To what exactly? What the hell am I thinking? This had bad idea written all over it.
“For someone who claims to not give a sh.it, you sure are fidgety,” Birdie muttered as she worked on chopping up veggies for the salad.
“I’m not,” I lied.
“It’s okay to admit your nervous, Jinx,” she told me.
“I’m not nervous or fidgety,” I said, lying out my a.ss. And they all knew it. Even Waylen rolled his eyes before going back to his drawing.
“Don’t be nervous Dad,” he said, making Mom and Birdie snicker. “Dra’s gonna say yes.
“We don’t know that for sure,” I told him.
“I do,” he replied confidently.
“Even if she does, Waylen, you know it’s just pretend, right?” I asked him.
“I know, I know,” he said. “When we get home, it’s right back to how things were.”
“Exactly,” I agreed, hating the bitter taste the word left in my mouth.
“Ya know,” Birdie said quietly, leaning closer so Waylen couldn’t hear. “You could try to make her fall for you or something. Be charming for once and get her interested. Who knows? Things could change by the time we all get home.”
I gave her an incredulous look before narrowing my eyes at her.
“I wish I woulda never trusted you with my secrets,” I grumbled, making Birdie giggle.
“What secrets?” Mom asked.
“Nothing,” I replied, giving Birdie a look.
“Fine, but your sister has a point, sweetheart,” Mom said. “You could take this opportunity that your son gave you and charm the girl.”
“Yeah, just like… don’t be how you usually are.” Birdie said, making me frown. “Less bully biker and more prince char.ming.”
“I don’t think Dra would like a prince char.ming,” Waylen commented from the table, his face scrunched up.
Hell no she wouldn’t.
“Well, what was that ex of hers like?” Mom asked.
“Relentless,” I grunted, remembering how he pursued Deidra.
“Okay, how about you give her the ol’ biker charm,” Dad suggested.
“But toned down a little,” Birdie quickly added.
“How about I just be myself and let whatever happens happen?” I said, giving them all a look.
“That’s an awful idea,” my sister deadpanned.
I rolled my eyes at her as Mom handed me a stack of plates.
“Set the table,” she said. “I think your idea is wonderful. Deidra already likes you just the way you are.”
“Mom-“
“Just set the damn table,” she cut me off.
Jesus, she’s really banking on this delusion she created in her head. The one where Thorn and I are a perfect couple. Yeah fu.cking right. All we’d do is fight if we dated. Her sassy-ness would grow old. I’d start to get resentful about her disrespect in front of the club. I’d eventually drive her away. See. Ends badly.
With a sigh, I set the table like Mom wanted. I tried not to overthink anything. I was sure that Deidra would say no. Still, I felt nervous as fu.ck. My hands were sweaty, and my heart was racing. I’d never felt nervous like this in my life. I was in the middle of trying to convince myself that she was going to bail when the doorbell rang. Everyone turned to me.
“I’ll get it,” I mumbled.
“Ovbiously,” Birdie scoffed.
I ignored my sister as I walked to the door. Everyone was in the kitchen already now that the doorbell rang. Deidra had perfect timing. Dinner just got done and she was about five minutes early. I kept telling myself to play it cool. She was going to say no anyway. It was just a meal we were sharing. That’s all. Things would be totally normal between us. Just like they were all day.
I opened the door, a smarta.ss remark on the tip of my tongue about her being late, but it died on my tongue when I saw her. I’ve always thought that Deidra was hot as fu.ck. One of the se.xiest girls in town by far, and she never even had to try. Apparently, just turns out that none of us had ever seen her try. Deidra Hartman is a bombshell on her worst days, but when she dresses up…
“Wow,” I blurted out on a breath as I took her in.
Honestly, it’s nothing special. It’s not like she’s dressed for the club, or prom, or some kind of elegant party. She’s just dressed up for her. In a dress. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Thorn wear a dress before. Not anything like this. It’s a simple, dark red dress. I can tell that it has long sleeves even with her coat on. It falls just above her knees and the neckline was deeper than anything I’ve seen her wear before. The top part hugs her body like a second skin, but from the hips down it’s less snug. And not because she don’t got a.ss either.
Thorn also wore more makeup than I’ve ever seen. I’m pretty sure she has blush on. There’s glitter on her eyelids too. Subtle and… cute. More than her usual mascara and lip gloss. Which brings me to her lips. A stained red that perfectly matches her dress. I’ve never seen her lips painted in any color before. My co.ck twitched in my jeans.
Her hair was down too. It was natural, but with more fluffy to it. I’ve always loved Thorn’s curls. It’s such a pretty color too. So dark, but with natural lighter brown highlights from the Tennessee sun.
It’s extra silky-looking today too.
Did she… dress up for me?
“Are you going to let me in or just stare at me?” She suddenly bit out, frowning at me. “I’m freezing.”
“S-sorry,” I stuttered, clearing my throat as I stepped to the side to let her in.
Thorn looked all around as she slid her boots and coat off. I love that her immediate reaction is to get comfortable. Despite the fact that she looks anything but comfortable right now. She’s shifting from foot to foot, looking everywhere but me. And something about it made a shiver run through me.
“Wow, this cabin is gorgeous,” she commented. “Uhm, w-where should I put my coat?”
I reached out, putting my hands on hers. Finally, those hazel eyes fell on me. I smiled at her as I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I saw her eyes widen slightly, heard the hitch in her breath, but I refused to think about it. Otherwise, I’d get some bad ideas.
“There’s really no need for you to be nervous, Thorn,” I said as I plucked her coat out of her hands and laid it on the back of the couch.
“Stop calling me that,” she complained. “And, of course, there is. Does your family even know what
Waylen asked us to do?”
“They do,” I replied with a nod. “I don’t keep secrets from my family unless I have to.”
“Oh, great,” she muttered sarcastically. “So they know you shoved your tongue down my throat?”
I sputtered out laughter at that. Deidra looked pi.ssed as her face flushed red. She crossed her arms under her boobs, pushing them up. And yeah, I noticed. So what? I am a man.
“You kissed me first,” I teased her. “And you allowed my tongue into that sassy mouth of yours.”
She rolled her eyes at me, making me chuckle.
“Do they… Uhm, they…” she stammered before taking a deep breath and looking me in my eyes.
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