Page 152 of Always Love You More

“Fuck off,” Jameson demands. “Now.”

The guy startles, turning to face him. “We were just—”

Jameson crosses his arms over his chest, a hard look on his face, and the guy inches back.

“Sorry,” he stammers before looking over at me. “Sorry,” he repeats. “I didn’t—”

“Stop talking,” Jameson says dryly.

“Yeah.” The guy shakes his head. “Yeah, sure. I’m just gonna …” He trails off, quickly turning to leave.

Jameson comes up beside me as I drop my finished cigarette into an abandoned cup of beer. “You okay?” he asks.

I nod, glancing up at him, rolling my lips.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

“Just …” I smile into my cup. “That was satisfying.”

He tilts his head.

“Watching you make him run away like that,” I clarify.

He laughs. “He did run away, didn’t he?”

I snort before taking a sip of my drink.

Jameson nudges my arm. “You still taking it slow?”

“This is only my second,” I answer. When he keeps quiet, I add, “And my last.”

He stares down at me for a minute then nods.

Reaching out, he takes my hand and leads us over to the fire pit. He sinks into one of the empty lawn chairs, and I go to sit in the one next to him, but his grip on my hand tightens.

“Where’re you going?”

I flick my eyes up to meet his and watch as they drop to his lap.

Slowly, I move toward him, holding his gaze. He leans back into the chair, spreading his long legs out in front of him. I lower myself down so I’m balanced on his thigh, and he wraps an arm around me, pulling my back into his chest.

I tilt my head, my lips nearly brushing his ear. “I wanna go dance.”

He groans, shifting beneath me. “Now?”

“Mmhmm.”

“But we just sat down.”

“No,youjust sat down.Iwas practically pulled into your lap.”

“I like you in my lap.”

“I know you do.”