Better With You (Better Love 2)

He nods, and I feel his eyes slide over me. He reaches up and fingers the small padlock I’m wearing on a chain around my neck, then lowers his hand and brushes his fingers over my tattoo. When chills cover my skin, I swat his hand away. His responding grin pisses me off and heats my blood. I can feel Ivy’s eyes on us, but she doesn’t say a word.

“Punk Rock Princess?” he asks after taking a sip from his cup. My lips twitch at the sides.

“Yeah.” I nod and pop a brow. “And I’m looking for my Garage Band King, not some Jester Jock in Jordans.”

He chuckles and steps a bit closer. “That’s a great album,” he whispers, and I’m momentarily shocked that he got the reference. He can tell, too, because he continues, “Cavanaugh Park is my favorite.”

I hold his eyes and furrow my brow. I’m not even sure what I see in those brown depths. Behind the glossy sheen from a few too many beers, there’s something much more complicated, and he doesn’t blink. Like he wants me to see it. Wants me to puzzle it out.

“You’re going to forgive me, Sundance. You’ll see.”

The sincerity in his voice catches me off guard. I open my mouth to speak, but no words come, so I close it again and bite my lip. His eyes lock on the movement, and we’re suspended there until someone throws their arm around me and jostles Riggs back a few steps.

“Thor,” Jesse says with a grin.

Riggs’s nostrils flare as he assesses Jesse. “What are you? Some sort of porno cowboy?”

Jesse laughs. “Porno cowboy. You’re funny.”

“Right.” The guys stare off, and the contrast in their body language is nothing short of comical. Their height is about even, but where Jesse is lean, Riggs has more mass. And right now, that mass is as stiff as a fucking stone statue while Jesse is loose and swaying, the picture of a good time.

“I was talking to Bailey,” Riggs grinds out.

“Cool.” Jesse smiles bigger and bounces a little on his feet. “What are we talking about?” He flashes me a trouble-making smile. “Waterfowl?”

I hear Kelley snort and Riggs raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“You know. Waterfowl.” Jesse takes a small step toward Riggs, and I take a mouthful from my cup just as Jesse says, “Quack quack, mother ducker.”

I spit out my drink.

Just shower Riggs with a spray of beer, for the second time in a matter of weeks, while Ivy and Kelley erupt in a fit of laughter.

Oh hell. I take in Riggs’s wide-eyed look of shock, face dripping wet, and I don’t even try to hide my smile.

“Sorry,” I say on a laugh, then turn and drag a boneless, giggling Ivy back through the house, and out the front door, where I call an Uber. Within twenty minutes, we’re all headed back to my apartment with plans to order Chinese food and watch Criminal Minds reruns until we pass out. All in all, I would say this was a pretty good night.

* * *

Kelley has a scrimmage,so I told Ivy I’d come with her to sit on the sidelines and cheer him on. She and I are just settling onto a set of bleachers when Jesse comes jogging up in front of us.

“My fave ladies,” Jesse croons. “Perky and Prickly, the perfect pair.”

Ivy snorts and I flip him off as he takes the risers two at a time to sit behind us.

“Whatya working on, J?” Ivy turns in her seat and asks. Jesse pulls a mess of yarn and his needles out of his backpack and lays it all out in his lap.

“Voodoo doll.” He pops a brow and waggles a bundle in front of us. “This one’s almost done. Just gotta finish adding the hair.”

He holds up what looks like a rough little rag doll, the body dressed in BU blue, and the arms, feet and head are a sandy color. And on the head are a few strands of long brown yarn.

I cock my head to the side...is that...?

Hmmm.

I study it some more.

“Is that...”

“Thor!” Jesse beams, and Ivy barks a laugh. “Figure if you’re gonna do that competition with him, you’ll need the upper hand.”

I laugh and roll my eyes. “I don’t know voodoo, J.”

He waves me off and focuses on adding more hair. “Minor details.”

Jesse works on his Riggs doll and Ivy leans in close to me.

“How’s the Crisco can?” she asks, making sure not to raise her voice. If Jesse or Kelley knew about my struggle, they’d offer the money up without thinking twice. Ivy would too, if she had it. But I can’t do it that way. I have to put in the work and earn it. I shrug and grimace.