43. Chapter 43
Don’t be an idiot.
His father’s voice echoed in his head, the only sound in Jase’s hotel room besides the hum of the air conditioner.
Fully clothed, perched on the edge of his bed in a sliver of light coming in through the curtains, Jase picked at the calluses on his palm from the throttle he hadn’t squeezed in days.
What he wouldn’t give for his bike, for fresh air in his lungs and something to wrap his legs around.
Better than slowly suffocating, charged and wild with nowhere to go while Lindsey sat alone on the other side of the wall.
She seemed keen to keep space between them in the car.
In the hotel elevator, he’d waited for a sign that she wanted him to touch her.
A deep breath, a sideways glance, the shuffling of her feet, anything.
They got out on the third floor and went to their separate rooms. It was not how Jase thought it would end—the night, Lindsey’s part of the trip, any of it.
He could still taste watermelon.
Jase was on his feet and in the hallway before he realized he’d decided to go.
She’s Graham’s girlfriend. Ex-girlfriend. They might’ve had sex this morning.
Shouldn’t it matter?
It didn’t. It really didn’t.
His fist was up, ready to knock, when the door opened. He jumped back, and Lindsey stepped into the hall wearing pajama pants, a sheer tank top, and a look of surprise.
For a beat it felt like all the air had been sucked from the hallway. Then Jase crossed the space between them, took her face in his hands, and kissed her.
This time it wasn’t for show.