“Hayride?” Thomas suggested, cutting through the tension.
I nodded and offered Alex my arm. She slid her arm through mine and held Thomas’s hand as we walked. The tractor had a few people in the back already, and we were the last ones to climb aboard and settle ourselves in the hay.
The tractor jumped to life, and Alex held onto both of us as it started pumping along. Greens and golds were all around us, and what wasn’t cultivated into rows of pumpkin and corn was strewn with wildflowers. It was unbearably pretty.
With the backdrop and Alex pressed into my side, I could finally feel my shoulders relax in a way they hadn’t all week. “Thank you for coming today,” I whispered to Alex. “I really needed this.”
She hummed softly. “Thank you for asking,” she said just as quietly in return. “Thank you for inviting Thomas. I know it has to be weird for you guys, but I really do appreciate it.”
“We’re here to make you happy, baby. That’s all I want.”
Alex smiled. “I am,” she said. “I’m so happy.” My chest lightened, and I very nearly kissed her before I thought better of it. There would be time for that later. For now, we enjoyed the scenery as it rolled past.
11
THOMAS
“Come sit with me,” I said, snagging Alex’s hand as we walked back to the car. “Jake can be our chauffeur back to LA.”
Jake snorted, but he didn’t try to argue. That had been the weirdest part of today, the total lack of jealousy or competition between us. I understood why Jake had invited me along. He didn’t want Alex to feel pulled in so many directions. She was stressed out from school and work, and we couldn’t add to her stress. I wasn’t sure how today was going to go, but I didn’t expect it to be as easy as it turned out to be.
I got to hang out with my girl and one of my best friends. It was frighteningly easy to relax into it, despite some of the stares.
At least we were in Santa Barbara. Who the fuck cared what these people thought?
Alex glanced at Jake briefly before she allowed me to help her into the backseat. “Try to keep the dust off my seats, yeah?” Jake asked before he slid behind the wheel. I looked down at my jeans and grimaced. It had been incredibly dusty in the corn maze, and we were all filthy.
I climbed in behind Alex and noticed, with a smile, that she had buckled herself into the middle of the bench-seat. “You don’t mind?” she asked. “I want to stretch my legs out a bit.”
I twisted my body and motioned for her to lie back. “I don’t mind being your pillow,” I murmured to her. The moment her back touched me, she sighed, and her eyes drooped closed. She really was tired, the poor sweetheart. I hummed along with the radio, softly and just for her, and Alex sighed in that contented, kittenish way of hers.
I looked up and saw Jake’s eyes in the rearview mirror. It wasn’t as off-putting as I would have thought. Instead, that flare of competition reared its head. I had the sudden urge to make him aware of how much she wanted me. I leaned down and kissed her neck, right behind her ear. She sighed and tipped her head the other way, giving me more access.
“Did you have fun today?” I asked, pitching my voice low.
She nodded. “It was really great,” she said and craned her neck so that she could kiss the corner of my mouth. I turned and met her lips with mine.
Her mouth was soft, and the lingering taste of lemonade was heady. “Turn around, sweetheart,” I said. “I want to kiss you properly.”
I helped her get some slack in her seatbelt so she could twist in the seat so that she faced me. Then, her mouth was back on mine. Her hands tracked up into my hair. I swiped my tongue across her bottom lip, begging for entrance, and she opened to me with a gasp. I licked into her mouth, chasing that heady sweetness, and she gasped again, pressing closer.
I wanted to pull her into my lap, but it wasn’t safe in the moving car. Instead, I tucked her close to me and whispered, “I want to see if your pussy tastes as good as your mouth.” I brushed my thumb over her bottom lip and kissed her again.
When I pulled back, Alex’s eyes were dark. “We should probably shower first,” she said teasingly, lightening the tension a little. “I’m fairly certain I’m becoming a dust ball.”
I laughed at that, and I allowed her to resettle herself so that she rested against me. “Jake? We’re headed to yours, right?”
From the front seat, Jake made an affirming sound. “As long as everyone’s all right with that,” he said. “I can order some dinner.”
Alex hummed her agreement, and she spent the rest of the ride resting against me.I could stay like this for hours, I thought and buried my face in her hair. Contentment spread in my chest. “I like holding you like this.”
“I like being held,” she murmured in return.
I expected a snarky comment from the front seat—it would be well deserved after my cracks on the way to Santa Barbara—but it never came. Instead, I saw Jake smile. Was it really that easy for him to see me with her? There were times throughout the day that I wanted to yank her away from him and scream to the world that she belonged to me, and even though I held back, that feeling had still been there.
I thought Jake and Zach would feel the same, and maybe Zach did, but Jake was... surprisingly okay with everything. He and Alex had spent the least amount of time together, and he didn’t seem bothered by that at all.
“We’re nearly there,” Jake said, shaking me out of my thoughts.