The Letter Man may not be in this photo, but it’s a start.
I got out, stuck the photo in the Crows’ mailbox, and pressed the buzzer to be let in. A beep sounded, letting me know the gate was about to open.
I drove up as Jeremy strolled out of the house shirtless and in a pair of sweats tied low. Quinn came out behind him.
Ah. There’s his shirt.
It didn’t stretch far enough to cover her cheeks. She didn’t seem to care as she came skipping out after Jeremy, throwing her arms around him possessively.
“What the hell are you doing here, farm trash? The Crows aren’t looking for an open-for-business slut with mad cow disease.”
“I figured, since you’ve got that position locked up.”
She flew at me.
“Whoa.” Jeremy caught her around the middle, holding tight. “It’s cool, baby. Rainey had to borrow my car to take care of some private business.”
“Had to get a chlamydia shot and the clinic closes at six!”
Damn, she’s quick with the clapbacks.
“Oh, shit. It closes at six? Better get your ass over there, then. I can see the love bumps on your cootch from here.”
I’m quick too.
Quinn clapped her hands over her thong. “Fuck you!”
“Give it a rest,” Jeremy snapped. “And give me my keys. I’ve got somewhere to be.”
Jeremy stepped off the porch, and I hit the gas.
“Hey!”
I hit the lawn border and popped off, bouncing in the seat.
“What are you doing?!”
I jerked the wheel and whipped around the house, speeding to the backyard. Moving fast, I rolled all the windows down. The seat belt was next to go.
Jeremy’s car careened through lawn chairs. I braced myself as I shot off the rim and drove into the pool.
Water rushed in the openings, swallowing the car to the six-feet depths.
I swam through the driver’s window, grabbing on to the ladder in time for Jeremy to burst outside.
“What the fuck?! What did you do?!”
He skidded to a stop at the edge and dropped on his knees. Eyes huge, he clutched his head, jaw working and nothing coming out.
I strolled over to him, peeled his hand off, and shook. He was too dumbfounded to stop me.
He received the same shit-eating smirk he gave me while saying I should get over my and my best friend’s beating.
“Now, we’re good.”
Chapter Five
Cairo
“Whoo, baby. Tell me about the look on his face one more time.”
Laughing, she dug deeper in my temples, making my lids heavy.
This had become our routine. Day or night, I got my girl in a bath and treated myself to every soapy inch of her. Afterward, we stretched out in the tub while her fingers did their magic.
She was under the impression that our current incarceration in my mother’s house changed the routine. Why she thought I wouldn’t fuck her here was anyone’s guess, but I rid her of that idea twice in a closet and once on the bathroom floor.
“I thought he was going to piss himself. So much for rich boys not caring about losing their cars.”
“He still think you’re on his side?”
“Yeah.” She nestled my head between her breasts without stopping. “He’d know something was up if I was willing to forgive and forget that easily. He and the Crows knocked us around. The retribution had to communicate my displeasure.”
I went rigid at the mention. Rain sensed it and massaged slower.
“He’ll think this makes us even. Just tell me what to do to make us even for real.”
“There’s an event we used to throw in high school. Next time you meet up, tell him what he needs to hear to get him there. I’ll take it from there.”
“Okay.”
Rainey’s spider fingers crawled up my forehead. Even that was fucking soothing.
“Where’d you learn this stuff?”
“I had some epic tantrums when I was a kid. Screaming and carrying on for hours. Gran called them my thunderstorms,” she said. “She went through all the parenting books till she stumbled on this. Don’t know why it calmed me down when nothing else would, but it does. She’d do it whenever I had my stormy face on. It worked even when I didn’t want it to.”
I grunted something.
“I’m glad you like it.” She wrapped her legs around me. “It’s something else we have in common.”
“What else is on the list?”
“Cinnamon sugar bagels.”
That tugged a grin up my mouth.
“Sex,” she added.
“That’s a recipe for soul mates.”
Her laugh was light and warm in my ear. “Can I ask you something?”
“Does it have to do with Nora?”
“Yes.”
I flicked suds out of the tub. “Then ask away.”
“I won’t pretend I know what you’ve been through since she and Paris left. But she’s so happy you’re here. Is there no chance you two could have a relationship again?”
I rose up, getting out of reach of her siren’s grip. Facing her across the tub, I propped against the porcelain. “I plan on fucking you for the foreseeable future—”