Sitting down next to Mackenna on the bed, I studied her peaceful expression for a minute before her day was ruined.
I wished I could shield her from this. Wished I could lie to her and somehow hide the evidence and magically fix her car before she found out. More than anything, I wished it was possible to turn back time so I could catch that fucker in the act.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out who did it. Jaxon had vandalized her property right under our noses while we were asleep.
“Mack.” I gently rubbed her arm. “Wake up, baby.”
“Hmm?” She rolled onto her back but didn’t open her eyes.
“I’m sorry, but you need to come see something.” Taking her hand in mine, I rubbed her palm with my thumb.
“What is it?” she mumbled sleepily.
“Your trashcan… Um, the driveway is a mess… Your car…” I tried to explain and failed miserably.
A half-smile appeared on her face and she pulled the covers up to her chin. “It’s just the squirrels. Don’t worry about it.”
“Baby, this wasn’t squirrels,” I said regretfully.
Something in my voice must’ve conveyed that this was serious because her eyes shot open and she sat up.
She pawed at her hair, trying to tame the messy strands with her fingers. “What’s going on?”
“I’ll show you.” Linking our fingers, I helped her out of bed, then pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Still a bit disoriented, she followed me down the stairs.
When we got outside, she ran to the driveway. She stood there, completely still, for a good minute while she looked at the damage. I wanted to ask her if she was okay, but I knew that was a stupid question.
She finally lost it when she traced the letters carved into the hood.
CUNT
Wrapping her arms around herself, she let out a sob, and I couldn’t stand back anymore. Coming up behind her, I rubbed my hands up and down her arms, then hugged her to me while she cried.
Just like her laughter made its way straight to my heart, so did her tears.
In that moment, her pain was mine. And as much as that pain wanted to turn into anger, I needed to be strong for her. I pushed down my temper as I buried my nose in her hair.
Mackenna’s sobs subsided and hiccups took over.
“Mack,” I said quietly. “Go inside while I clean this up.”
“That son of a bitch ruined my car!” she growled angrily, radiating a level of rage I’d never seen from her before. It would’ve been cute if it wasn’t so fucking scary. She turned toward me. “Why does he have to be so fucking ominous about it?” she asked, slashing her hand through the air. “Why doesn’t he just show up at my damn door? Oh yeah, because I’d shoot his ass!”
Yep, my girl had claws. She was ferocious if she had to be, and I was glad for that.
“Hey, I’m gonna fix it.” I gave her a reassuring smile. “Good thing your boyfriend works at an auto shop.”
“Boyfriend,” she repeated, like testing out that word was weird for her. Although I’d called her my girlfriend several times already, it was the first time I’d heard her say the term when she was referring to me.
I liked it.
“Yeah. We’re dating, so I’m your boyfriend,” I told her with another megawatt smile. “Hey, what did one race car say to the other race car?”
She sniffled, but her lips tilted up. “I don’t know. What?”
“I’m Audi here.”
A hiccup mingled with a laugh. “That’s a good one.”
“Ten minutes,” I said while guiding her up to the house. “Go do something that makes you happy for ten minutes and I’ll take care of this. Play some music. Eat an ice cream sandwich or five.”
“Okay.” She tossed another pained look at her vehicle, then with one more hiccup she went inside.
The smile I’d been trying so hard to keep on my face dropped as I pulled out my phone. Jaxon didn’t realize it, but he’d just made my decision very easy. One text to Jay sealed his fate.
Me: Set it up.
It was Wednesday, which meant three things.
One, I was spending the morning at Beverly’s. I’d started hanging out with her and Sweet Pea a couple days a week while Jimmy was at work. I made the excuse that I didn’t want them to be lonely, but the truth was I found myself seeking out the company when I didn’t have work to do.
Two, I was supposed to get my car back tomorrow. I hadn’t seen it yet, but Jimmy’s texts assured me it would be as good as new. I reported the vandalism and property damage, but the police said there wasn’t much they could do when it came to finding the suspect because there were no witnesses. Despite my protests, Jimmy had gone to every neighbor on our block to ask if they’d noticed any suspicious activity in the area, but no one had seen the attack on my car.
And three, it had been exactly seventeen days since Jimmy and I had gone past first base—and, yes, I was counting. Sexually frustrated didn’t even scratch the surface of how I was feeling.
Learning that Jimmy was well-endowed along with the mention of the piercing piqued my curiosity. During our make-out sessions, I’d felt his hardness pressing against me, and I thought having an erection for hours on end was enough to make any guy break.
Just from the looks of Jimmy, you’d never know he had so much self-control, but the guy seemed to have it in spades.
I kept waiting for him to take things further, but then at night he’d just give me one last kiss and we’d go to sleep. He was a perfect gentleman.
It was sweet. It was romantic.
It was becoming a problem.
If I had to spend one more night next to him in bed without actually doing anything, I suspected I might die. Death by sexual frustration. That could be a real thing.
I didn’t know how to be sexually assertive, but I was willing to try. Maybe I needed to catch him off-guard in some way.
“Oh, no you don’t!”
I jumped guiltily at the sound of Beverly’s voice, wondering if I’d spoken my dirty thoughts about her grandson out loud.
Then I saw her chasing after Sweet Pea as he flew across the living room toward the cracked window. Waving her hands wildly, she cut him off just in time. Missing his intended target, he ended up tangled in her curtain. His tiny toes got caught in the wispy material and he flapped helplessly while letting out a pathetic-sounding “fuck.”
Beverly huffed as she helped the bird out of the predicament he’d gotten himself into. “He’s ruining all my curtains.”
“Have you thought about getting his wings clipped?” I asked before taking a sip of my lemonade.
She looked horrified. “Of course not. That’s like chopping a man’s dick off.”
Stunned by her statement, I inhaled some of the liquid and began coughing violently. I shouldn’t have been surprised by anything Beverly said—I was quickly learning that she didn’t have much of a filter.
“I don’t think that’s the same thing,” I said through a wheeze. “You don’t want him to escape again.”
“He was born with wings, he should have wings.” Beverly shrugged before giving him some peanuts to snack on. “Never thought I’d love a parrot, but he’s part of the family now.” She sat down on the couch next to me and picked up a Twinkie from the plate on the coffee table. “So anyway, do you want to go?”
My eyebrows pinched together in confusion. I hadn’t been listening to a word she’d been saying earlier. “Go where?”
“To the dress fitting tomorrow. We can make a girls’ day of it. Angel’s going to be such a beautiful bride.”
“Oh,” I said before an awkward pause ensued. “I really don’t feel like I should be going to that. I’ve never even met her.”
“I’m the matron of honor,” Beverly said, proudly straightening her shoulders. “I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I brought you along. Besides, Angel is one of the sweetest people you’ll ever meet.” Her face lit up like she had the best idea
ever. “You two should be friends. She only lives a few blocks from us.”
According to Beverly, her best friend was actually younger than me—younger than Jimmy, even. It was odd, but I guess there was no age limit on friendship. From the brief history she’d given me, I learned Angel showed up as a runaway in Tolson over a year ago, with no intentions of staying. But this town and its residents made an impression on her heart. Apparently, Travis Hawkins was one of those people.
I couldn’t blame her for falling for him. If my memory of him in high school was correct, he was a really nice guy. Not bad on the eyes either. With brown hair, hazel eyes, and dimples, he’d had more than one girl at Daywood High swooning over him.
Now that Travis and Jimmy were coworkers, I felt like my worlds were slowly colliding—which was typical in small towns—but I was surprised to find that I didn’t hate it.
In fact, I kind of liked the idea of being part of a circle of friends. Maybe it was time for my antisocial streak to come to an end.
“You know what?” I smiled at Beverly. “I think I’d like to come tomorrow.”
Clapping her hands, she beamed. “Wonderful.”
She went back to talking about the wedding, and I tried to pay attention as she went on about dresses, flowers, and cake.
But I couldn’t stop my mind from going back to fantasies about Jimmy.
“Jimmy!” Travis shouted from the back of the garage. He strolled over to me at the front counter where I was filling out the invoices. “What do you say we break outta here tomorrow?”
“What?” I laughed.
“I have to take the rig down to southern Illinois to pick up the trailer. Thought maybe you’d like to ride along and see how things work on the road.”
“Yeah,” I replied, excited. “That would be awesome.”
He grinned. “I already cleared it with Hank, so you’re good to go. We’ll leave here around 8:00 in the morning and probably won’t get back until 5:00 or so.”
“Sounds great,” I responded, and he gave me a clap on the back before turning to walk away.
While I loved working in the shop, there was something intriguing about truck driving, and I’d hoped for this opportunity.
Now I’d get my chance to find out what all the fuss was about.
“Hey, Travis,” I called out before he could get too far.
Tossing a greasy rag from hand to hand, he came back over. “What’s up?”
I lowered my voice. “Is there a boxing gym somewhere in the area?”
Pressing his lips together, he thought for a few seconds. “Not that I know of. There might be one in Champaign. How come?”
“My dad and I used to spar with each other. I miss it,” I told him. It was a half-truth. While I did miss boxing with my dad, that wasn’t the real reason I wanted to brush up on my skills. But I wasn’t about to come right out and tell Travis I was training for a fight.
“There’s a gym in Daywood,” he said. “Colton and I go there together on Saturdays sometimes. It’s small, but they have a few punching bags. Would that work?”
I nodded. “It’s better than nothing.”
“Hey, maybe we could even spar with you,” he suggested. “It just can’t be before this weekend, because if I show up to my wedding with a black eye I’m pretty sure Angel will kill me.”
We both laughed.
“Yeah, we can plan on it,” I said before going back to the last invoice.
Then it was time for my favorite part of everyday—going home to Mackenna.
When I got to her house, I was hit with the aroma of my favorite dinner. Honey mustard chicken.
She spoiled me, and I told her that as I hugged her from behind while she got our plates ready.
She was quiet as we ate. Unusually quiet.
Every time I asked her if something was wrong she’d force a smile and tell me everything was fine, but I could tell something was off.
We stuck with our normal routine—watch TV, hold hands, then make out until I thought I might come in my pants.
Her kisses were different tonight. More aggressive. Needy.
Hot as fuck.
But instead of acting on the impulse to rip her clothes off, I resisted. After we got into bed, I gazed down at her face before placing a kiss on her perfect lips.
Then I tapped the touch lamp twice. Darkness engulfed the room and I pulled her close.
Usually Mackenna went right to sleep, so when she fidgeted for several minutes, I knew something was up. Just as I was about to ask her what was wrong—again—she spoke.
“Jimmy?”
“Yeah?”
There was a long pause. “Nothing.”
I shifted away to look at her, even though I couldn’t see anything in the dark. “What’s up?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Did something else happen? Something with your ex?” I asked, concerned.
“No.” Another pause. “I, um, forgot to tell you I’m going with Beverly to Angel’s dress fitting tomorrow.”
Among the many things I’d learned about Mackenna in the time I’d known her, one of them was that she was a terrible liar. She was holding something back from me, but I didn’t want to push. Another thing I’d learned was that she had to do things in her own time. Sometimes it was frustrating because I wasn’t a patient guy.
I swallowed back the urge to interrogate her.
“That sounds fun,” I responded. “And pretty perfect, too, because I’m going on a ride in the semi tomorrow down to southern Illinois. I won’t get back until evening.”
She propped herself up on an elbow.
“That’s exciting.” I could tell she was smiling. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
I chuckled. “Well, I was going to, but it was a little difficult with your tongue down my throat.”
A pillow smacked me in the face.
Growling, I pounced on her. My lips found her neck. Her jaw. The shell of her ear.
She giggled, and her fingers curled against my back.
Ignoring the insistent erection straining against the cotton of my briefs, I forced myself to pull back. “Guess we’ve both got a lot going on tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep. Unless there was something else you wanted to tell me?”
She sighed. “No. Goodnight, Jimmy.”
“’Night, Mack.”
When I woke up, I was disoriented because it was still dark in the room. Also, Mackenna was on top of me—which was the norm—but she was awake. Either that, or she was having one hell of a dream.
Her lips landed on my chest, placing a light kiss there before her tongue flicked over my skin.
“Mack,” I rasped.
“Jimmy,” she responded, amusement in her voice.
Okay. So she wasn’t asleep.
Moving her hips slightly, she rubbed her pussy over my cock—my cock that was already wide awake and ready for action.
My hands landed on her waist, torn between pulling her off or pushing down to grind her against me harder.
Then I noticed something else that was different. Very different.
She was naked. My hands moved down, sliding over her hips to her thighs. Not one bit of clothing. Only smooth, warm skin.
Yep. Definitely naked.
I groaned. “What are you doing?”
She leaned down until our chests were touching. Skin to skin. Her nipples rubbed against me.
Closing her teeth over my bottom lip, she tugged, then licked the abused spot.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I loved it when she did that and she knew it.
Her head dipped down and her tongue flicked over my nipple, then she gently sucked on the barbell. My dick jumped.
I gasped. “Baby… I don’t know if this is a good idea.”
Deciding to do the right thing, I tried to roll her to the side, but the starfish wouldn’t budge.
Somehow, Mackenna had managed to attach herself to my body so fully that I couldn’t get her off me. H
er legs were hooked behind my knees, her arms wedged underneath my shoulder blades.
It was absolutely ridiculous.
Even though I was incredibly turned on, I couldn’t help finding humor in the situation and started to laugh uncontrollably.
I laughed so hard my stomach muscles screamed in protest.
Mackenna sat up. “Is my attempt to seduce you really so funny?”
I felt her pull up on the comforter and wrap it around herself. Reaching out blindly, I hit the lamp, lighting up the room with the dim glow.
Looking down at me, Mackenna had a pained expression on her face.
Shit.
I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings.
She started to climb off me, but I stopped her by putting my hands on her thighs. Glancing away shyly, she pulled the purple blanket tighter around her chest.
My hand went to her face and I caressed her cheek.
“You wanna know how I really feel? I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I spend most of my time thinking about being inside you and the other small percent desperately trying not to think about being inside you. You’ve got me by the balls, Mack.” I let out a humorless laugh. “But I can only hold myself back for so long.”
“So stop holding back.” Letting out an exasperated sigh, she reached over me and tapped the lamp twice, cloaking the room in darkness once again.
Then she jumped off the bed and I heard her shuffling around the room.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting dressed,” she snapped.
I hit the touch lamp again. Mackenna had her back to me, and she’d managed to slip on her zebra onesie. I wondered if she’d worn it on purpose to just drive me insane.
She was still buttoning up the front when I grabbed her from behind and pulled her onto my lap. Pushing her hair to the side, I kissed the side of her neck.
“What do you want?” I whispered.
She huffed. “I want you to stop treating me like I’m broken.”
I flipped us so I was on top and didn’t hesitate when I started to undo the black buttons.
“Like this?” My eyes challenged her—begged her—to stop me, but she didn’t.
The Good Guys Box Set: TRUCKER, DANCER, DROPOUT, and A Trucker Wedding Page 64