Her head came up. 揥-what kiss??
Jasper lowered his mouth until their lips brushed. He listened to her breath accelerate, watched her wet her lips. 揟he one I want to give you right now.?He allowed himself to linger another few seconds, then, with the effort of ten oxen, Jasper stepped back. 揟onight, beautiful.?
On his way to his bike, Jasper tipped his hat at Rita抯 gaping siblings.
Chapter Six
Ignoring her siblings and their huge personalities wasn抰 easy, but Rita had been practicing for quite a while, so she抎 grown adept at one-word answers and avoidance. It hadn抰 occurred to her until recently that her methods had seeped into other aspects of her life, but that was neither here nor there. There being New York and here being New Mexico, where they were梐s Jasper had foretold梙oled up for the night in the Hurley Arms, a motel tucked into the center of town. They抎 been assured by Stan, the mechanic, that the necessary part would be delivered by tomorrow, so the complaining had been minimal, at least for them.
Belmont and Aaron had taken one room, she and Peggy another. So when both brothers followed her and Peggy into their dim, stale-aired space, Rita turned around with a dark look, prepared for the worst. Apparently she hadn抰 escaped the inquisition that had started at the garage.
揕et me see if I have this straight.?Aaron梠f course梑egan the interrogation, big shit-eater grin on his face. 揧ou won抰 fly on an airplane, but you抣l basically dive onto the back of a stranger抯 motorcycle.?
Rita threw her duffel bag onto the closest bed. 揑抦 not talking about this.?
揧ou know, I kind of picked up on that on the death march over.?Aaron carefully unbuttoned the sleeves of his dress shirt, rolling them to his elbows. 揟hankfully, I can talk enough for the both of us. Probably all four parties present, if required.?
揙h, leave off, Aaron.?Peggy jumped onto the bed Rita hadn抰 chosen, bouncing into a crossed-legged position. She lowered her voice to a whisper, passing a conspiratorial look over to Rita. 揟hat man was wicked hot. I doubt many girls would pass up a chance for a ride.?
Belmont and Aaron抯 expressions mirrored their disgust. 揧our brothers are literally right here, in the room, Peggy.?
揑 meant a ride on his bike. Mostly.?Peggy threw herself backwards on the bed with a monumental eye roll. 揈ither way, I抦 twenty-five years old. I抳e been engaged to four different penises. Innuendoes will be launched at will.?
Aaron looked as though he wanted to argue, but he visibly shook off the urge and refocused on Rita. 揊ar be it from me to give you a hard time棓
Peggy snort-laughed. 揌e said hard time. Right after I棓
揚lease stop.?Aaron held up both hands. 揑 just find it surprising that some y抋ll-in?Dukes of Hazzard look-alike would be Rita抯 type.?He brushed dust off the ancient wooden dresser and sat, arms crossed. 揌e抯 nothing like Gerard.?
Rita toed off her boot and kicked it in Aaron抯 direction. 揧ou did not just bring up Gerard.?
揑 definitely just brought him up.?
揑s this why you agreed to come along? To needle me until I抦 carried off in a straitjacket??Rita began shoveling through the items of her duffel bag with no idea what she was looking for. She just needed a distraction from the ball of heat spinning madly in her belly, the way it had been doing nonstop since梥ince I抣l be twice as determined to get that kiss. Rita realized she was staring blankly at a bottle of shampoo and shoved it back into her bag. God, she needed a distraction. Or she might actually consider venturing out to a place called the Liquor Hole in pursuit of the town cool guy, who抎 probably already forgotten her name. 揙kay, talk about Gerard.?
Peggy sat up. 揌e ate my hamster.?
揟hat is hearsay and you know it.?Peggy stared back at her blankly, forcing Rita to unearth the litany she抎 been reciting in defense of her eighth-grade boyfriend since they抎 gone their separate ways one night in their driveway. Just another middle-school romance pulled beneath the undertow of favorite-band disagreements and acne outbreaks. 揌e didn抰 have motive or opportunity to eat your hamster, Peggy.?
揌e so had motive,?Aaron chimed in. 揧ou broke up with him because he wasn抰 vampiric enough. That was your Twilight phase, remember??
揑 hate you.?
揑 liked Fluffy,?Belmont said, drawing everyone抯 attention. 揌e was good company.?
Peggy started to cry.
Aaron stood. 揟hat抯 my cue to leave.?
Belmont followed him out the door a moment later, casting a final backward glance of horror at his crying youngest sister. A look Rita understood well, because she抎 never dealt well with Emotional Roller Coaster Peggy either. Rita herself hadn抰 cried in years. Even at Miriam抯 funeral she抎 been too numb to do anything but stare straight ahead.
They抎 all reacted differently that day. Peggy had sobbed. Belmont had watched the proceedings from the back row while Aaron acted as their mouthpiece, shaking hands and accepting condolences. There抎 been a tangible resentment toward one another by the time it was over; whether it was in defense of their own way of grieving or disapproval of one another抯 methods had never been clear. She only recalled them driving away without saying good-bye.
Girding her loins at the prospect of comforting her younger sister, Rita turned?
And found Peggy smiling. 揋ot rid of them for you, didn抰 it??
Rita failed to hide her surprise. 揥ow. You抳e finally harnessed your powers for good. Or maybe that was evil.?She rose and started to pace, her socks catching on the scratchy brown carpet. 揃elmont looked traumatized.?
揌e always looks like that.?
揟rue.?It had been a joke, but Peggy抯 statement drew her up short. 揑s he okay? This thing with Sage匴hat is this thing with Sage??
揅omplicated. That抯 what it is.?Peggy twirled a curl around her finger. 揑抎 rather talk about you.?
That was the second time someone had said those very words to her in less than an hour. Which was a little disconcerting since she could count on one hand the times in her life someone had expressed a desire to talk about her. 揑f this is about Jasper棓
揙h, it is.?Peggy抯 teeth sank into her bottom lip. 揑f we抎 pulled in a few minutes later, he would have been pulling out.?
揧ou really meant what you said about innuendo.?Rita noticed herself fidgeting and stopped. 揟here抯 nothing to talk about. You know that kind of guy who flirts with whoever抯 available? That抯 all it was.?
Peggy wasn抰 having it. 揜ita, not that you aren抰 hot in your own right, but he didn抰 even give me passing consideration. And these shorts earned me my most recent marriage proposal.?
揧eah, about that棓
揈h. Nice try. Back to motorcycle dude.?
Rita gave herself a sidelong look in the mirror. Nothing out of the ordinary. For her, anyway. She hadn抰 switched up her look in over a decade. Heavy eyeliner, thick bangs ending even with her eyebrows. If she peered closely, she could see the Clarkson good looks buried deep, but her siblings far outshone her in every category. If she were to don Peggy抯 shorts, she抎 look like a pasty chicken. The faded black jeans currently covering her scrawny butt were Rita抯 favorite because she抎 once camped out on the sidewalk in them for two days, hoping to score Megadeth tickets. There was a tiny hole in the pocket where she抎 gotten bored during the eleventh hour and tunneled through the material with a ballpoint pen.
She attracted the hamster eaters of the world. Not the smooth, charming, blue-eyed, aw-shucks-ing, lunch-with-Grandma type. Was he one of those guys who liked his women grateful? Starstruck over the attention she梐 loner who used her bangs as a hiding place梬as receiving from such a certified catch? Rita was surprised to feel the stickiness of hurt over that possibility. How dare he make her hurt over anything after twenty minutes together?