Page 39 of Broken Rebel

Jude’s eyes slid to me and he winked, a wicked grin curving his lips. Like there was some major joke going on and it was entertaining the hell out of him.

“You ready?” he patted the spot beside him on the couch, scooped up the remote, and hit play. “Bring those other chips, and check out the fridge, maybe they’ve got dip?”

I did a quick search of the fridge, found some dip, and was heading across the living room when Neco walked back in.

“Is he asleep already?” I asked.

“Out as soon as his head hit the pillow.”

“I’m not surprised, Jude wore him out.” I glanced at Jude. “You’re good at this kid stuff.”

The wicked glint from before slid from his gaze, and I quickly changed the subject. I’d inadvertently veered too close to a painful past that Jude chose not to talk about. Ever. “So how many times have you watched Die Hard?”

He smirked. “A few.”

I was relieved to see that grin back on Jude’s face and plonked down on the couch beside him. Neco was standing beside the couch staring at us, his gaze moving between Jude and me. He scowled, then took the chair closest to me. He had to walk the farthest to get to it. I tried not to read too much into that.

I took a sip of my soda, wishing like hell it were beer. Seeing as I still had the odd headache, a side effect from my concussion, I didn’t think getting wasted would be a great idea, and that’s exactly what would happen if I started drinking. I glanced at Neco. Yeah, after the hellish few days I’d had, getting blind drunk was appealing as hell right now.

Jude started the movie and I tried to relax.

An hour later, I was close to squirming in my seat, while praying every few minutes that the damn movie would end already.

Neco was making me crazy. I could feel his eyes boring into the side of my head, which meant I’d become self-conscious of every move I made. Every time I slid my glasses higher, the way I held my mouth, how many freaking times I blinked.

Then he’d gone and stretched his long legs out, crossing them at the ankle. The new position had brought the side of his calf against mine. He kept it there. My initial reaction was to jerk mine back, but I didn’t want him to think I saw him touching me as a big deal. So, I kept it there, trying to act all casual. But now that’s all I could focus on. I literally had no idea what was going on in the movie. All I knew was Neco’s leg was touching mine. It was touching mine and it was warm and hard and the denim of his jeans was rough against my bare skin. I wished I were wearing my tights instead of shorts.

He made a low, rough sound beside me, and my nipples tightened, hardening to the point of pain. I crossed my arms over my chest.

Jude barked out a laugh at something that happened in the movie, and I forced a smile, though I still didn’t know what the hell was so damned funny.

Neco didn’t laugh.

We were three-quarters of the way through when Jude’s phone buzzed on the coffee table. He checked it and cursed under his breath.

“Everything okay?” I used the sudden distraction as an excuse to move and curled my legs up under me.

“My tenant. Some trouble with the water heater.” He stood, shoved his phone in his pocket, and dragged on his jacket. “I better head over there.”

Jude owned a house in Brooklyn that he rented out. He’d bought it for his sister and niece to live in after she left her husband. A shiver moved through me. He only went there when he had to. The place held too many bad memories for him, too much pain.

“You want me to pack these up for you?” I motioned to the DVD’s.

He shook his head. “Nah, you watch em’”

“No need to come back,” Neco said.

My belly did a loop-de-loop.

Jude looked at his friend, and a grin curled up the corner of his mouth. “I don’t mind. I shouldn’t be long.”

“You should probably check on Josh,” Neco said to me.

I hustled out of there as fast as I could. I needed a minute away from Neco, a minute to clear my damn head. I checked Josh, who was still fast asleep. Jude had definitely worn him out with all the horsey rides and play wrestling. I quickly used the bathroom and headed back out.

Neco was standing at the kitchen counter, head tilted back, drinking a glass of water. How could a man look so sexy just drinking? But he did. Every swallow drew the eye to his strong neck. The way his Adam’s apple slid up and down made me want to go over and press my lips to it.

He turned to me. “You wanna finish the movie?”