“Neither am I.” With that, he placed his hand on the tank of the four-wheeler I was currently on and slowly threw his leg up and over, sitting on the seat behind me. “Looks like we have a problem here.”
“No problem.” My voice sounded breathy. “We can sit here all night, doesn’t bother me.”
I heard Rhett say something, and I looked up just as he gave AJ a chaste kiss before walking off toward Penny. AJ climbed onto the four-wheeler that she and Rhett drove out there, and without any further delay, she turned the key. Rhett did the same to Penny, and suddenly, the two of them were moving toward the house, leaving Mike and me behind to sort this out for ourselves. My nerves came alive because we were now alone, and I had no one left to serve as a buffer.
“Seems you and I are riding together.” Mike reached around me and shoved the key into the ignition. The way his body formed around me, his chest firmly pressed to my back, was overwhelming in the best kind of way. His arms encircled me, making it difficult to breathe at an even pace.
I shouldn’t be getting these feelings when it came to Mikey. I shouldn’t.
“Go ahead, Mad.” He said this so close to my ear I felt his lips skim against its lobe. “Drive us home.” I froze when he leaned back, and in the process, his palms glided over the outside of my thighs. My breath hitched, my palms felt clammy, and I still couldn’t understand how things between us could shift so quickly.
My hands shook as I gripped the handlebars and gently twisted, the jerk of the ATV surprising us both.
“Careful,” he cooed in my ear, and I reminded myself to just focus on breathing evenly.
I was so confused but intrigued.
When we pulled up at the house, everyone was standing around talking. The sound of us approaching pulled all their attention toward us, and Rhett was the only one with a skeptical look on his face. The others didn’t seem to sense the change in us.
“Thanks for the ride.” Mike climbed off and left me staring after him as he walked toward Rhett without even a quick glimpse back. It didn’t stop Rhett from watching us both closely. His gaze shifted over and over between me and Mike, as if trying to figure something out.
I felt like telling him to let me know too when he figured it out. Things had never been this unsettled with Mike and me. We were always at one another’s throat in a playful way. Getting the best of each other was just our thing. It was something we all did on a regular basis. But this—the sultry whispers and the lingering glances—those were all something new. Something I wasn’t sure how to handle.
I was so confused.
Chapter Eleven
Mike
“A girl can only ask so many times before she’s convinced she’s getting the brush off.” I held the phone to my ear, looking out over the courtyard of the hospital. The sound of Raven’s voice was in my ear, and the weight of a hundred pounds, or so it felt, was pressed upon my chest. “You keep saying we’ll get together, then you make up some excuse each time I attempt to set something up.”
Part of me felt guilty, but in my defense, the woman terrified me.
In most cases, a female praying mantis or even a black widow spider ate their males after mating. While trying to escape, they were eaten alive after recently getting laid. Seemed extremely cruel when I thought about it. To get pleasure, someone had to die.
This definitely felt like something Raven could be capable of. The idea of it made me chuckle.
“Mike, are you laughing at me?”
“I would never.” I hadn’t meant for her to hear me. “You just get all kinds of fired up.”
“A girl can get a complex when a guy plays them.”
“Not playing ya, Raven.” At least, I wasn’t meaning to. “I honestly have been busy. Working here at the hospital and helping my dad at the farm on the side. A guy has to sleep at some point.”
“I’m gonna give you another week to take me out,” Raven declared, and I could sense the smile on her face. Raven was a pretty girl, there was no doubt about that, but she wasn’t the certain beauty who had managed to invade all my thoughts lately. “Then, I’m gonna move on and file this under a lost cause.”
It was my turn to smile.
“Soon,” I told her, and instantly, my stomach bottomed out. “Maybe Saturday we can meet up?”
We talked a little longer, her, of course, turning everything I said into a sexual innuendo. The woman had the dirtiest mind I had ever witnessed in a female. Some men may have found that kind of fun, alluring even, but it did nothing for me. Raven was a flirt; that part was pretty clear. She wasn’t subtle about telling me she was attracted to me. Life would be so much easier if the feelings were mutual, and I couldn’t lie and say that I hadn’t toyed with the idea of taking her up on what she was offering. A distraction may have been a good thing, considering my focus had been overpowered by a certain dark-haired beauty. But Raven couldn’t be that person because she wanted more. More than I was ready to offer her or ever thought of offering.
“I’d say I’ll hold you to it, but then I’d be left disappointed once again. So, instead, I’ll say this.” I could almost picture her biting her lip. The strangest thing was that I had never really been into that lip-biting thing girls did. “I’ll be at Lucky’s, and if you show up,
