"What if I give him another chance and he breaks my heart again?"
Mom says something to a person in the background. "I'm going to need to go, but here's what I think. I'll be home in a few weeks and you'll fly home to visit me. If you want to live in Last Dollar or anywhere else, I'll support you. It'll kill me to have you far away, but you're a woman despite what Cooper says. So when you come home, if you and Jace aren't working out, he'll stays here and you'll leave. He gets until then to fix things. If he fucks up, you can ditch him."
"If he fucks up, I'll still have a broken heart."
"Pain is part of life," Mom says, sounding sad and likely thinking about Pop. "You have to take the bad if you want to enjoy the good. If you love Jace even half as much as I love Kirk, the pain will be worth it."
"I miss Pop so much," I say, my voice breaking.
"Me too, baby. I feel him with me here. Every time someone gets on my nerves, I bitch to him in my head, and he laughs. It's not much, but I can't let him go."
"I never want to let him go either."
"Then don't. Know Pop still loves you, and he's watching over you. He raised you to be brave and strong. Don't let Cooper, Jace, or anyone else make you feel weak."
"I won't."
After saying I love you, we hang up. Sad over missing my parents and uncertain about Jace, I remain in the bed and stare at the wall until I hear the twins wrestling in the hallway. Their chaos distracts from my grief in a way life in Ellsberg never can.
Opening the door, I find Colbie running down the hallway. She puts on the brakes and stops in front of me.
"Strap on your bikini. We're taking Chimichanga out to tempt the horror movie gods!"
"What?"
Bodie runs up behind her sister. "Jace will be here in a few minutes for our boat ride. The rest will just be happy little surprises."
Nodding, I shut the door and change. Even worried I'm about to be sacrificed in a bizarre twins project, I'm mostly excited about seeing Jace. Time to push a few of his buttons and see what happens.
Chapter 18
Jace
Be the Lake
Bodie and Colbie are beautiful women, but they might as well be dudes in my mind. One is wearing an American flag-style bikini, the other a camouflage design, but my dick doesn't care about all the flesh they're flashing.
Sawyer though makes me painfully hard, and I nearly punch my cock to get it under control. In its defense, her small nipples poke perfectly from her blue bikini.
"Take my picture," Sawyer says, "and send it to Coop. Let him know I'm doing fine."
Snapping the picture of her flipping him off, I don't forward it to my boss. I plan to keep the picture for my personal stash. Sawyer watches me, suspecting I didn't send it. I ignore her for a second before realizing she's too beautiful not to enjoy.
My gaze begins at the top of her curly head and slides down her sexy face to her long neck. Lingering on her small perky tits, I remember the first time she flashed me years ago. Sawyer stated she was fine with smaller breasts and suffered no plans to follow Bailey's example of fake boobs. After she flashed me with those pretty titties, I fully supported her choice to stay au natural.
"What?" she growls when my gaze lingers too long on her chest.
"Just remembering the first time I got to second base."
Ignoring her frowning face, I continue studying her body. Those narrow hips and long legs come from her tall father. When wrapped around my hips, her lean legs are stronger than they look. I let my imagination return to a time when life was simple. I loved Sawyer. She loved me. We were too young to care about much else.
"Dickhead," she mutters, returning me to the now.
"Now your turn!" Colbie cries, looking at me. "Take your shirt off really slowly. Shake your ass a little too."
Standing, I yank off my shirt and throw it at Colbie. Sawyer reaches out and catches the tee.
"No," she growls possessively.
"Yes, ma'am."
Sawyer gives me her double middle finger move and throws my shirt on the ground where Colbie's bloodhound immediately sits on it.
"Feel free to look," I say to Sawyer while flexing my muscles. "There's no harm in it."
"Part of you must know you smell like nut sweat."
"Oh, I know. The girls love it though. Don't they, Sawyer?"
Growling in frustration, she spins around and stomps over to Bodie. My sensei flips off an overhead bird, causing me to laugh. After growing up with many smart people to guide me, I'm taking advice from a chick with a grudge against geese.
"Why name your boat Chimichanga?" I ask when the girls begin shaking their asses for a passing speedboat.
Colbie shrugs. "Why the hell not?"
"Fair enough."
"Ugh, you sound like Cooper," Sawyer mutters. "Get your own fucking shtick."
Crossing my arms tighter, I hold my tongue. Arguing with Sawyer is pointless. Besides, her comment hits home after Bodie's earlier speech.