Play Fair (The Devil's Share Book 3)(25)

There were those words again. I need you. Was it wrong that I would rather hear him say “I want you”? I knew I was developing feelings for Jacks. More than friend feelings. The friendship was still there but now there was an undeniable tension between us too. My core tightened when I watched him play the guitar. I’d wanted him to kiss me on more than one occasion. I got chills when he touched me. We were either playing with fire or on the verge of something really amazing. And with my past? It was most likely fire. I needed to stay strong, for both of us, because I refused to lose him. “Of course I’ll stay.”

I giggled when he threw his arms around me and tackled me on the mattress. He kissed my cheek over and over. “You are the best! Thank you thank you thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

Jacks pulled back but stayed on top of me. He brushed the hair off my face and rested his hand on my cheek. “I mean it, doll. You are the best thing in my life.” He smiled. “Well, you and Landry.” I closed my eyes as he sweetly kissed my cheek one more time before sitting up and pulling me with him. He pointed the remote at the TV and pressed play.

I started laughing when I realized that he’d found Buffy the movie on Netflix. We watched the whole thing snuggled together in bed. Well, except when I climbed out and did the dance with the characters in the opening present-day scene. Once Buffy climbed on the back of Pike’s bike and they rode off into the sunrise, I sat up and turned to Jacks. “Well? What did you think?”

He let out a deep breath. “I think Kristy Swanson still gives me a boner.” He reached down and adjusted his pants.

“On that note…I’m going to bed.” I stood and picked up my phone from the nightstand. Shep had called twice today. I’d yet to call him back.

Jacks grabbed my hand and pulled me back down. “Do you want to watch another movie? Or we could play a game.”

I checked the time on my phone; it was only 10:30 but I was beat. The sun and the water combined with the fact that I hadn’t really slept all that well last night. “I don’t think I could keep my eyes open long enough to watch another movie.”

“So keep them closed. Just stay in here with me.”

My heart fluttered. Jacks was the only guy who had ever made my heart flutter. “Jacks…” If Dylan caught me sleeping in his bed again, I’d never hear the end of it. “You aren’t going out with Luke tonight?”

“Do you want me to go out with Luke tonight?”

No, I think I want you to stay here and kiss me. I shrugged instead of answering him. Because I was a coward. And because what if he didn’t feel the same way? He’d been on top of me earlier, kissing all over my cheeks. If he’d wanted to, wouldn’t he have made his move then?

He rolled his eyes and scooted down under the covers, holding them out for me. “Get in. You know you want to.”

I did want to. Which was exactly why I should be walking away, not climbing in beside him and laying my head on his chest. Or smiling like a schoolgirl when he kissed the top of my head.

“B?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you go out with me? Tomorrow night?”

My stupid smile got bigger. Was he asking me out on a date? Or was he asking me out as a friend? I had joked with him in the past about my kick-ass wingman abilities, maybe that’s what he was after? “Was that why you came home last night? Luke’s a bad wingman and you’re looking to replace him?”

He scoffed, “Like I need a wingman. I can get any girl, anytime, anywhere. Just you wait and see.”

Great. Now I was going to have to watch Jacks hit on every girl who walked by. “What about Landry?”

“I figured we could wait to leave until she was in bed and then we can just ask Lex and Dylan to keep an ear out for her.”

“Okay. Sure.” You know maybe this would be good for us, for me. Watching him flirt and paw all over other girls would most likely irritate the hell out of me. Which would make these tingly feelings he kept giving me go away. It would be like a therapeutic night out with a friend.





Chapter Thirteen


Jacks


I woke up with a smile on my face, wrapped around Bryan. I’d lain awake holding her and playing on my PS3. I brushed a soft kiss across B’s forehead and then got out of bed, careful not to wake her. I pulled on a t-shirt and then padded across the hall to check on Landry. She was still asleep, her face resting on Ello, just like in the car yesterday. I had both my girls here with me, and neither one of them was going anywhere. My heart felt…full. Full in a way I’d never thought I wanted.

I was the first one up in the house; I couldn’t tell you the last time that happened. I was sitting in the kitchen, reading some song lyrics the label had overnighted to us. We usually wrote our own stuff, but they weren’t liking what we were turning in right now. So they sent some “suggestions.” They weren’t bad songs; they were good. But that just wasn’t the direction we were going with this new album. We’d never really been into mellow songs or ballads. But things in our lives were changing. Dash’s world had changed in one night. Smith’s world had changed with one girl. And mine? Mine had taken two. Two beautiful girls and two crazy days. It wasn’t a constant rock star free-for-all anymore. We were growing up, and it was only fitting that our music did too. Dash was going to flip shit when he saw these.