Diamond in the Dust (Lost Kings MC 18)

“You ready to leave?” he asked.

“No,” Ashley snapped, frowning up at him. “He’s not leaving.”

“Take it easy, babe,” I warned.

“Yeah, babe,” Jensen sneered, “calm your tits.”

“Watch it, bro.” I slapped his leg.

Grinning ear to ear, he dropped down on the ground next to us. “Ashley knows I’m messing around, right darlin’?” he drawled.

I stared up at the sky. A double date was sure to be a disaster.

“Sure, whatever.” Ashley didn’t pick up on his fuck-off tone and continued pecking at her phone.

“Such a cunt,” he mouthed at me.

I leaned over and punched him. “Knock it off.”

“Do you know my friend, Kayla?” Ashley asked him, setting her phone on the ground.

His expression didn’t change. “The harlot who wears too much makeup and not enough clothes?”

I scanned the party. That summed up almost every girl here.

Ashley frowned in confusion. “She’s not a harlot.” She giggled. “Okay, she’s totally slutty. But she likes you. A lot.”

“That doesn’t exactly make me feel special,” he answered in a flat tone.

Ashley shuffled over on her knees, practically climbing into his lap to smooth his hair back and study his face. “You’re actually kinda cute when you don’t look like you’re plotting to murder everyone in our school.”

“So perceptive.” He brushed her hands off him.

Again, I think she was trying to make me jealous, but I didn’t feel…anything. I sat back and sipped my beer, my gaze shifting between their antics and the rest of the party.

“Have you ever touched a girl, Jensen?” she asked in a sickly-sweet way that brought my attention right back to them. She pressed her breasts against his arm and trailed her fingers over his thigh, right up to crotch level.

Without dropping his gaze he snapped his fingers around her wrist, holding it in the air between them. “A few.” He ran his gaze over her. “Why? You offering?”

“No.” Her confident, flirty expression slipped. She shook out of his hold and reached over to touch my shoulder. “You know I’m with Logan.”

“Maybe you should act like it then.” He lifted his chin at me.

“I’m just trying to be nice because you’re his best friend.” She crawled over and straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck and rocking her crotch into me. “Logan knows I only have eyes for him.”

Sure you do.

I gripped her long, thick hair in my fist and tugged her head back. “That true?” I leaned in and kissed her neck.

She squirmed in my lap. The friction between our bodies chased away my earlier indifference.

“Jesus Christ,” Jensen muttered. “Get a room.”

Ashley extracted herself from my hold and jumped to her feet. “That’s a great idea.” She held out her hand, urging me to stand. “I know just the spot.”

Jensen heaved a long, loud sigh of annoyance.

Ashley was already walking toward the house, calling for me to follow.

“You all right for a few?” I asked Jensen.

“I ain’t gonna block your cock.” He glanced around the crowded party. “But you’re aware of how much I hate all these assholes.”

“I’m aware.” I pulled my keys from my pocket and handed them over. “Don’t leave me stranded.”

He flicked his gaze at Ashley. “How long’s this gonna take? Fifteen seconds? Twenty?”

“Give me some credit.” I slapped his shoulder.

It took longer than twenty seconds…but not by much.

Ashley was big on cuddling afterward. I didn’t usually mind, as long as I didn’t fall asleep in her bed. Hadn’t been a problem yet.

Although I knew he wouldn’t break his promise and go home without me, Jensen might get himself into trouble if I left him to his own devices for too long.

Ashley shifted, her hair tickling as she rested her head on my chest. “We should get married right after we graduate.”

Unfortunately for Ashley, I had no intention of getting married. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after graduation but marriage wasn’t it.

She rolled over and picked up a copy of Glow magazine off her nightstand. “Let me show you the ring Sid Gordon bought for Millie Roberts. It’s so pretty.”

“Babe, I don’t care about some dumb Hollywood couple’s fake engagement.” It was embarrassing how addicted she was to reading those lame magazines.

“It’s not fake!” she protested. “They’re so in love. He’s totally dreamy.”

The dude looked like an overgrown emo douche who’d been left out in the sun too long. But Ashley collected articles about the actor the way some nerds collected comic books. Since I had no intention of taking my Scarlett Johansson in a bikini poster off my bedroom wall any time soon, I could hardly criticize her celebrity crush.

She raised her left hand in the air, studying her fingers. “I want at least a one-carat diamond, just so you know. Maybe two.”

Even if I wanted to get married, I had no idea how much a ring like that would cost. Any money I had to my name was tucked away in a trust from the sale of my parents’ house and stuff. Aunt Em had power over the funds and I don’t think “big diamond ring for that chick you can’t stand” was going to convince her to let me access the money before my twenty-first birthday.