Five Weeks (Seven Series #3)(75)

I reached out and stroked his temple with the tips of my fingers. “That’s because I know the real guy beneath it all who’s terrible at miniature golf. I know the man who spent every dollar in his pocket to buy a pair of new shoes for the little boy in the motel room next to ours whose mother was so cracked out she didn’t care what happened to him. I love your voice and your music, but I love when you’re just yourself around me.”
He smiled, and his jade eyes simmered. “Anything else you love?”
“Hey, you two,” Lexi said, excitedly running in our direction. “Jericho, stand up.”
He glanced up at Lexi and rose to his feet.
She wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks for giving Trevor a chance. He’s over the moon about it.”
Jericho chuckled and patted her back as Austin strolled up. “He’s awesome. Didn’t know he’d been holding back on me.”
Lexi backed up and landed in Austin’s arms. He lazily dipped her for a kiss.
Jericho held the arms of my chair and bent down. “I’m making a food run. What do you feel like eating?”
“Lobster would be fabulous.”
He rubbed his nose playfully against mine. “Typical fair food.”
“If you see hot dogs, grab me one of those. You know what I like.”
His face soured. “Yeah, that kraut.”
“So what’s wrong with sauerkraut?”
“I can’t kiss you if you’ve been eating that stuff.”
I tried to suppress my smile, but he was right there in my face. “Who says you’re going to kiss me?”
“Oh, I’m going to kiss you, baby. And I want you to sit here, thinking about the lipgasm I’m going to give to you. I don’t kiss other women, Isabelle. I’ve been saving my lips for you, so hang tight, and I’ll be back with those hot dogs.”
When he swaggered off, I felt like I needed a cold shower and a beer. Jericho found the switch that turned me on, and he didn’t even need to touch me.
“Wow,” Lexi remarked, plopping down in the chair beside me. “I’ve never seen Jericho acting this way before. So you two go way back, huh?”
“Eons. We lived, breathed, and ate together for five years on the road. He changed my life.”
“For the better, I hope. Austin, honey, can you get me a funnel cake?”
Austin was jingling change in his pocket, his eyes alert and watchful. “Not sure I want to leave you alone with this crowd.”#p#分页标题#e#
“It’s a party. We’re staying here, and if anyone tries anything funny, bad Lexi comes out to play.”
His brows arched. “Bad wolf Lexi, or bad girl Lexi? Let me know if I need to go home and get my gloves,” he said suggestively.
She extended her leg and tried to kick him as he chuckled and disappeared into the crowd.
“You two are great together,” I said.
“He’s my first love.” Lexi smiled and tied her straight hair into a ponytail. “I didn’t think he liked me back then, but I found out he’d been in love with me since high school. Boys just have a stupid way of showing it. Then they grow up into men who have a really stupid way of showing it.”
I laughed. “That sounds right. So you’ve been together that long?”
Her brown eyes locked on mine. “No. We were apart for seven years. Sometimes you need time away to realize how you really feel about someone, you know?”
I removed my plastic bracelets and necklace since the lights had died out. Lexi had a point. I thought I’d known how I’d felt about Jericho years ago, but I was uncertain. I’d convinced myself it was just one of those infatuations. I was wrong. Seeing Jericho again was like finding the other half of me that had been missing.
“Do you… have a pack?” Lexi asked.
“No. I’ve never had one. I’m just… somewhat…”
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me, Izzy. I don’t blame you for being standoffish. Some of the packs around here are intimidating. I grew up human, so you can imagine how scared I was when Austin asked me to live with a bunch of men. This is new to me, but I’ve never been happier. Well, except for the toilet-seat situation they can’t seem to comprehend. We all have our different personalities, but we’re a tight group. We look out for one another.”
“Do you know a man named Lorenzo Church?”
She arched her brows dramatically. “Where did you hear that name?”
“I ran into him earlier. He was pissing territorial lines.”
“Oh brother,” she said with a sigh. “That sounds like Lorenzo all right. He’s one of the local Packmasters… and my cousin.”