Page 102 of Chad's Chase

“No,” she said, intractable. “I want to know whut’s—”

JK hooked her around the waist and she fluidly drew up to him like he was magnet and she was steel. Then he kissed her deep. And hard. And long.

Chad and I exchanged side glances, shifting uncomfortably, waiting for the inappropriate tongue-locking to wrap up.

Chad folded his lips. I looked at my boots.

After a millennium and two centuries, the couple s-l-o-w-l-y eased apart. JK stroked his thumb over his wife’s lower lip and whispered, “Breathe easy.”

And just like that, she was all liquid eyes and dreamy sighs, her irritation and curiosity gone. Without another distrustful “but”, she did as her husband asked and left to wait in the car.

Smooth. Real smooth.

To Chad, JK gritted out, “It’s your place, so I can’t tell you no, but I can tell you I fuckin’ hate this.”

“We knew you would,” Chad offered.

JK gazed jiggled between Chad and me. “Ahh, so this was a unified attempt to piss me off.”

I rubbed my palms together and grinned like an evil villain. This made Chad laugh.

Jahleel seemed more irritated now than angry. “Know what, fuck both of you.”

“Yeah, we’ll definitely be fucking each other,” I shot back. “Over and over.”

Eyes resizing to tiny slits, he held up three fingers at me. “Three.”

“Still zero for me, buddy.”

Eschewing me, he looked to Chad. “Can I trust that when I come back from dinner with my innocent wife I won’t find the house on fire, the windows shattered, bullet holes in the walls, or marrows splattered on the ceilings?”

Chad twisted his lips to the side, as if pondering on it, then he eyed at me. “You feel like killing me tonight?”

I drifted my eyes heavenward, thought about it for a single second, then answered with an exaggerated shake of my head, “Nope. Just horny.”

Chad sucked in a hissing breath. “Same here.” Then to JK, “There. You have our word.”

JK glanced between both of us again like he wanted to punch us each squarely in the face. But then he just wagged his head, got out of our way and went to catch up with his wife.

“What does a woman like her see in that repulsive shithead?”

Chad responded with nothing as he ushered me into the house, closed the door behind us, and turned the lock with a snap. When he spun to face me, his expression was sober, thoughtful. “What doyousee in me?”

Suddenly swaddled in nervousness, with a splash of shyness, I stuffed my hands into my back pockets and glanced down at my scuffed combat boots, then back at him. Straight into his searching eyes so he’d know this was no bullshitting. “Hope. And…my future.”