Overtime Read online

  Or so she kept repeating to herself.

  “So yeah, I mean, don’t think I don’t want you, because I do, Kacey. So damn bad, but I think waiting is what’s best for us.”

  “Not till, like, marriage though, right?” she asked as he turned onto Lacey’s street.

  He chuckled. “No, gotta make sure we fit before we take that step, but I want to wait. Believe me, it’s hard and it honestly might kill me if I have to keep enduring you in those work-out shorts of yours, but I think this is what’s best for us.”

  What about what she thought?

  Before she could ask that though, he pulled into the driveway and looked over at her. “Also, while we are being honest, has anyone ever told you you cuss a lot?”

  “No,” she said simply, unfazed by his statement. “Why? Do I?”

  He smiled. “Kinda.”

  “Oh,” she said then paused, eyeing him. “Is that a problem?”

  He laughed and shrugged. “My parents don’t really like it, so maybe when they come into town, you can watch it a bit?”

  She made a face and then shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”

  “Don’t be mad.”

  “I’m not, but I’m not going to fucking sugarcoat myself… Whoa, hold on,” she said, holding up her hand. “I’m tired and pissy—not at you, promise—and horny. So let’s put this convo on hold because I’m not sure how to control what will come out of my mouth.”

  He eyed her skeptically and then nodded. “That’s fine with me. I’m sorry.”

  “No, it isn’t your fault. Come here,” she said, taking him by his shirt and pulling him to her, smashing her mouth to his. As she kissed him, she prayed to feel something, and maybe she could, but she was mad. Usually when she was mad, she didn’t feel anything but rage, which meant she had to get out of that car now. Parting, she smiled a stupid fake smile as he pulled back, fixing his shirt, which bothered her.

  He was always so put together.

  And he didn’t like that she cussed.

  Rolling her eyes, she reached for her overnight bag and opened the door.

  “Do you want me to carry that in, baby?” he asked, but she shook her head.

  “I’m good, thanks though. Thanks for driving and the wonderful weekend,” she said sweetly and he smiled.

  “Anytime. Call me later?”

  “Sure,” she answered, but as she slammed the door, she glared at the grass. “If you think I fucking cuss a lot, wait till you meet my daddy.”

  Grumbling as she made it to the door, she used her key to open it, and as she entered, she hollered out, “It’s me, Lacey, don’t shoot.”

  When the door slammed behind her, she heard, “I’d never shoot someone as gorgeous as you.”

  His rough, naughty voice sent chills down her spine as her eyes locked with his dark-as-night gaze. Her heart jumped up in her throat as Jordie grinned back at her, running his hand shyly through his hair. As he licked his lips, desire shot straight to her gut and she wanted to scream in frustration at the same damn time.

  Really? He was here. Really!

  “Hey, sugar thighs. Long time, yeah?”

  As her eyes burned into his, all she could think was, yeah, she cussed a lot. But Liam couldn’t even fathom was she was capable of.

  But this asshole was about to find out how damn skilled Kasey King was in the art of cussing.

  Red-hot rage burned through her as their eyes stayed locked. Lacey wasn’t kidding, Jordie did look like shit, but Kacey still thought he was every bit as gorgeous as he was when he was all cleaned up. There was something about that beard that got her every time, but he really needed to groom it. She had no clue what he had been doing or what he had been through, but he looked like it had been hellish. Instantly, she was even more pissed. Why couldn’t he have allowed her to be there for him? She would have. She’d follow him to the end of the earth. Anywhere. But he didn’t want her. He didn’t love her. He didn’t need her. She was nothing to him.

  And she was ready to tell him what she thought about all of that.

  Months of anger were about to spew all over him, and she prayed for the safety of the innocent bystanders.

  “How dare you!” she hollered and his brows shot up.

  “What? I said hi,” he said, feigning innocence, but there was nothing about Jordie that was innocent. His name and innocence didn’t even belong in the same sentence. What did belong was: Jordie Thomas was a heartbreaking fucking asshole!

  “You know damn well that’s not what I’m speaking of! I haven’t heard from you, seen you in almost nine months, and you have the gall to fucking stand there, looking at me like I’m one of the boys, and say hi to me like I’m nothing? Like I didn’t mean anything to you. Like you didn’t throw me away for whatever slut of the month. Like you didn’t break my fucking heart!”

  “That’s not how I said it,” he said, laying the knife he’d been chopping with down. “I welcomed you and, whoa, can we at least greet each other before you start accusing me of shit?”

  “Accusing!” she screamed, and he grimaced a bit. “No! There is no accusing. You did it, and you also don’t get to fucking welcome me to my house.”

  “Our house.”

  “What!”

  He smiled before waving in a very annoying way. “Hey, roomie.”

  “Are you fucking kidding me? You fucking asshole!”

  “Whoa, calm down, Kacey,” Lacey said from the doorway, Mena Jane cradled in her arms, but Kacey’s gaze didn’t leave Jordie’s.

  “No, I don’t have to calm down because this asshole used me like a pair of gloves and threw me in the Dumpster without even a reason why. All I did was admit I loved you, and I really did think you loved me back. But no, you completely shut me out. How dare you? After all we went through, after all we shared, after what I did for you. I mean, I was commuting from Minnesota to Colorado for you! So obviously I meant business. So please, Jordie, explain to me why I didn’t mean more to you?”

  “I didn’t use you, Kacey,” he said softly, his eyes averting like the coward he was.

  “Oh, really? So that’s why you answered my calls and my texts after I left your cabin on New Year’s?” When he didn’t answer, it only made her madder. “I was nothing to you. Just an easy fuck, and when shit got deep, you moved on to the next slut. Like you always do. Can’t stay with one person, because they’ll fuck you over like every man in the world fucks your mom.”

  “Kacey Marie!” Lacey scolded, but Kacey rolled her eyes. Lacey didn’t know half the shit Jordie had done to her. The heartbreak he caused. When she looked over at him, his eyes met hers and she saw the pain and hurt in his eyes. But she refused to let that affect her. He broke her. She wouldn’t be sorry for saying the damn truth.

  “No, you were more than that. And don’t use my mom to hurt me, that’s fucking low,” he said, cool as a cucumber to her, but she knew differently. His mom was a low-blow subject and she was wrong to use it, but she couldn’t hold it in. She was just so damn mad.

  “Really? But it wasn’t low or rude that you didn’t answer my texts or calls?”

  “I was scared, Kacey,” he said softly. “You scare the shit out of me.”

  She only glared. What a fucking stupid thing to say. He didn’t say shit like that, because he wasn’t scared of anyone! He didn’t let anyone in to be scared of them, and she didn’t believe him for a second.

  “Bullshit. Tell the truth, Jordie. You didn’t answer because I made you feel something more than what you were used to.”

  “That’s the same damn thing, Kacey. That’s what I fucking meant,” he yelled back at her. But that couldn’t be true…

  “Bullshit! You don’t mean that. You rejected me and made me feel like I wasn’t worth anything!” she yelled, her eyes clouding with tears. She wouldn’t let them fall though. No matter what, she wouldn’t. He didn’t deserve her tears. It enraged her that he walked in here, assuming they would be cool after all he did. He ruined her.

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