“I want one of those Bingo ones.” She pointed at the ticket. “And one of those mermaid ones.”
So that was what we did for ten minutes while we waited for her to eat not one, not two, but all three of her Snickers bars.
“Did you or did you not just finish breakfast?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “But I also didn’t eat as much as I would’ve normally eaten.” She paused. “I need a lot of calories, okay? It’s how I’m able to run as much as I do.”
I didn’t bother to argue with her that she could have probably gotten her calories from a lot healthier source. Honestly, talking to Jubilee about anything was like talking to a brick wall at times.
Sometimes it was just easier to let her be disillusioned.
“Oh, I won twenty dollars!” she cried out suddenly. “Woooo hooooo!”
The men at the pumps putting gas in their vehicles looked our way, and one of them smiled.
I narrowed my eyes at the man. He’d been here since we’d pulled in almost an hour ago. What was he playing at?
There was no way in fucking hell he was still getting fuel. His car was a little Altima, with a tank that held about fifteen gallons at most.
And I swear to God, he’d been putting gas in it when I had, too.
He was also smiling at Jubilee like he knew her.
With us being twenty minutes away from town, I wasn’t sure how he would. This place was well off the beaten path.
“Who is that?”
“Who?” She looked up from her card.
“That man pretending to pump gas.” I jerked my chin in the man’s direction.
“I don’t know,” she answered, going back to her game. “Hey, do you think this is twenty-two dollars or twenty-four?”
She handed the card over, and I glanced down, tallying it all up with a quick glance.
“It’s a hundred and twenty-two,” I told her. “Here and here means you have fifty and fifty. Not two.”
Her eyes rounded to the size of saucers. “Score!”
Fifteen minutes later, we were on the way once again, and Jubilee was still explaining why she shouldn’t have to pay me back in my ear.
Her voice was even cuter in the microphone than it was in real life.
She was also wiggling, causing me to want to wrap my hand around her back and pull her so tightly into me that she immediately got the message.
Instead, I settled for putting my hand on her thigh and giving it a good squeeze.
She immediately stilled and said, “What?”
“You’re squirming, and making me want to pull back over and find a rest stop, and we haven’t even been driving two whole minutes yet,” I explained. “Can you please, for the love of God, sit the fuck still.”
She started to laugh. “You’re not fun.”
Sadly, she never managed to sit still, and by the time we arrived at our destination, I was once again a pent-up bottle of need.
***
“Where are you taking me?” she asked, looking around like she’d never seen this particular part of the area before.
“I’m taking you to a buddy’s cottage,” I said.
“Which buddy?” she questioned, never one to let it lie.
“Bayou’s grandfather,” I answered. “He’s letting me use this cabin while I’m here.”
“But my aunt is expecting me,” she said, sounding not annoyed, precisely, but something close.
“Sure,” I said, “And I’ll take you there…after.”
“After what?” she questioned.
“After I take care of something,” I said as I shut the bike off in front of the cottage.
She got off moments after me and followed me inside. We didn’t make it halfway into the small one-room cottage before I had her around the waist and was following her down onto the bed.
She squeaked, immediately dropping everything that was in her hand, and threw her arms around my shoulders as her mouth met mine.
Our tongues dueled as our clothes were torn off, one article at a time until the only thing separating us was air.
Then there wasn’t even that anymore as my body came down on top of hers.
Her breath left her in a whoosh, not because of my weight hitting her—I gave her just enough of it to hold her in place, but not enough to leave her unable to breathe—but because of my warm skin meeting hers.
Her body was so small under mine.
I’d never given it much thought before, how small she was compared to me. But having her underneath me, my body practically covering every inch of her with room to spare, I could really tell just how small and delicate she was in comparison.
My hand found her stomach, and I studied how my hand took up almost her entire abdomen. I could touch each of her hip bones with my thumb and pinky finger.
And my hard, scarred hand contrasted almost obscenely with her smooth, milky skin.
“Zee?”
I looked up into her eyes, studying the pleasure written all over her face.