It didn’t seem as if the three men Tourmaline left behind should have been as shocked as they were that the little dogwood flower on the branch had unfolded into some deadly wood sprite and roared off on their old bike.
Tourmaline’s father stood in the driveway staring at the road where Tourmaline had gone. “Should I go after her?” But he didn’t look as if he were asking either Jason or Cash. “She’s not wearing a helmet.” He frowned and turned to the garage. “She doesn’t fucking know how to ride!” he yelled to no one in particular.
Virginia stayed silent. Still. Fading into the trees and the side of the house. If she caught his attention in the wrong way, in the wrong moment, she’d be gone. Especially without Tourmaline here. Better to wait for an opening rather than try to force something. Her phone buzzed and she twisted away from the men to check it.
From Hazard. Come by the office tomorrow. 9am.
Virginia shoved the phone back into her pocket and took a deep breath. It was okay. She’d make what she had work for him. She could handle this.
“You don’t think she’ll run into anyone,” Tourmaline’s father said. “Right?”
“We can go out after her,” Jason said.
Cash’s gaze flickered between the road and Tourmaline’s dad, and his mouth looked as if it wanted to smile but knew what was best for itself.
They’d all finish dinner though, right? Virginia’s mouth watered, and without thinking, she shifted toward the house.
Virginia ducked. And immediately realized her mistake.
Their eyes locked, and she could see—see—the recognition interrupt his entire body as he flinched and stepped back.
Virginia slowly stood, refusing to drop her gaze and make the moment worse. But it was terrible. She’d given up an awful sort of revelation about herself: You had to be trained, down to your bones, to duck the second someone turned. It always showed up in the worst possible moment.
There was a horrific pause during which neither of them knew what to do but both of them knew something had happened. A slow tide of heat drew into Virginia’s cheeks—back prickling like she’d been pressed into spikes, and only Jason stood between her and freeing herself.
He blinked and seemed to shake it off. “What do you think you’re doing?” he asked sharply.
“Me?”
“You,” he said firmly, as if she’d told Tourmaline to do all this.
“I was here for dinner.”
Jason put his hands on his waist and took a step closer, towering over her. “What else have you been doing with her?”
“You really think this is my fault?” Virginia laughed and crossed her arms, refusing to back away as he advanced.
“I know you.” He pointed his finger. “I know exactly who you are.”
“You don’t know shit,” she snarled, hoping with everything she was made of that she was right.
“Jason!” Tourmaline’s dad barked.
Virginia pressed her lips tight.
Jason turned.
Tourmaline’s dad glowered at both of them. “Sauls just called. You have to go.” He was speaking to Jason. “You too, conscript.”
Cash went inside.
Virginia turned to follow, still thinking of her mostly full plate, but ran straight into Jason’s immovable chest.
He stood in the doorway. Silent. Eyes narrowed.
“Excuse me,” she huffed.
He didn’t move. The bright hazel eyes snapped just as they had when she thought he was flirting. Now though, Virginia saw that they were a purposeful distraction—that their look could always be seen as flirting when the whole time he was just being an asshole, glaring down at her as if she had leaned over Tourmaline’s shoulder and whispered for her to bite some poisoned apple.
“Tourmaline isn’t home right now,” he said, putting his arms up in the doorway, broad chest pushing toward her in a declaration of space.
“So, what, I’m just supposed to leave?”
“Yeah. You are.”
“I didn’t finish my food.”
“Don’t care.”
“I was invited.”
“Don’t care.”
She narrowed her eyes.
He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes back, mocking her.
Virginia turned to see if Tourmaline’s dad was hearing this ridiculous shit. But he was frowning into his phone, and if he’d overheard he didn’t seem to care.
“Go on now,” Jason whispered in her ear, close enough for her to feel his breath, warm and soft on her neck. A small shiver of something equally good and bad ran down her body as he moved behind her. “And if I catch your ass around Tourmaline again, we are going to have a problem.”
Virginia would have turned and kept arguing. Certainly she wasn’t going to get pushed out by this asshole breathing down her neck. But the small moment of hesitation brought some clarity into her thinking. If she fought back, she might not have another chance at getting further. And right now, she didn’t have much to bring to Hazard except the tail end of his patience.
This wasn’t over. “Fine,” she snapped over her shoulder. With as much dignity as she could muster, she walked to her truck and left.