Chapter 4
Chapter Four
John
She tells me where to turn, and I follow, the roads narrowing until we’re in a quieter part of campus. The houses get smaller. The trees are older, more wild. Flower pots, pale from the sun, are lined up in front of a house with loose shutters.
“This is me,” she says as we make our approach.
This is where she lives? I think I’m going to have to write a bigger check.
“I know,” she says. “It’s not exactly a mansion.”
“I’m sure you’ll live in a mansion someday,” I say. “If that’s what you want.”
She huffs out a breath and rolls her eyes.
“Care to tell me how I might make that happen?” she says.
“Work hard. Say yes to the right things.”
She looks down at her hands and gives a small shake of her head.
“I’ve got the hard work part down,” she says. “I guess I haven’t been saying yes to the right things.”
Does she think what happened back there is her fault? There are assholes everywhere. That doesn’t make her responsible for their terrible actions.
“No,” I rasp. It’s harsher than I intended. “No. What that guy did was wrong, plain and simple.”
Something twists inside my stomach.
She looks up at me, her eyes as wide as saucers, lips slightly parted and glistening. That white t-shirt is still clinging to her chest. I force myself to look away, but not before catching the unmistakable outline of her bra—and what’s showing through it.
Her nipples are hard, clearly visible through the soaked fabric, and all I can think about is how soft her curvy body would feel beneath my hands.
“It’s good I have you to watch over me, isn’t it?” she says with a little smile.
“I only wish I'd been able to prevent it from happening at all.”
My jaw ticks as I think back to how angry I was. Part of my body is still holding onto that feeling—I can still feel his rough shirt imprinted in my hand when I grabbed it. The impact when I threw him against the nearest vertical object.
But now, that anger is softening. Fast.
Ten minutes ago, I was ready to break someone’s jaw for messing with her. Now I’m dealing with a whole new kind of crisis: the way she’s making it impossible to think straight.
Her pink lips press into a line and she drags her teeth against her bottom lip.
“I’ll be right back,” she says, slipping out of the car and letting the door shut behind her.
I can’t help the way I look at her as she walks up the path of stones to her front door. She’s the sexiest fucking creature on earth. She looks like someone threw an angel into a fountain and told her to come out dripping.
What does that make me?
Frozen. Still. Hard as marble. Paralyzed, trying to shut down my feelings like I should’ve shut down that stupid fucking car wash as soon as I got there.
This is my best friend’s young, sweet daughter. The only thing I should care about is keeping her safe. I certainly shouldn’t be thinking about storming after her and throwing her against a wall.
I exhale and drag a hand over my face, opening the door and stepping out into the heat. Sun bakes the metal, radiates off the pavement. I lean against the car. Cross my arms. Try to stop thinking about the way that wet fabric clung to her.
Get it together.
But then she steps out and I swear the air changes.
Shorts again. A different pair—shorter somehow, frayed at the edges and hugging her hips like they were sewn onto her body. Tank top this time—white, thin, low enough that I catch a glimpse of her back as she pulls the door shut behind her.
She tosses my shirt at me as she walks past. “Thanks,” she says, flashing a glance over her shoulder.
I catch it one-handed, trying like hell not to stare at her sweet little tits as they bounce with every carefree, innocent step she takes. My cock gets hard as I grip the shirt that now smells like her. I open the door for her and she passes me, smelling like sugar and lemon.
“So,” she says, tucking her still-damp hair behind her ears as I step into the car. “Have you decided yet?”
“Decided what?” I say, tossing the shirt into the back seat.
“You said after we were done here, you would decide whether you’re taking me back to the car wash or not,” she says.
I huff out a laugh.
“Oh, I have absolutely no intention of bringing you back there,” I say, putting on my sunglasses. A flash of her inner thigh as she crosses her legs makes my dick jerk sideways in my pants. Light and shadows play across her smooth, tanned skin, like they’re putting a spotlight on her.
“Lacy might get mad,” she says. “She’ll say I’m shirking my responsibilities.”
“If she or anyone else gives you a problem, you tell them to come talk to me,” I say. The idea of coming to her defense again has me grinning.
Her cheeks flush.
“Where to?” I ask, starting the engine.
“I know just the place.”
She doesn’t elaborate.
I shift into drive.
“Let’s go.”