6. Jimmy
Jimmy
S hivers had slid down my spine the second I’d walked through Frenchie’s door. I could feel Sutton’s gaze like a sensual caress, waking every hair follicle on my body yet flooding me with a sense of calm that had filled me in his presence as a kid.
The draw had been as real as it had been nine years ago when I’d knocked on his front door, quaking in my boots and attempting to appear confident.
Same as that night, too, Sutton was one hell of a man.
A white button-down with its sleeves rolled up to reveal veined forearms covered his upper body this time, but I remembered the spattering of hair on his thick pecs and the slight ripple of muscles along his core leading into low-slung sweats.
Now, worn jeans clung to his narrow hips and thick thighs, and I attempted to ignore the temptation to check out the bulge between those tree trunks.
He’d always been well-groomed, but his short, square fingernails and strong hands pulled my focus for a few heartbeats, and longing for his touch caused a shiver over my skin.
More age lines betrayed his forty-three years, but he was delicious in my eyes, the slight snaggletooth incisor adding to his appeal and making me want to love on it with my tongue and lips.
His imperfections gave me the courage to flirt, the hope that he could be swayed the dick way and would see beyond my brokenness and accept what he’d once turned down.
The heated stare as conversation flowed among us men suggested I might get lucky if I played my cards right.
Unlike the night he’d rejected the offer of my virginity, Sutton studied me with interest, even though he attempted to squash what the sight of me did to his very non -straight ass.
Gram could claim what she wanted about Sutton only dating women, but that tall drink of water definitely salivated for a taste of my body.
I could feel his gaze follow after me as I sauntered away from him, my thickened cock trapped in a jockstrap aching to be set free to leak all the fuck over the place.
While I’d had sex aplenty while living in Boston, no one affected me in the way the chief of police from this small hick town did.
No one had filled me how I’d yearned for, a completion that I expected would only come from a soul connection rather than two men just needing to get off.
Lust for Sutton to hold me down and fuck my hole raw made my slit wet.
My balls ached and throbbed for release from either his mouth or hands.
I wanted him burrowed into me where we became one flesh, heart, and mind.
I could live beneath that man’s skin like I’d always longed to do, untouched by danger, free from the emotional turmoil from my childhood I’d been attempting to escape for years.
Swallowing hard, I leaned onto the bar, exchanging pleasantries with someone on my left while waiting to nab the blue-haired, scowling bartender’s attention.
“What can I get ya?” she finally barked, and I snickered at her attempts to be a badass, unfeeling woman when she was anything but. Her eyes betrayed that she’d seen too much in this wide world of terror and was nothing but a needy, soft pile of fluff inside. Like called to like, after all.
“You’re beautiful, Frenchie,” I stated with a grin, and her glacial stare warmed.
“Thanks,” she murmured, glancing over my face and my upper body that wasn’t hidden by the bar. “Not so bad yourself—for a guy.”
“I never came in here before I left for Boston years ago, but the place looks great, and you and your wife make this bar run like a well-oiled machine.” I repeated what Kendra had told me before I’d left The Moose for my stroll downtown.
“It’s all Iris,” Frenchie said about her other half, still smiling.
My grin widened, and I ordered a glass of pinot noir along with a plate of wings Kendra had told me were to die for. Not exactly a great pairing, but the tongue and belly wanted what the tongue and belly wanted.
Frenchie put in my order, and I decided this was my new favorite place to be. There was no sense of judgement, no wary glances at me as I spun around, wine in hand, and leaned against the bar, sipping my drink.
Chatting a little here and there with folks who stopped to say hi and welcome me home suggested I didn’t have the bad reputation hanging over me from childhood that I’d expected.
I didn’t bullshit about where I’d been and what I was doing back in Pippen Creek because of the townsfolk making me feel welcomed.
I figured letting everyone know the old Riley house was going to be getting a serious makeover and put on the market could only be a good thing for when the time came.
I watched Jamie and Chaz for a few seconds, finally realizing why my old co-worker Zack had always seemed familiar.
While the younger Chaz I remembered from nine years earlier wasn’t Zack’s doppelg?nger, the man Jamie currently draped himself over definitely was.
Made me wonder if another lip-gloss-wearing Jimmy walked the earth and if he’d been blessed with a better life than the one I’d been dealt.
Huffing, I turned my focus elsewhere—internally and physically since I refused to dwell on the past. Fuck knew I’d had enough of that since returning.
Sutton stood with his back to me, and I ran my gaze over his broad shoulders that carried the weight of the world for all of the town, same as I remembered him doing when I’d been a kid.
He stood tall and strong as an oak, and the way he smiled at people with a confident gaze caused me admire him even more.
His jeans fit him perfectly, from trim waist to thick thighs. Every movement of his muscles flexed his backside and made my mouth water.
“Hot as fuck, isn’t he?”
I jerked my focus off Sutton to find Dexter lounging beside me, slightly slouched, elbow on the bar, and crooked smirk aimed across the room. But zero trace of desire lit his eyes as he stared where I’d been focused on seconds before.
“Been stalking me?” I asked since I had no clue how long he’d been close by and watching me salivate over his best friend.
“He’s single,” Dexter continued rather than answer. “Bisexual and finally on the prowl for dick for the first time ever.”
A clutch in my belly stole my breath. “He’s…bi?”
“Mmm hmm.”
I bit the inside of my lip as tingles raced through my limbs.
“A smart man would pursue the fuck outta the chief. He’s a good one and will be gobbled up before you know it.”
A suggestion I be the smart man or was he laying claim because he had plans to turn his best friend into his lover?
Unsure, I hummed before sipping my drink, trying to rid myself of the cords suddenly tightening in my neck. “Are you going to be the one to do said gobbling ?”
“He’s not my type.”
A release of tension eased my insides, and I followed Dex’s gaze toward a dirty blond, green-eyed man at the other end of the bar staring back at with him with blatant lust and something…more. Temptation? A dare?
“Who’s the hottie?” I asked, expecting I peered at Sutton with those same needy eyes as the blond did to the man beside me.
Dexter finished the long pull on his bottle of beer and tore his focus off the guy who’d held his attention. “No one.”
“Sure, Jan.”
“So—Sutton Forrester. Chief of Police and my best friend.” Dexter’s attempt to change the subject was downright laughable, but I went with it because no greater topic on earth could be found.
“You don’t have to warn me off him,” I stated, angling away to take in the rest of the bar and making note of a few more familiar faces. “He wouldn’t want someone like me anyway, so don’t concern yourself.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You’ve lived here longer than I have,” I said with an attempted shrug. “Surely you’re well aware of who my dad was and all the trouble I got into as a kid.”
His gaze flitted over my face as though seeking out the inner self I kept hidden from everyone. “A man can’t change and grow? Become a better person?” he asked.
I had done that very thing, but my past had soiled me beyond the worm that used to crawl through the dirt of poverty and abuse. I couldn’t begin to imagine what Sutton would think if he knew the truth about what I’d done since leaving here.
As though hearing my thoughts, Sutton finally turned, his gaze going straight for me like he’d been aware of my eyes on him.
The bustle and noise of Frenchie’s muffled to white noise as we stared at each other. I swallowed hard, hating how he seemed to see past the facade of confidence I wrapped around myself where the self-conscious, hurting little boy was still hidden from the world.
As though hell-bent on making me see the error of my ways, Sutton excused himself from the crowd around him and moved toward me, gaze locked on my face and unwavering in determination.
Dexter snickered for whatever reason, but Sutton ensnared me so I didn’t care where his best friend’s mind had gone.
I grew feverish, my insides fluttering.
The chief paused in front of me, eyes searching, his looming presence as intimidating and mouthwatering as when I’d been a teen. I had to tip my head back slightly to hold his gaze.
“What have you been doing with yourself since leaving Pippen Creek, Jimmy?” he inquired in his chief’s voice, expectation of my reply being a lie in his tone.
The man was in law enforcement for fuck’s sake and probably always asked about people’s business like they were under investigation, so I had no right to feel called out—or prematurely judged.
Something inside me longed to be honest and spill the truth of my shit from the previous nine years while gone from his town, but doing so would definitely ruin whatever minuscule chance I might have with him.
Pipe dreams were hard to give up.
“Keeping busy. Making money. Trying to leave my past and Pippen Creek behind,” I answered, hoping he wouldn’t pick up on the hidden truths I refused to admit to.
A muscle ticked in Sutton’s jaw as he glanced away, lips in a thin line of disappointment.
So much for gaining a smidgen of his trust and weaseling my way beneath his clothing.
My shoulders slumped, heart seeming to shrivel up. I couldn’t stomach guessing what his thoughts might be. I’d cried wolf one too many times as a kid for Sutton to suddenly believe a word I said simply because I’d grown into a man.
“How long will you be hanging around town?” Dexter asked to fill the sudden tension between his friend and I.
I wish I knew his angle or what he attempted to do but came up empty.
“Until my dad’s house is sold, Gram makes a decision about retiring from her store, and I feel ready to move on with my life.
” That was the absolute truth, shared as my stare remained on Sutton’s strong profile, hoping he believed me.
“And what if that life is best served out here within city limits?” Dexter suggested.
I met his dark eyes, wondering what game he played. “Why do you care?”
He shrugged, shooting Sutton a quick glance before giving me a piercing stare. “Just having my friend’s back.”
What the hell was going on?
“Here are your wings, good-looking.”
I turned to find Frenchie holding a plate of steaming wings slathered in sauce.
My mouth watered, but no way could I chow down on those messy things and expect to appear polished enough for Sutton Forrester.
He would, without a doubt, be reminded of the filthy kid who’d sucked dirt-crusted fingers free from chocolate, and that would not be sexy.
“Can I get them to go?” I asked with an apologetic smile, grabbing another twenty from the front pocket of my too-tight jeans and laying it on the bar top.
“Sure. Give me a sec—and keep the extra tip. I’d rather see you in here another day when you have time to tell me all about your shenanigans down in the big city.”
Warmth filled me, not caring the gossip of where I’d been since leaving town had reached her ears. “Deal.”
She disappeared into the kitchen, and I glanced in the mirror behind the bar while shoving the cash into my pocket.
Sutton’s gaze glued to my backside, pupils large and dark.
Heat rushed through me, causing my heart to race. I arched slightly, swallowing the last of my wine as Frenchie returned with my to-go box.
“Thanks, sugar,” I said with a wink. “See you later.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely—and I always keep my promises.”
She rapped on the bar. “Good man,” she said before moving off to help another patron waving at her.
Sutton still stared, so I wiggled my ass, calling him out. His gaze slid upward, latching onto mine in the mirror. Breath snagged, I soaked in his lustful eyes before he got a hold of himself and shut that shit down.
Too late, Chief.
I winked, my lips curling into a smirk as I turned to face him, completely ignoring Dexter on my right.
“Chief,” I attempted a purr, trailing a fingertip over his starched shirt while clutching my dinner in my other hand. “I’ll be underfoot for a while, but I promise to be behave—for now.”
I swore he held his breath, a huge rushed exhale sounded in my wake as I sauntered away, every muscle in my body twitchy, my pulse racing.
The tone for our coming interactions had been set, and I could only hope my plans landed me in the chief’s bed rather than the jail cell cot.