Ryder shrugged. “I think he’s on drugs. Guy’s been grinning and mumbling to himself all day.”
Colt tugged on the bill of his hat. “I’m not on drugs. I’m just—”
“Happy,” Penny finished.
Was he? He knew he was definitely digging life around a certain sexy teacher, but happy? In Diamond?
“Colt, this is great! You’ve never been home this long and now you’re all”—she waved a petite hand in his direction—“smiley. This is good!”
Colt took a swig of beer, hoping this conversation would pass, when Penny asked, “What were you thinking about with such a silly smirk on your face?”
How JJ looks when she’s sprawled out in my bed, crying out my name.
’Course, he’d never say that aloud. But Colt reveled once more in the fact that it was he who
got to touch her, taste her.
As if Huck read his mind, he asked, “Jenna coming?”
Penny shrugged, the previous conversation seemingly dropped. Which Colt appreciated.
“I thought so,” she said. “I haven’t talked to the girls today, though. I’ve been a bit preoccupied.”
Her eyes glanced to Bass. Something was definitely up. Did little Penny still have a crush on the big bad attorney? Colt remembered her as a thirteen-year-old, all elbows and knees, swooning every time Bass came around. Colt would have thought the schoolgirl crush would have worn off by now, but maybe not. Either way, it would never happen. Bass, like the rest of them, valued their friendship too much to mess around with a buddy’s sister.
“Ooh! I love this song!” Penny ran to the nearby trucks and cranked the radio. Country music, good view, good friends, and good beer. A dose of nostalgia hit Colt again.
He had just started pushing the painful memories of his parents’ death away and began thinking again of how much he really missed this place.
A soft crunch of grass in the distance made him look up. “Hol-lee shit,” he breathed.
Lily and JJ were walking toward them. And JJ Justice had never looked so—
“Whoa,” Huck mumbled. He was undoubtedly looking at the same thing Colt was. The woman looked good.
“I’ve never seen Jenna like”—Huck ran a hand down the side of his face—“that.”
Me either.
She’d donned a worn pair of denim cutoff shorts, and with every step her hips swished and her toned legs flexed, taunting him.
Colt grinned.
A white tank and open red flannel shirt accented every curve, and when the breeze hit, it pushed the outer layer off her shoulders. Damned if Colt didn’t want a tornado to come their way so her whole outfit would blow away. Though she was dressed down from her normal sensible wardrobe, and she looked hot as hell, she was still slightly hiding behind her clothes. Which he couldn’t figure out why. The woman had an amazing body but never showed it off. Except with yoga, a class Colt was looking into getting an indefinite membership to.
But what was more concerning was the expression on her face. There was something in her eyes. Something sad. Colt’s blood immediately heated and the urge to run over to JJ and ask what or who put that look on her face was overwhelming. Because whatever it was, he wanted to extinguish it.
“Hey, everyone!” Lily smiled and JJ held up a six-pack. “Hope we’re not too late.”
Ryder and Huck wrapped each girl in a hug while Colt stood dumbstruck. Bass had gone over by the truck with Penny.
Colt was trying to gauge her mood. He was also trying to not stare at her mouth too hard—which he was failing miserably at because damn it the woman was beyond beautiful.
“Your hair,” was the only intelligible thing Colt mumbled.
JJ looked at him in confusion, then picked up the single-plaited braid currently resting over one shoulder.
“Something wrong with it?”