When I was done I stood up and admired my work. Jayce got up and came over to look.
“Judge Benjamin is a dick,” he read out loud. “Damn, Peaches. I thought you didn’t curse.”
“Out loud is vulgar,” I said, sticking my nose in the air. “Carved into wood makes itart.”
“Remind me not to piss you off. I don’t want my name carved all over Eastland.” He scrunched up his face while looking at the fence. “It needs a little somethin’ extra.”
He took the knife from my hand and bent down to the fence post. He blocked it with his body so I couldn’t see what he was doing until he finally stepped back. Underneath my message he had carved a tiny little penis, complete with carved bits of ejaculate squirting out the tip.
“A dick for the dick,” he announced. “In case anyone didn’t get the message.”
It was so childish, but so perfect, that I couldn’t help but laugh. Soon Jayce joined in, both of us doubling over like school children who had pulled a prank on the principal. I fell to the ground and rolled with laughter, literallyrolledon the grass with a case of the giggles. Jayce fell down next to me and sighed happily.
“It doesn’t fix the corrupt asshole,” he said, patting my knee. “But it sure feels good, Peaches.”
My knee felt like fire where his hand touched. “It’s a better rebellion than eating lunch on his lawn.”
He took his hand off my knee and twisted to look over his shoulder at the road, which caused his hair to brush against my face. It brought with it the smell of shampoo, fruity and clean, mixing with his deeper, more masculine scent. When he turned back he stared deeply into my eyes.
In that moment, I felt more connected to him than I’d ever felt with someone else. We were just two souls trapped in this town together, powerless to save ourselves.
I could drown in those cobalt eyes, I thought.
Jayce’s hand reached up to cup my cheek, tender and strong at the same time. I held my breath and waited for what he would do next, what I desperately wanted him to do.
Kiss me.I closed my eyes and waited for him to pull my lips to his.
Suddenly he pulled his hand away.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“We can’t,” he said, though his eyes still bore into me with unrestrained lust.
“What the heck do you mean, we can’t?” I asked.
“We just can’t.”
Flabbergasted, I watched as he rose, put on his shirt from the truck, and retrieved his hammer. “We should get back to work. Judge usually comes back from fishing around lunch.”
You have got to be kidding me, I thought as we resumed our job.
18
Charlotte
I was a reasonably self-aware person. I knew I was attractive. And I also knew when a guy was checking me out, which Jayce had totally been doing for the last few days when he thought I wasn’t looking. At a bare minimum, he was attracted to me. Our almost-kiss wasn’t just a spur of the moment kind of thing. We both wanted it. I could feel it in the way he held my cheek and leaned toward me, heat radiating off his bare chest. He was only seconds from ripping my clothes off andtaking meon the judge’s soft grass.
So I wasreallyconfused about his rejection.
The rest of the work day was as awkward as could be. Jayce’s grey t-shirt was soaked with sweat, but he kept it on, as if his bare chest were to blame for what had happened. Like the male-equivalent of a girl being scolded for showing too much cleavage and distracting the boys.
But even with the shirt on, Jayce was sexy. Tremendously sexy.Ridiculouslysexy, in a way that stirred my desire just from watching him swing a hammer. Rugged and strong, the way a man should be.
God, I wanted him to kiss me. It was all I could think about.
Did it have to do with the Copperheads? Like yesterday in front of Sid, he was afraid of showing any kind of affection for me? That they might be watching and then use me to get to him?
That made no sense. Nobody was around for miles. We were alone together.