“Realwork, Peaches. With my hands.” He came over to the bed and picked me up. I yelped as he lifted me into the air with ease, then put me down on my feet. “Get dressed.”
He gave me a hard slap on the butt, eliciting a loudsmack. I squeaked and sent a fake angry glare in his direction, which only made him laugh even harder.
“There’s something we didn’t talk about last night,” I said. “Something more important than Sid.”
Jayce’s smile slipped. “I didn’t take your virginity, did I?”
“No!” I sputtered. “I lost my virginity in—you know what, it doesn’t matter. What matters is something about you. A deal breaker.”
He frowned and waited for me to answer. I walked toward him with as much disappointment on my face as I could manage. I put my face close to his.
“Simone.”
He groaned. “Aww, hell.”
“Your middle name is Simone! Like the gymnast!”
He stared flatly at me. “Can we go back to making fun of my art?”
“I never made fun of your art. I thought it was special. But your name, on the other hand…” I giggled. “Was it a typo on your birth certificate, or was your weenie so small at birth they thought you were a girl?”
He grabbed me and held me close. “I didn’t hear you complain about the size of myweenielast night, Peaches.”
“It was satisfactory.”
He snorted. “I’ll have you know thatSimonewas the name of my grandfather. It’s a masculine name in Italy.”
“If you say so.”
“I’m serious,” he said a little too defensively. “Look it up.”
“I believe you,” I said in a tone that implied I most certainly didnotbelieve him.
The ground outside Jayce’s barn was covered with individual puddles from the rain, requiring us to pick our footing carefully. Jayce pulled the rain cover off his bike, folded it up, and placed it on the ground next to the barn.
“Why are we taking the bike? Won’t I be able to hide better in the truck?”
Jayce shook his head and gave me thepeacesign with his fingers. “Two reasons, Peaches. One, it’s easier forusto hide on a bike. If we see someone comin’, I can pull into the woods and wait for them to pass. And two, if Sid finds out what we did with Carl and shit hits the fan, I want to be on my bike in case we need to make a quick getaway.”
He threw his leg over the bike. I approached, then stopped.
“Hey, I just remembered something. Last night, after searching the barn, Sid said they were going to check out your bike. They might have messed with it.”
Jayce paused with his keys halfway in the ignition. “Good call.” He stepped off the bike and crouched down. “I bet those fuckers messed with the brake line, or the clutch line—”
He froze with his hand underneath the bike. His entire demeanor changed and he began breathing more rapidly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he replied in a too-calm voice. “You got your cell phone on you?”
“I do. What’s wrong, Jayce?”
“Turn on the flashlight app and give me some light, would you?”
I did as he asked, and then started to walk closer to the bike.
“Don’t come any closer,” he said firmly. “Aim the light from there, Charlotte.”