Page 55 of Survival

Chapter 16

TUCKER

I watched as Annie turned around, and the pure joy that radiated off her shifted into a moment of shock when her gaze landed on who had joined us while we were away. A scowl flickered over her face before she managed to cover it with a fake smile, the reaction almost exactly matching Ruby’s.

“Hey.” She turned from Annie to wave. “I saw Jet and thought I’d come say hi. You must be Izzy. I’m Ruby. I work with Jet at his dad’s shop.”

Izzy gave her a slow, polite smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Hey, yeah, it’s nice to meet you. I’ve heard about you.”

“Oh, from Jet?”

“From Annie.”

The smile on my girl’s face was kind, but the look in her eyes was filled with warning, and all I wanted to do right then was tilt her head back, wrap her hair around my hand, and kiss her senseless. She didn’t like this girl, either.

The smile slowly slid from Ruby’s face, and she looked back out at the crowd, past where Jet’s Mustang was lining up for the next race. “Oh, hey, my cousin’s waving me back over. It was nice seeing y’all.” She hopped down, taking a drink of her beer as she walked away.

Annie’s eyes narrowed on her back before she sat between me and Nic. “Okay, that can’t just be me, right? Am I the only one that gets a bad vibe from her?”

“No,” Nic and I said at the same time, and Izzy looked over at her sister.

“You have nothing to worry about. Did youseethe way Jet looked at you before he took off? That girl wasn’t even on his radar.”

Annie nodded, taking a deep breath. “I still don’t like her. Oh, God, Jet’s up.” Her whole demeanor shifted, her eyes alight as we watched Jet pull forward.

“Mustang,” Izzy said with a smirk and a wink, and Annie grinned.

“Mustang.”

The second the race started, Jet took off like a shot and was several feet ahead of the other car. He took the turns tight, keeping a firm lead, but it was in the last stretch that the other car tried to play dirty, inching close to the side of the Mustang’s bumper. Jet drifted slightly to avoid being hit, and just when the other car looked like it might gain ground, he gunned it, taking the clear win over the finish line.

We all jumped up, the twins cupping their hands around their mouths to cheer while Nic and I raised a fist in the air as we yelled. Jet skidded to a stop and threw open his door. He stepped out, a wide, proud smile onhis face as his eyes searched for Annie, and she ran up, throwing herself into his arms.

From over the hood of his car, I caught Ruby watching with a scowl. I shot her a look, and she ducked her head when she saw me, looking away to talk to her friends.

Yeah, that girl’s trouble. I’d have to say something to Jet again.

“You did amazing!” Izzy ran up, throwing her arms around him in a hug when he pulled back up with Annie, and Jet lifted her, twirling her in a circle before setting her back down.

“I’m just glad you came.” He smiled down at her, and I knew he was seeing what I was. Izzy was so much like her old self tonight. Like a switch had been flipped and something had managed to chase the demons away. I had no clue what it was, but I wasn’t going to argue.

I pulled her back into my arms, burying my face into her hair behind her ear, drinking her in. “God, you smell good.”

She giggled. “I smell like I always do.”

“Exactly. Like my favorite meal I can’t wait to eat.”

She stiffened in my arms, and I winced. Of course, I’d take it a step too far, but then she relaxed and nestled back into my chest, her hands trailing down my thighs.

“Maybe it’s me that wants to eat,” she whispered.

My cock jerked to full attention, harder than it already was, and I swallowed. If only I knew she meant that. “Don’t promise what you can’t give, princess,” I murmured in her ear.

“Not trying to.”

She looked out at the crowd then, her hands going back to rest on my arms around her waist to leave mymind officially lost in a battle of hope and reason. Talking myself down before I could get too worked up. Izzy had been clear in the past months. She wasn’t ready. I hadn’t been able to touch her anywhere intimate since before the accident, but what she said just now…

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. What is it? Asshole night?” Annie’s voice dripped in sarcastic disdain, pulling me back. She gestured with a head jerk to my left.