Jackson nods, and to Jesse’s surprise, lets him walk by his side. They walk for a long time. Jackson is surprised, after a while, at how quiet and stoic Jesse is. Jesse doesn’t sigh or moan that he’s bored, like Jackson thought he would. He doesn’t complain, or fuss, or anything. He just walks qui
“Because!” Jackson bursts out, tossing out his hands. “It’s Luca fucking Grant, Jesse! Even I had heard of him, and I haven’t heard of anyone! And he’s…he’s good with women! And he can talk to her, and make her laugh! And he’s like…good looking, or whatever! How the hell am I supposed to compete wit
“How do you know this shit,” Jackson mutters, shaking his head, letting himself be led. “You handle kicking the shit out of the bad guys,” Jesse says, giving Jackson a broad grin. “I’ll handle the girls. Besides, Rafe and I reserve the right to yell at Ariel tonight. We’ve known her longer, we get
“One, Ariel Sinclair,” Ben says, laughing, “if you tried to kill me, I could take you.” I laugh too, grinning at him. “And two,” he continues, and my face falls along with his as real sorrow appears in his eyes, “if you’re asking me if I’m jealous of you having two of the most eligible men in th
My lip starts to tremble as I listen, tears again stinging my eyes, but Jesse leans forward. “Rafe,” he murmurs, glancing between us. “Slow down a little, man. I mean, if we’re aware of what they’re feeling, then she’s aware of it double – she can feel it all down their bonds. And that, on top of
“Yeah,” Jesse says, considering, assessing. “Yeah, Ari, with all of it - I think you did as well as you could.” “Really?” I ask, kind of shocked. “Yeah, I agree,” Rafe says with a sigh. I turn my eyes to him. “I mean, you had to get to know them first to know if you even wanted to tell them you
“We got your back, Ariel,” Rafe murmurs, patting my knee. And then we spend the next few hours talking softly, letting our thoughts wander, none of us really making a move to go to bed. Instead, slowly – perhaps simultaneously – we all fall asleep curled up next to each other like we used to do when
As I anxiously study Luca, waiting for his next move …damn, but I can’t help but notice how good he looks. Luca’s freshly showered, dressed in the Cadet black that makes him look so sharp, his hair falling a little into his face in a way that just begs me to touch it, wanting to push it back. His li