My chest rose and fell as I gritted my teeth against the instinct to lean into his hand.

The mind is fucking strong.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I pushed my skull farther into the headrest. “It was a good question, West. What is she doing here?”

“Watching a movie, I guess. What are you getting at? I already told you I didn’t know she was coming. She rode with Wyatt.” His brow furrowed, and he backed up a step.

“And what about on Saturday?”

He regarded me steadily, meeting my gaze head-on. “My grandmother called me on Friday to ask Wyatt and me to please join her for a family dinner on Saturday. I didn’t realize she had invited the Perottis over for dessert to discuss the gala.”

I forged ahead. “And the picture?”

“What picture?”

“Palm tree, her wrapped around you, ring a bell?”

West clenched his jaw. “Her mom asked to take our picture. I didn’t want to cause a scene at my grandparents, so I posed for the damn picture. Hailey and Wyatt were standing right there too. We took a group shot after that. What’s going on here, Sadie?”

“Why haven’t I heard from you since Friday?”

Just then, Aubrey slipped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his bicep, tugging on him and licking her lips while staring straight at me, her eyes bright with victory.

“West, baby, you’re missing the movie. Come back to the truck.”

I saw red.

I saw motherfucking matador red.

“Hey, Sadie. I hope you’ve been getting the referrals I’ve sent your way.”

I attempted a smile of acknowledgement in her direction but ending up baring my teeth at best.

Sneaky bitch.

Aubrey pulled on his arm again.

Theo mumbled something behind me, and Rue shifted, pressing against my side, but whether it was to urge me on or to hold me back, I couldn’t tell. Holding my breath, I kept my attention fixed on West.

He inhaled and shot an irritated glance over his shoulder before pulling his arm free. “I’m good here.”

The corner of my lip twitched, but he saw it.

And then he swooped.

I was cradled in his arms and most of the way to his truck before I figured out what was happening. My hand pressed against his chest, and I froze, paralyzed between holding on tight and pushing him away. I couldn’t see where Aubrey ended up, but really, I didn’t give a fuck.

“Don’t even think it.” The warning fell hot against my temple, and my fingers curled into his shirt, still indecisive, fisting the worn cotton.

His muscles flexed beneath me, and I failed to stop the shudder that ran through me.

The body is weak, so fucking weak.

West set me on the tailgate before vaulting up next to me and pulling me into his lap on one of the beanbags. My ass rubbed against his crotch as he settled deep into the seat with me across him, stretching his legs out wide to cradle me in between them. He buried his face in my hair and took a deep breath, his chest pushing outward, and then he exhaled with a happy sigh.

Like a recurrent nightmare I couldn’t shake, Aubrey appeared at the tailgate with her hands on her hips, glaring up at me. Rearranging her sneer into a pout, her voice dripping honey, she appealed to West. “You gonna help me up too?”

I stiffened, my eyes narrowing to slits, but he wrapped his big arm around my middle, forcing me to conform to his relaxed posture.

He yawned before answering. “Nope. Why don’t you go sit with Wyatt and them? Do you want the other bean bag? I think me and Sadie can make do with one.” He flexed his hips and pressed his growing length against my side.

She couldn’t have seen his movement, but she must have noticed the change in my expression because her eyes widened and she stepped back, sucking in a breath and stumbling as she turned toward the other truck. Her words were ripped away by the breeze, and, while I didn’t catch the specifics, her angry tone wasn’t lost on me. I didn’t watch the rest of her retreat.

Instead, I rounded on West and pinned him with a flat look.

He gazed back at me through sleepy eyes, one side of his mouth hitched up. “You didn’t want her to stay, did you?”

I huffed out a breath but didn’t respond, continuing to watch him.

His brows drew together, and he brushed his thumb over my cheek. “Are you mad at me?”

My tongue traced my upper teeth in sheer frustration, and I pushed his hand off my face.

“I don’t get you,” I seethed. “You cancelled our date, ignored me all week, met other girls here, and now you’re acting like we’re together?” I tried to shove off his lap, but the slippery vinyl under me made it difficult.

West sat up straighter, leaning down until our noses were almost touching, his eyes glittering. His voice was dangerously soft. “You sound an awful lot like the whiny girl who just slunk away from here. And that’s not you. Now what’s going on?”

It wasn’t a question, it never was with him, and I swore under my breath.

His curse wasn’t as mild or quiet as mine when he yanked me closer, putting his full lips close to my ear. They brushed against me as he spoke in an angry, rapid whisper. “It’s been a week from fucking hell, and I’m not sure what’s got your panties in a twist, but running into you here has been the best goddamn thing that’s happened to me since I crawled out of your bed a few nights ago. I know I haven’t texted, but I left you two paper planes explaining—”

“You what?” I interrupted, my body betraying me and turning pliant in his arms.

His arms softened around me, and he tugged on my earlobe with his teeth, his gentle caress at odds with the growl in his voice.

“Didn’t you read my notes? I told you it was going to be a crazy week, and then yesterday someone fucked with my boat, sliced my bean bags, and fucked up one of my engines. I’ve spent two days driving all over three damn states tracking down parts and getting these new seats from the manufacturer. Last night, when I crashed for a couple hours in the back seat at some shitty truck stop along the interstate, all I could think about was your soft bed and your long, sexy legs wrapped around me. I was heading home to you when Wyatt called and told me him and the guys were coming out here to hang tonight. Asshole guilted me into stopping by for awhile.”

Long fingers snagged my chin and turned my face so he could look into my eyes. I lifted my hands up to hold his wrist, my thumb rubbing over my hair tie that was still there.

“I didn’t know she was coming, Sadie. I don’t give a fuck about her. I was going to drink a beer or two with my brother, catch a nap, and come knock on your window. You were my destination.”

His last words echoed in my mind, and my eyes raced over his face, taking in the bags under his eyes, the harsh set of his jaw, the fierce slash of his brows as he waited on my reaction.

“I didn’t get the planes.”

He scowled at me. “What?”

“I haven’t heard from you since you cancelled our date.”

His face fell, and he leaned his forehead against mine, his arms tightening around me. Then he pulled back, putting space between us so I could see him in the dim light.

“I’m sorry.”

His whispered words, sincere and simple, floated between us.

Unexpectedly, my eyes filled with hot tears, and I sucked in a shaky breath, determined not to let them fall. He swore and hauled me against him, nothing between us but two thin layers of cotton, and rubbed his hand over my back and through my wind-tangled hair. “Sadie. You make me crazy. Did you really think I could just forget about you?”

His mouth pressed against my forehead, my eyelids, the tip of my nose, the corner of my mouth.

“What about tonight?”

His brow crinkled in confusion.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

His gaze softened, and he traced my bottom lip with the rough pad of a finger. “Babe, Wyatt called me when I was twenty minutes from here. He bitched about not hanging out much recently and made it sound like a guy’s night. I was gonna make a quick appearance and bail. I had no idea those chicks were tagging along. Aubrey said she needed to talk about the gala real quick. You fucking saved me from dealing with her shit any longer.”

I bit my lip hard, emotions swirling within me, but it all boiled down to him, the way it felt in the places where our skin touched.

His lips brushed mine, dissolving the last of my anger.

Exhaling, I mumbled against him, “Is that why you smell like General Beauregard? ’Cause you slept in your truck last night?”

He stilled against me. Then his chest vibrated with the force of his laughter. Setting me away from him, he leapt over the side of the truck and pulled open one of the doors. When he ripped his shirt over his head, my mouth fell open in appreciation. The reflected lights danced over his torso, highlighting sharp planes and ridges that I wanted to map, to memorize. Pulling a fresh shirt over his head, he rejoined me on the bean bag, settling me in his lap with my back to his chest, his legs framing mine.

“Better.”

Since it wasn’t a question, I stayed silent, but reached back and ran my hand over the two-day scruff on his cheek. He nuzzled my palm before nudging my hand out of the way to rub against the sensitive skin on my neck. His lips kissed a path along the angle of my jaw before stopping just below my ear.

“What do I have to do to wake up tomorrow smelling like you, hmmm?”

His teeth nibbled a retreat, a hum of approval buzzing in his throat. Callused fingers crept under the edge of my long tee, tracing the waistband of my shorts and dipping just under the top.