I could quit worrying over a woman who wasn’t currently nor ever would be mine. No sense watching her get out of the water either in that excuse of a bathing suit.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of swimming, taking care of Red and Roxy, and talking to new people. Everyone was pretty friendly, though Amelia never came over to chat, preferring to glare at me from afar. I started to wonder if maybe Nora had confided in her about last night and maybe that’s why she didn’t like me. Either way it was none of her business what went on between Nora and me. Nora was a big girl who could make her own decisions.
Titus threw a match on the stacked-up wood, the bonfire blazing to life instantly. Nora had her hands on Red while he toddled like a drunkard, making sure he stayed way back from the blaze. He kept trying to reach right for it, so she finally picked him up and danced him around the fire, keeping time with the beat of a fast country song somebody had cued up from a big speaker nestled in the sand. The sight of her hair, more wavy than normal from the salty ocean, and her bare tanned legs dancing around with my son in the firelight was doing something funny to my chest bone.
“She’s good with him.” Lucy came up next to me and followed my gaze.
I nodded, not sure I could trust the proper words to come out of my mouth.
“It’s none of my business what you and Lenora have going on between you, but she’s my friend. She’s good. The kind of good you don’t want to mess up. Don’t bring your past into this, okay, Jayden?”
I looked away from Nora then, the imprint of her already seared in my brain. Lucy looked at me steadily, but there was love in her gaze too. I knew she meant well.
“I won’t hurt her. I promise. She knows what I’m capable of giving.”
Lucy nodded. Her lips pressed together and I knew she had more to say, but Nora twirled back to my side, breathless and more beautiful than anyone had any business being.
I took Red from her, knowing she probably needed a break. I put my hand on her back and led her to an open chair around the fire. She smiled up at me and the ache intensified.
“So, what’s Red’s story, Jay Jones?” Amelia’s voice cut through our moment like a goat tongue to the mouth. “He’s a cutie, but we need the scoop.”
I sighed, knowing this question was inevitable, but I was kind of hoping to push it back a little. The story surrounding Red’s mother wasn’t a happy one, but they deserved to know, especially with how publicly she’d handled the whole pregnancy announcement here in Hell.
Nora placed her hand on the back of my leg and that was all the encouragement I needed. I never wanted Red to be ashamed of where—or who—he came from and that started with my example. Might as well tell everyone now when there was a group of us all together and that busybody Poppy nowhere to be found.
“You all know Addi, right? Well, turns out she was hitting on me to get to my brother, Bain.” Lucy growled somewhere behind me and everyone chuckled. “Anyway, I became part of the two percent condom fail rate and the result is this little guy.”
“So, where’s Addi now? Last I saw her, she ran outta here with her tail on fire from Poppy grilling her over trying to break up Bain and Lucille.” Titus folded his arms across his chest like just uttering Addi’s name was irritating. I knew the feeling.
“I don’t know where she is. We agreed to split time with Red, but when he was only two weeks old and it was her week with him, she just dropped him off one day and never came back. I had to hire a lawyer to track her down. She finally signed away her parental rights and now Red’s all mine. Like he should be.”
I heard Nora’s soft gasp and while her sympathy made me feel warm inside, it was misplaced. The second Red was born and his first cry echoed in the hospital room, I knew I’d do anything for him. Raising him alone? Of course I’d do it and never regret it for a second.
“Are you kidding me?” Amelia stood up, her dark ponytail flying. “What a shit thing to do to your own child. We knew that Addi was no good. She ever steps foot back to Hell we’ll run her out again so fast her lash extensions fly off.”
Smoke from the bonfire must have hit my eyes, making them burn as everyone cheered their support of Amelia’s plan. I’d just met these people today and yet here they were backing me up like I was one of their own. Even Amelia, who I thought might hate me forever, had turned that fierceness into protectiveness. Of me. Maybe pigs really could fly.
Someone cranked the music again and people paired off to chat or dance. Nora stood up and gave me a hug. Red squealed his delight, mirroring my own, though I kept mine quiet.
“What’s that for?” I dared to ask.
She pulled back nice and slow, her smile fuzzy on the edges, an afternoon of beer consumption, sun, and swimming making her features more relaxed than I’d ever seen.
“Just felt like you needed it. You’re a good man, Jayden Sutter.”
I went with the flow of warmth that filled every cold and empty crevice of my soul, pulling her back into my arms and dancing with her to a slow song. Red burbled between us, happy with the movement, but even his presence couldn’t detract from the way I felt. Something had clicked into place for me tonight, here in Hell.
And while I lived for that warm embrace of acceptance, a cold breeze of unease stirred too.
I was keeping a secret from these good people. And considering how I couldn’t seem to keep away from the preacher’s daughter, that secret might be explosive once it came out.
11
Lenora
How I ever got to sleep the night before was beyond me. I floated high on a cloud of friends, graduation, and Jayden. I’d hugged more people in one afternoon than I had in the last week, which was saying something with my propensity to hug anything with breath.
And I’d danced with Jayden several times, thinking maybe I’d give up hugging and go straight to dancing. Even with Red wiggling between us most of the time, I’d had the type of fun I’d been hoping for. Lucy, God bless her, had come over at one point and taken Red to play with Roxy. That left nothing between our two bodies but a scant layer of clothing. Jayden’s poker face gave nothing away, but the desire I felt in his shorts, rocking into my hips with every sway, told me everything I needed to know.
Jayden wanted more sexy times.
Sadly, I went home alone, but with Red here and my living situation with my parents, we didn’t exactly have an opportunity.
I swung my car in front of the hotel and texted Jayden I was here. He came out a few minutes later with Red already in his car seat. He looked damn good in his dark jeans and the well-worn tight T-shirt that stretched across his broad chest. It was almost worse now that I knew what he looked like naked. I clenched my thighs together and reminded them Jayden and I weren’t a thing. I got out and said good morning with a quick hug, putting his bag in the trunk while he got Red strapped into the back seat.
“I can’t believe you’re already going back,” I said as we got in the car and headed to the airport. My stomach finally fell from that cloud it had been riding on.
“Yeah, I got a lot to do this week, between packing, moving, and getting my business up and running here in Auburn Hill.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Are you ever going to tell me what this business of yours is?” I took the two-lane traffic circle without incident and had to remind myself to keep my speed up. I kept wanting t
o slow down and extend this conversation.
Jayden’s beautifully shaped thumb tapped his knee over and over again before he answered. “I will once it’s all set up. It’s really not an industry I’m super into. I just saw an opportunity and took it. I plan to hand everything off to a manager to run the day-to-day operations.”
A thought flittered through my brain. “Do you mind if I ask you for some advice as I go looking for a job? You seem to know a lot about business.”
He smiled, dimple on full display now that the stupid mustache was history. I would do some crazy-ass shit for a glimpse of that dimple.
“You bet I will. Text me any questions you have.”
Red squealed from the back and Jayden turned to check on him. I may have even leaned in a little to catch a whiff of his cologne. Just to tide me over until he was back next week.
“If you need help with Red when you move here, let me know. I bet unpacking can be hard with a little one around.” The offer was out of my mouth before I thought it through. I didn’t want to be Red’s babysitter, I wanted to date his dad. Or at least get in his pants on a regular basis.
Jayden put his palm on my thigh, not high enough to be anything sexual, but I still had a heat flash move through my whole body at his touch.
“You know, you’re actually better with him than his own mother. Crazy, huh?”
Tears burned the back of my eyes at the compliment. And that’s when I knew.
I was falling for Jayden Sutter and I was the stupidest girl in the history of stupid girls.
We slept together once, after Jayden had been very clear he didn’t want to get into a relationship, and here I was offering to take care of his kid and basing all my hopes on scraps of compliments I read way too much into.
“Well, we’re here.” Jayden looked out the window at the terminal.
I blinked, realizing I’d driven the last few miles and didn’t remember a thing. My good mood, the one I woke up with most mornings, and definitely this morning, was gone.
