Chapter 12 Reign #2
Alani looked at me, then at Jamie, her expression darkening. I shot Fabian a pointed look, but the bastard was too busy with his drink to notice me.
Alani was here, which meant…
A car pulling into the driveway had everyone turning their attention out the window. I was close enough to see the person pulling up.
I tensed, and Jamie must have sensed that because she moved in closer to me and whispered, “What’s wrong?”
Before I could answer her, the front door opened once more, and Rose walked in with her own overnight bag, a wide smile on her face.
“Oh shit,” Baran said from behind me. “Who invited her?”
Obviously, Alani told her everyone was going to be here, and she decided to invite herself.
Rose’s eyes honed directly on me, then Jamie, who was standing close to me, her face souring. “Who’s this bitch?”
Jamie tensed at her question. “Watch your tone,” I said, my voice hard.
Rose looked at me, clearly shocked.
I shook my head. Fuck, and to think I was looking forward to having Jamie here with me like this. I was already getting a headache and was tempted to just kick everyone out, save for her. Baran, Makar, and Fabian could sleep in their cars for the night, for all I cared.
I turned to Jamie. “Come on. I’ll show you our room.”
“But I—”
I turned to look at Rose. She shrank a little into herself, acting hurt. I wasn’t fooled. Rose’s claws were sharper than all the girls here.
“I always sleep in your room, with you.”
I looked over at the couch. “You can sleep there for the night.”
“Sleep on the couch?” Alani asked in outrage. “Are you really telling Rose to sleep there tonight while you and your wh—”
“You might want to watch your words. I have no problem kicking you and her out if you don’t like the sleeping arrangements. There are only four bedrooms in this place. If you want, you, Fabian, and Rose can all share a room.”
“Like hell that’s happening,” Fabian chimed in.
“So it’s settled then,” I said, ushering Jamie forward. At least she wasn’t trying to argue with me in front of everyone. She was surprisingly obedient, letting me lead her straight into the primary bedroom.
I dropped our bags on the floor and closed the door behind us.
Jamie looked around the spacious room curiously. “We have our own bath,” I said, pointing to the door closest to the window.
She didn’t respond to that. I watched as she walked around the room before settling on top of the king-size bed.
“Just one bed, huh? Will I be able to convince you to take the floor?”
Like hell I was sleeping on the floor when she was on the bed. I sleep where she sleeps. I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at her.
“I didn’t think so,” she muttered to herself. “You purposely left out the fact that we would be sharing a bed.”
“You didn’t ask.”
She blew raspberries with her lips. Fucking adorable.
“So…”
I let out a small sigh and walked over to her, sitting down close. She didn’t shy away from me. I was making progress.
“Ask,” I said.
“So, you and Rose… you used to be a thing? Or are you still a thing…”
“We’re not a thing,” I said.
“Have you told her that? Because that look she shot me is not from a woman who thinks you guys are over.”
“It was obvious. But I’ll tell her again, I promise. So don’t worry.”
“I wasn’t worried,” she said.
I turned to her. “No? Not even a little jealous?”
I wondered why I wanted her jealousy so badly.
She shook her head. “Why would I be jealous when you’re the one who brought me here? Besides, I know you wouldn’t do anything.”
“Hmm, you sound so confident. Why do you think that?”
“Because I brought Barbara with me.”
“Barbara?”
“My pink handgun.”
It took me a moment to realize what she was talking about. I laughed. “You named your pink gun? And such an old-fashioned name, too.”
She smiled, and I felt like I had just won the fucking lottery.
Hell.
Jamie Caparelli really was trouble.
We emerged from the room about fifteen minutes later. Everyone was settled on the couch, and all the bottles of alcohol were already brought out.
Rose was sitting in the lone recliner by herself, sulking. I didn’t look at her for more than a second before bringing Jamie over with me to join everyone. All the seats were taken, so I settled on the floor by the coffee table and pulled Jamie down onto my lap.
She tensed for a moment, and it seemed like the room went silent, just watching her and me.
Jamie seemed aware of that, too, because after a few moments, she relaxed against me, even though I knew it was taking everything in her not to pull away and slap me.
I grinned and leaned down until my lips touched her ear. “Good girl.”
The look she shot me could kill a weaker man. Luckily, I was made of tougher stuff. I fully took advantage and wrapped my arms around her middle, settling one hand over her stomach.
“You’re pushing your luck,” she said softly so only I could hear her.
“That’s me. Always pushing my luck.”
And how fucking true that was.
But I liked pushing my luck with her.
Nothing lost, nothing gained.
I pointed at the boys. “This is Fabian and Makar. And Baran, you’ve obviously met already.”
Baran, stupid fucker that he was, perked up at his name. “Hello, darling. Did you miss me?”
I rolled my eyes. If he were sitting any closer, I would have hit him.
“If you ever get tired of this one, you can always come and find me,” Baran said, making a show of looking her up and down.
Jamie scrunched her face up in disgust. Before I could say anything, Baran got a slap in the face from Scottie, the girl he brought with him.
“You can be such an asshole, you know that?” She stood up and walked out of the cabin.
It didn’t take Baran long to follow her. “Baby, you know I was only messing around. You’re the only girl for me. Baby!”
I watched as they left out the back door. Jamie turned and looked at me. “Is he always like that?”
“I think he was dropped on his head as a child,” I answered.
She nodded, as if to agree that it made sense.
I grinned and pulled a beer bottle toward us, cracking it open with a bottle opener nearby, and handing it to her.
“Thanks,” she said quietly. From a distance, we could hear Scottie screaming at Baran. “Do you think they’ll be okay?”
I laughed. “Yeah, they’ll be okay. This is like foreplay for them.”
She wrinkled her nose. Fuck, was there anything she could do that I wouldn’t find cute?
I leaned in closer to her and said quietly, “Don’t be jealous. We can come up with our own kind of foreplay.”
The disgust deepened on her face, and she pushed a little further away from me. It wasn’t like she could go far when I had my arms banded tightly around her.
“Just remember. We’re sharing a room tonight. There are so many things I could do to you that would hurt,” she threatened.
I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed. Tears were streaming down my face when I opened my eyes to take her in. It didn’t help my composure when she was scowling at me.
“Like I said, a different kind of foreplay.”
Before she could retort, Rose spoke up, ruining the moment. “Are you just going to talk to her all weekend and ignore the rest of us?”
Jamie frowned at the interruption, and I could almost see a shutter coming over her eyes. Fuck. She was going to shut me out again. And just when I thought I was making progress with her.
I let out a small sigh and looked past Jamie to Rose. “You didn’t have to come this weekend.”
Her expression shifted. “I… I wanted to see you. You haven’t been answering my calls.”
“And it should have been more than enough of a hint, no?”
Her face flushed red, but unlike how it was with Jamie, I didn’t find her blush fascinating in the least.
I stood up with Jamie in my arms, already tired of this conversation. The entire time, Jamie didn’t speak. She barely glanced over at Rose. Either she was confident in her allure with me—which she should be—or she truly didn’t care.
I didn’t fucking like that one bit.
She should care because, right now, with her in my arms, just the thought of her with another fucker was enough to send me into a murderous rage.
I looked at Makar, then Fabian, who had been quieter than usual, and said, “Can you make sure dinner gets heated up later? Helen cooked everything and wrote the instructions down. It’s in the kitchen.”
Makar nodded. “Yeah, man. I’ll do that. I’ll let you know when dinner is ready.”
I carried Jamie out of the cabin without saying another word, only stopping briefly in our room to grab a blanket.
Fuck, but the thought of kicking everyone out and making sure it would just be me and her for the weekend was getting more and more tempting with each second that passed.