Home Tears

“What about them?”

“What happened with your dad?”

“You want to talk about my dad? Right now?” He sounded incredulous, his eyebrows arching up.

“It’s either that or everyone’s going to know we’re doing something else up here.”

He closed his eyes. His hand caught and held his neck, and his head fell back. “Shit. You’re right. Okay. My dad. You want to know about him.” Then he groaned, unzipping his pants.

Dani sat up, but bit down on her lip. She would not say anything to interrupt this. She would not do anything to stop him from changing, or pulling on dry clothes, or telling her about his dad. It was causing a physical ache in her stomach. She rested back against the wall, and forced herself to remain there. She wouldn’t cross the room. Would not. No… She found herself leaning toward him, away from the wall.

Jonah was talking as he dropped his wet boxers.

Dani almost fell over.

He didn’t notice, pulling on the clean pair. They were baggy, but he tucked everything in as he pulled his wet jeans back on. The dry shirt was next, and once he was covered, Dani slumped back against the wall. She felt like she’d run a 5K, right then and there.

He was saying, “…he’s not here to see me or Aiden. He’s here because of the Quandrys.”

“What?!”

“Yeah.” He frowned. “Weren’t you listening?”

She groaned. Would he have? But all she said was, “Say it again.”

“My dad’s here because of the Quandrys. He’s working with them. I’m assuming they asked him to come in to talk to me, get me to change my mind so they can build on the river. It’s not going to happen, but they can try.”

“Boone’s here.”

“I thought they had their own thing tonight.”

So did she. “He’s here. I saw him drive up myself. I was sitting in your car.” Speaking of, “How’d you get here?”

He smirked. “Hawk gave me a ride. He had to check on something, but he’s going to come back. My sister tends to have a lot of good-looking friends. He wouldn’t miss this party for anything.” He cocked his head to the side, crossing the room to her. “How are you with your ex being here?”

She knew he didn’t mean Jake. “It is what it is.”

His hand slid around her neck, cupping the back. “You’re okay with it?”

Was she? She was having a hard time concentrating with him being so close. She could feel his heat. All she had to do was reach a hand out, just a few inches, and she’d be touching him back. Or she could lean forward, her body wavering. She would close her eyes, and she knew Jonah would do the rest.

She forced herself back. “I’ll be fine, but you need to step away because I’m losing the will not to touch you back.”

She didn’t dare look up and meet his gaze. She breathed out, concentrating on just breathing, but she meant it. If he stayed there, she’d lose the battle in the next two seconds. And then it was time’s up, and she found herself going toward him, just an inch. Her hand touched his stomach, feeling his muscles tighten under her touch, and she knew how the rest of those muscles were cut, all deep valleys, all there for her to run her fingers over.

“Okay. No.” She pushed him back. “Leave, or when I take my clothes off, I won’t be pulling any of your sister’s dry ones on.”

He laughed, sounding strained. “I’ll be downstairs.” His lips touched her forehead and she had to will herself not to watch him go. She waited until the door opened, then closed, before she almost collapsed onto the bed.

Too much. Jonah was damned near a weapon himself.

A small grin tugged on her lips. She was looking forward to the end of the night, and with that thought, she sat up. Clothes to wear. She needed some.

Then she heard a knock, and the door swung open. Boone stood there, and he was soaking wet, too.

“Oh!”

“Hey.” She straightened from the bed.

He only stood there, taking in her wet state before looking back to the hallway. “I saw Bannon leave a moment ago.”

“Uh, yeah.” Her lips puckered together. “We were both outside when it started raining. I was just going to change clothes, too.”

He nodded, his jaw clenching at the same time. “I see.” His eyes were so cold.

“Look, Boone—”

“No.” His head clipped to the side. “No.” His nostrils flared. Then he left.

She scrambled to her feet. “Wha—” But he was gone. She changed quickly. Boone was angry. He had reason, but he didn’t at the same time. He knew she was with Jonah. There were other conversations that needed to happen between them, conversations that she knew both were putting off.

She was searching for him when Jenny seemed to materialize out of thin air. “I’m looking for Mitch. Do you know where he is?”

“You’re not the only one.” she murmered.

She was looking around, biting down on her lip. “He went out to get my purse. I forgot it in the car, but he was drenched when he came back in. I told him to dry his clothes before he caught pneumonia.” Jenny laughed a sickening sound of delight. “Heaven’s sake—I wouldn’t want pneumonia. I don’t even want to get a cold while I’m on vacation.”

“He’s—” She lied. “He’s gone downstairs. There’s a clothes dryer down there.” ns class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">