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“Obviously. But now I see you drinking girl-beers and I’m second-guessing my bets.”
“Dude, you bet against me?” Torren demanded.
“Naturally.” He snickered at Lucas. “This guy.”
“You bet against someone in your own Crew?”
Nox didn’t have an ounce of remorse as he laughed. “You’re all shacked-up and happy. Lucas is a lone silverback with no family group, and his life is a disaster. He’s made of sexual frustration, testosterone, bitterness, and anger.”
“Thanks, man,” Lucas said sarcastically.
“No offense, but your life is a mess,” Nox said.
“That’s good. That’s a good jab.”
“Do you even get laid?”
“Oh God,” Torren said. “Look, Lucas, we’re going out to the cliffs. For old times. When was the last time we all got together?”
Lucas shook his head, trying to do the math. A decade, maybe.
“When will we ever be together again?” Jenna asked quietly from where she approached.
Probably another decade, at least.
He sighed and looked from face to expectant face. “What time?”
“Now. The time is now!” Nox crowed. “Fuck yeah!”
“We have one life to live,” Jenna assured him. “There is no better time than now. Hold off on running for one evening.” She nodded her head toward the left, where his mom was watching him with a soft smile on her face. “It’ll make your parents happy to have you in the mountains for a day.”
He shook his head. “You can’t use my parents’ approval forever. I’m old now.”
“You aren’t old,” Jenna said.
“You’re old as fuck, you’ll probably die any day now,” Nox announced as he jogged toward the trucks. “Get in, losers! We have skinny-dipping to accomplish!”
“I’ll send pictures of your naked ass to Nevada!” Torren called behind him.
“I meant skinny-dipping for you. I am paired up, and my frank and beans are only for my mate. I shall be fully clothed. Swim trunks. Swim shirt. River shoes. A parka. Maybe a bucket hat. No one look at me.”
“You’re smiling,” Jenna said as the others made their way toward the trucks.
Caught off guard, he dragged his attention to her. “I smile.”
“I haven’t seen it since we were kids.”
She made her way away from him and let her gaze linger on him a few extra seconds before she jogged toward the trucks.
“You also haven’t seen me at all since we were kids,” he pointed out, but she ignored him.
He ran his hand down his beard and scanned the mingling crowd. Ma was shooing him toward the trucks. He puffed air out of his cheeks and followed Jenna. “You want shotgun?” he asked her. He didn’t know why he did that. She had her own rig, she could drive, she probably had the back roads to the cliffs memorized by heart. The words had tumbled from his lips before he’d been able to stop them.
Jenna skidded to a stop. When she turned around, she looked just as surprised by his words as he felt. “In your truck?”
He cleared his throat. “No point wasting gas. I can bring you back to your truck later.” This plan didn’t even make any sense.
Jenna’s pretty silver eyes were trained on him, unblinking, as if she was actually considering his offer. She chewed the corner of her full lips. “Okay. You’ll have to kick Kru out of my spot though.”
