He releases me, and I scramble to my feet, facing him with a ready stance.
He holds his nose, his eyes watering. “Ouch,” he grunts.
Yesterday, he decided I needed a little more raising than the boys, since I’d found myself up at the lake alone with Terrance several days ago, and wanted to teach me some self-defense. Kaleb is off hunting, and Noah’s watching TV.
Jake sniffles and shakes it off, putting up his hands to go again.
“Why not just give me a gun?” I ask. “Isn’t that the mountain-man answer for everything?”
“Sure, once you put down your avocado toast.”
I laugh, shoving him in the chest. “I don’t eat that.”
I feel his chuckle as he whips me around and locks me in a hold.
“What are you going to do?” he taunts, tightening his arms around me as I squirm. “Come on. What do you do?”
He only hesitates a moment before he releases me and digs his fingers into my stomach, tickling me. I curl up, trying not to laugh as both of us fall to the mat, my back crashing on top of his chest.
“No, no, no…” I hug myself against his onslaught, squirming and wiggling as I chuckle. “Stop!”
He finally does, placing his hands on my waist as I drop my head back to his chest and we both try to catch our breaths.
“Pretty sure you’ll all just need to chaperone me everywhere, because this is useless,” I tell him.
His chest shakes with a silent laugh, and within a moment everything is quiet as I lie there.
My body starts to warm, and my smile falls as I feel him under me, aware of every ridge of his muscles. Every bulge of his… body.
I turn my head, looking at him, and I see the embarrassment in his eyes, because he knows I feel it.
I made him hard.
My skin tingles under his fingers, and as he caresses my hips with just the barest touch, my eyelids flutter.
His eyebrows pinch together. “What is this?” he murmurs.
And I feel his fingers slip under the string of my panties.
He follows the fabric over my hip where it sticks out of my jeans all the way to the back where there’s almost nothing.
He knows what kind of panties I’m wearing, and his breathing turns labored.
“I got some in town today,” I tell him.
I like how they feel. How they look. The girls at school were wearing sexy underwear years ago already.
But he looks at me like he’s scared of me, and I rub my nose, seeing his Adam’s apple move up and down.
I didn’t mean to unnerve him. It’s not about sex. I just like feeling different and buying something Tiernan de Haas would never buy.
This is what comes with raising a teenage girl, Jake. He’ll see them in the laundry at some point.
“Tiernan?” Noah calls. “Your phone is ringing!”
I draw in a breath and slide off Jake, hearing him clear his throat as we both pull up to our feet.
Running into the house, I grab my phone off the island, seeing Mirai’s name light up on the screen.
I answer it. “Hey.”
“Tiernan,” she bursts out, sounding relieved to reach me. How long had the phone been ringing? “So good to hear your voice,” she says. “I haven’t heard from you. I was anxious to see how you’re doing.”
Jake steps into the kitchen, closing the door and catches my eyes as he walks for the fridge.
My pulse still races. “I’m good,” I tell her.
“You like it there? Everything is…fine?”
“Yeah.” I linger around the island as Jake cracks open a beer. “They keep me busy. Lots of sun and fresh air.”
“That’s good.” Her voice is gentle. Sweet. Had it always sounded like that? “As long as they’re kind to you.”
“Yes,” I say, knowing Jake is listening. “They’re kind to me.”
I meet his gaze, smiling as he rolls his eyes and smirks.
“Listen, I didn’t want to bother you,” she tells me, “but your parents’ funeral will be the day after tomorrow.”
I blink, looking away from my uncle. The funeral. Guilt overtakes me. I hadn’t thought about it in days.
I actually hadn’t thought about my own parents’ funeral.
“I’m really sorry about the rush,” Mirai continues. “With certain attendees, we were pressured to work around their schedules.”
I nod. “Of course.”
I feel Jake watching me.
“You don’t have to come,” she informs me. “Everyone will understand.”