Page 26 of Crucified By the Dark
“What do you think is happening?” He shot back and earned another look. This time she pulled the black lenses down enough that he could see her eyes and the annoyance brewing.
“I’m not joking around here, Jeremy.”
He dropped another handful of the sweet candy and nuts into his mouth and licked his fingers off for her benefit. There was no reaction in her facial features, but her cheeks couldn’t lie, and they deepened in color with the heat he was creating in her. He may not have noticed it yesterday, but he sure as fuck noticed it today.
“Neither am I.” He poured a handful of the chocolate into his hand and held it out to her. She glanced at his hand like a wary animal but took half of his offer. The side of his mouth pulled up in a smile, but he quickly hid it by chomping down on more snacks.
“Why are you making this difficult,” Morry asked as she chewed the nuts like she was angry with them. Better them than him.
“I’m not, but I’m pretty sure you are,” he said.
“What the hell does that mean?” Her tone was angry, and so was the look in her eyes. Fuck, that was hot. Was it wasn’t normal to get turned on when someone was pissed at you? He must have some sort of issue.
“It means that you’re probably sitting there going over what we did and beating yourself up for sleeping with me and then contemplating all sorts of shit that will end up with you deciding that it’s better to stay away from one another.”
Her brows rose, and she looked away to stare firmly at the road. “I wasn’t doing that,” she said, but the meek, deflated response said something entirely different.
“I’m pretty sure that’s a lie.”
“Okay, how about you stay the fuck out of my head? I didn’t realize I’d become so transparent,” Morry growled, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tight it squeaked.
Cracking open a bottle of water, he offered it to her first. Predictably, in Morry’s eyes, he saw the inner argument before she took the water, gulped some down, and handed it back. Jeremy chugged the rest and laid his head against the window.
“I don’t think you’re transparent to anyone else. They don’t study you the way I do,” he said, allowing himself to say the things he kept to himself.
“Okay, that sounded creepy.”
Jeremy smirked. “Maybe, but I also know you like it.” Her eyes flicked over for just a moment before turning away again. “Look, Morry, stop overthinking everything, at least when it comes to us. I want you. I’ve wanted you for a long time, and that’s not about to change. Just let it happen. Stop standing in the way of what we both want.”
“Oh, so it’s that simple,” she drawled.
“Yeah, actually, it is.” Polishing off the package of candy, he crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you scared of?” Scared was a taboo word when it came to Morry, and he could almost see her hackles rise as she sat up straighter.
“I’m not afraid.”
“Fine. Prove it.”
“What?” She flicked on the turn signal, and he realized they were pulling off at a rest stop. The bikes behind them were taking the cue to pull over as well.
“Tell me you like me and that you’re going to give us a chance to work,” he said.
Jeremy knew it was a dick move to put her on the spot like this so soon after finally getting through her walls. The thing was, if Morry was left to contemplate it too long on her own, she would find a reason why they didn’t work. Shit, she probably had a list of a hundred reasons ready to go.
“This is ridiculous,” she said, pulling into one of the spots. The Hummer came to a sudden halt as she threw it into park. “I don’t need to prove anything.”
“Morry….”
“No, I’m not doing this with you. I need to get a coffee. Do you want anything?” She hopped out of the Hummer and stood holding the door.
“No.”
“Fine.” She slammed the door and walked toward the building.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He jumped out of the vehicle, and his long strides ate up the ground as he headed toward the path set up to stretch your legs. Why did she always make everything so difficult? Morry was the most stubborn person he’d ever met, aside from maybe Dean. Was it a prerequisite to be part of their secret group? You needed to be astough as nailsandas stubborn as an ox?
Jeremy started walking the long loop with his hands stuffed in his jeans and his mind wandering.
He wiped off his sweaty brow and turned to see where Dean was. This was a far larger job than either of them had banked on, but part of that was due to the rain they’d been getting. It made tearing up the old stones slow. Laying the new foundation was even worse now that the sun was finally out. None of the pieces of the new patio wanted to fit together.
