And I watched as all of them sped away.

I tightened my fists and reached in my pocket for my keys.

“Sam.” I grabbed my T-shirt off the worktable. “Can you lock up when everyone’s gone? I need to head out for a while.”

He nodded. “Sure. Where are you going?”

I ignored him, Madoc’s words still floating in the air.

“If she knew she was yours, she wouldn’t have gotten in that car.”

No, I thought. She knew she was mine, and she shouldn’t have gotten in that car.

CHAPTER 14

JULIET

When I get my hands on you …

I texted my threat to Shane and Fallon and stuffed my phone back into my purse.

“Sorry if you were ambushed.” Adam shot me an apologetic look as he drove. “It wasn’t my idea.”

“I’m sure.” I didn’t know Fallon extremely well, but I got the impression that this was probably more Madoc’s brainchild anyway.

“But I’m kind of glad.” He flashed me an honest grin. “As long as you don’t have a boyfriend that’s going to come and beat my ass.”

I sucked in a shaky breath, immediately thinking of Jax, which was strange, since I’d just broken up with Liam. Shouldn’t I have thought of Liam when Adam said “boyfriend?”

“Nope,” I rushed out. “No boyfriend.”

“Good.” He relaxed into his seat, doing the guy thing like Jax. But not doing it nearly as well.

Adam’s body wasn’t long, and it didn’t fill the space the same way. His car was more compact, and I didn’t feel the quivers in my thighs the way I did when Jax’s Mustang vibrated under my body.

Adam’s car was fun. Jax’s car was a threat.

Oh, my God. Why was I comparing them? Jax wasn’t making me any promises. And Adam was only here for a few days.

Both were unavailable, in my opinion, and I was a free agent.

Just have fun at the carnival, Juliet.

We pulled into the fairgrounds and parked on the grassy field, right next to Madoc’s car.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I smiled.

County fairs were held at the town’s established fairgrounds, not far from the Loop, and today was probably the best day to come. Being that it was midafternoon, the temperature had to be pushing a hundred degrees already, and I was already sticky. While some hated that, I loved it.

The fuzzy lights in the distance cast a spectacular glow of reds, greens, yellows, and blues, and the sounds of carnival life filled the thick, hot air, making me want to smile.

Eighties music crackled over cheap speakers, riders screamed as their roller coasters whipped them through the air, and intercoms blared names of the latest winners of the ring toss and duck pond, while the sharp pop of the balloon-and-dart game cut through my ears.

I inhaled the hot scent of funnel cake, mixed with sickly sweet cotton candy, and clutched the hem of my shorts at my sides as we traipsed through the high grass to the entrance. With the sun beating down on my shoulders, and the sweat already dripping down my back, I licked my lips, tasting the dirt in the air.

Cheap carnivals grossed a lot of people out. They were grungy and dilapidated, and they attracted deviants.

At least, that was what my mother had told me.

The only reason she ever came was to work a stand, signing up people for the Garden Club, the Rotary Club, or whatever election candidate she was supporting that year.

I never wanted to be a part of that, though. I never wanted to be stuck inside the old banquet hall at the fairgounds with the air-conditioning. There was just something completely raw about the atmosphere outside. About the sweat, the heat, and the dirt.

I couldn’t explain it, and I was always ashamed of it, but I felt primal here. I loved the carnival. For all the reasons my mother hated it.

Walking in, we purchased bracelets that would allow us to ride as much as we wanted until closing, and then we went for food.

“Hot dog,” Fallon ordered, digging in her purse.

Madoc came up behind her, sucking on her neck. “Save your appetite. I’ve got a foot-long for later.”

“Ugh.” She shoved him away but still smiled.

I grinned, Madoc laughed, and Adam and Shane were helping each other with their wristbands.

I turned to the girl working the concession stand. “I’d like a cherry Popsicle, please.” And I raised my eyebrows to Shane. “You?”

“Hot dog, too!” She barely glanced up as she fastened the band at Adam’s wrist.

“Adam? You want anything?” Madoc asked.

“Nah, I’m good.”

We paid and ate and chatted about everything that had been going on. Shane’s brilliant notion to change her major again for a college career she hadn’t even started yet. Fallon trying to decide which piercing she’d get, and Madoc trying to stick his hand between her legs to indicate where he wanted her to get pierced. Adam talking about the latest research on vegan diets.

And me trying not to think about how fast I’d fallen in the last twenty-four hours.

I’d threatened my mom, let Jaxon Trent stick his fingers and tongue inside me, and now I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up for college in the fall, since Sandra Carter would no doubt disallow access to my college fund.

And I laughed.

The smile spread my lips wide, and my skin hummed just under the surface as everyone chatted away, and I kept laughing.

My head bowed, and my stomach tingled.

“Um … ,” Shane started. “You okay?”