Early upload! Hope you enjoy 🤗🤗

Chapter 50

"About that..." Scarlet walked up behind me. "She showed up not long after y'all left and has been hanging around the shop ever since."

"Her daddy died," Lexy added as she joined us. She sounded less like a brat than the last time I'd met her, but she was dressed much the same. Crop top, short-shorts, belly button ring, and enough makeup to make a nun cross her chest. "I guess Zeke knew him really well, so he's been keeping an eye on her. Mama said that was the only family she had."

I nodded, throat tight. When I looked back over, the pair had broke apart, and Bard was coming towards me with long purposeful strides.

He knows I saw him.

A green eyed monster fought to take control of my sense, but I pushed it aside and focused on being rational. He'd told me the story there. He'd done nothing to make me doubt him.

Bard ignored the two girls beside me and gently cupped my arm.

Scarlet and Lexy took the hint and left to get more groceries out of Zeke's truck.

"I didn't know she'd be here," he said. His hand ran up my arm. "She hugged me. Not the other way around..."

"I know, Bard." I heaved a sigh, held onto those rational thoughts a bit tighter, and forced a smile. "It's okay... I trust you." I laid a hand against his chest.

He smiled and cupped my cheek. "Good."

"What is this?" Zeke appeared, eyebrows raised, smile wide and open. "Did something happen out here I don't know about?"

Bard's lip twitched. "Stop. You're making her blush again."

"I don't blush."

"Oh, you're definitely blushing." Zeke rumbled a laugh as his eyes danced between the two of us. Then he took in my increasing discomfort, and blessedly offered a reprieve. "Alright, none of my business..." He lifted his hands then focused on Bard. "I thought we'd camp. There's a lot of people here. We ain't gonna fit in the cabin anyway, and Charlene really wants to head up to the hot spring. I brought a couple tents."

Having no opinion, I simply nodded and made my escape. My face was hot, my chest was tight with an anxiety I couldn't shake, and I was having a really hard time hiding these things when a patch of auburn hair still dominated my peripheral vision.

I needed a moment alone to gather my thoughts, but Scarlet and Lexy had other plans.

The moment I exited the door, I was accosted. One girl on each side took an arm and steered me back the way I'd come. They past Bard and Zeke without so much as a glance, and kept going until we reached the bedroom.

Scarlet shut the door and latched it, and Lexy threw a bag onto the bed. "Zeke said we're going camping."

I eyed them both. "Yeah... and?"

"We're going to the hot spring." Lexy unzipped the bag and pulled out a strip of black cloth.

"You need a bathing suit," Scarlet clarified since Lexy didn't seem to have any intention of doing so. "Lexy packed a couple extra for you to borrow."

I warily ran my gaze over the half-naked girl, then each scrap of material she pulled from the bag. "Those aren't bathing suits. They're wash rags."

Lexy snorted, then shot Scarlet a secret smile.

Scarlet grinned at me. "Nope. They're bikinis."

I stepped closer and picked one of the tops up between the very tips of two fingers. "Why is it so fucking small?" I let it drop.

Scarlet laughed. "Because... I don't like that girl outside. She's going to try and play you again, and you got played way too easy last time. That and Boe is here." Her smile turned devious. "I thought it would be funny."

I looked at the door as if he'd suddenly appear. I'd been so caught up with thinking they were the club, then Bard and Amber, I hadn't even thought about Boe. Now that Scarlet pointed it out...

"Yes," Scarlet said. "Zeke had sent him on an ass of errands the day you two left. When he came back and found out why you weren't at work, he didn't seem happy." Each word she spoke only seemed to intrigue her more. "I've never been camping before, but it sounds like it's going to be real fun."

Lexy rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her. I'm pretty sure she's part demon." She picked up the rest of the pile she'd made and shoved it into my arms. "But that doesn't change the fact that you don't have a suit. Pick one."

The skin on my back felt tight as I stared down at the offering. It couldn't happen. I couldn't. "I don't do bikinis."

Scarlet's face fell. "Why not?"

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I just don't." I threw the clothes back onto the mattress and turned away from them. Would Amber wear something like that? Would she parade around, unblemished, untainted?

I hated myself for even wondering. It didn't matter. Bard wanted me. I knew that like I knew each and every one of the scars I wished I didn't have.

Why am I being like this?

I paused at the door and gripped the knob tight. My teeth clenched. This wasn't me. Yet, here I was, acting like a princess. Was I really going to be so easily threatened by some random chick just because she had nice hair and a pretty face?

I wasn't pretty. I didn't have a single drop of elegance in my entire body. I didn't have class or any history worth mentioning. My last name was just a string of letters sketched across my birth certificate. I had no family, no ties, little education, and a record long enough to make a judge sit up straight in his chair...

But, dammit, I was strong.

I'd survived. The scars along my back were evidence of that, and a night with an angry Drake was way worst than some girl with a crush.

Stop being a little bitch. You've allowed yourself to be pampered, and now you're soft. Get it together. Inner Jessie rose her head and clawed at my gut. What are you gonna do? Cry?

I turned back and stormed back to the bed. "On second thought, I'll borrow one of these. Thank you."

The smile they both shared didn't reassure me that things weren't about to go terribly wrong, but I ignored them and headed for the bathroom.

The marks on my skin were like my ink. They told the story of my life, and I wouldn't let it be a sad one, not anymore.

They were all the same. Barely there at all, so I picked the black one, finished my shower, and put it on underneath my clothes. By the time I was done, everyone else was ready to go.

The moment I stepped outside, Boe was waiting for me. "There she is." He smiled. "You've got some explaining to do, Jessie. You can't just take run off and take a man's heart with you."

I snorted. "Yeah. Okay." I smiled back at him. "It was last minute. There's no reception out here."

We stepped off the porch together, but had barely cleared the last step, when Bard appeared and took my hand. "Walk with me." His eyes cut across my face then narrowed at the man beside me.

This is so messed up. I needed to at least explain. I needed to soften it in some way, but one look at Bard, and I settled for an apologetic smile. "We can catch up later?"

Bard pulled me away before he could answer. His steps were quick, too quick. I could barely keep up, and wouldn't have if he hadn't been literally dragging me along behind him.

When made it a good distance ahead of everyone else, he finally slowed to a stiff walk beside me.

I stared at his profile, the tight jaw and set face, and touched a hand to his shoulder. "Hey. Don't be jealous. I'm not..."

"What's there to catch up about?" His eyes met mine, sharper than I'd seen them in weeks.

I gaped at him. "You can't be serious."

His expression didn't waver.

"So, you're telling me, that I have to play nice when some chick I clung to you like a cat on a fucking scratching post, but I can't even associate with Boe?"

"Last time you saw him, he took you out and put you in danger. Forgive me if I'd prefer you not get caught up on any of that."

I snorted a laugh. "He's still a friend. I meant catch up like friends do, Bard." I dug in my heels and forced him to stop. "I trust you." Our eyes met. "Can't you do the same for me?"

Bard stared at me a long moment, then stepped forward, gently took my chin between two of his fingers, and lowered his eyes even with mine. "Every part of me loves you, Jessie." He kissed the corner of my mouth. "And I do trust you." He let go and gripped my hand, then focused back on the trail and pulled me along. "But the only thing that mother fucker's gonna catch is a beating."

I huffed a laugh and shook my head. "Don't do that. I'm serious. I'll be mad at you if you do."

"I'll do my best."

How reassuring...

"Maybe, we could sneak away later." I pressed into his side and gripped his arm.

Bard looked down at my secret smile for a long, drawn out moment, then his whole body seemed to deflate. "Why are you so irresistible?"

"The truth?"

His lip twitched. "I'll know if you lie."

"Every night, I coat my skin in crack-cocaine. Once I've got you nice and hooked, I'll start charging."

His chest rumbled. "That makes more sense than you realize, Tequila."

Hope you enjoyed! Drop me some love in the comments! Things are about to get interesting lol