Home > 525 Cherry Blossom Ln. (Cherry Falls #21)(7)

525 Cherry Blossom Ln. (Cherry Falls #21)(7)
Author: Jordan Marie

I shake off my thoughts and concentrate on Jake. Jake is one of my best friends here. That’s not saying a lot, because I’m a loner at heart. Still, Jake goes surfing with me occasionally and we hang out from time to time.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask him, putting a beer on the bar because that’s all he ever drinks.

“You haven’t heard?” he says, seemingly surprised.

“Heard what?” I ask, wiping the bar down as we talk.

“The whole town is talking about how Jodie Jones screamed at Deke Littleton the other night.”

“Fuck, this town kills me sometimes,” I grumble.

“They’re calling you Linc the Virgin Slayer,” Jake laughs.

“Son of a bitch.”

“Jodie is like a unicorn, Linc.”

“What?” I ask, wondering if Jake might be drunk, because he’s not making any sense.

“She’s the daughter of the deacon of Cherry Falls Church of God. She’s twenty-six and never even had a boyfriend. To find out she’s been sleeping with you and admitted to it in the middle of a crowded restaurant? Not to mention, she told everyone that she loves sex and you’re the reason even though she hates you? Damn, man.”

“Shit,” I hiss. “Are they really talking about this shit in town?” I ask him.

“Everywhere.”

“Motherfucker,” I grumble, making Jake laugh as he takes a swig on his beer. Things just got a hell of a lot more complicated.

 

 

7

 

 

Jodie

 

 

Going to the grocery store is a different kind of hell. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me. I’d like to think it’s all in my head, but I know better. Right now, if Thomas Miller looks at me any closer, I’m liable to spontaneously combust from the curiosity. The same goes for his wife, Clementine. I make my way up to the counter to put my small basket of groceries on the conveyor to pay for them. Luckily, it’s neither one of them that come over to check me out. It’s their son Charlie instead.

“Hey, Jodie,” he says, and unlike his parents, he’s avoiding my gaze.

I like Charlie. We went to school together and he’s a year older than I am. He’s always friendly. That’s one of the reasons he’s made a success out of running the market with his parents.

“Hey, Charlie. You guys seem busy today,” I respond, making small talk and counting down the minutes until I’m out of the store.

“Everyone is gearing up for the storms in the forecast. Going to be a rough hurricane season, I think.”

“Maybe,” I answer, my gaze moving to Charlie’s mother. The old woman shakes her head in censure, while making a disgusted noise through her nose. It’s under her breath, but still sounds loud to my ears. Then, she stomps off. I jump a little when she slams the door.

“Ignore her,” Charlie says surprising me.

“Huh?”

“Mom, everyone really. It will die down.”

“It will?” I ask, thinking maybe I should have gone to Syn City to pick up groceries.

“Yeah,” he says, giving me what I think is supposed to be a reassuring smile.

“What will die down?”

“All of the talking about your fight with Deke Littleton last week,” he explains, and I wince. I kind of figured that’s what all the stares were about, but I was sort of hoping I was wrong.

“Shit,” I hiss.

“Deke’s an asshole,” Charlie says, and I laugh.

“Yeah, he kind of is.”

“Did you hear he tried to swear out a warrant on Lincoln?”

“What?” I gasp, my heart beating fast. “What on earth for?”

“My brother Duke was at the Fireside after your fight. He said after you left, Linc was so mad that he punched Deke.”

“He punched him?” I gasp.

“Yeah. He said it was epic. Linc broke Deke’s nose.”

“Oh my God,” I whisper. “I had no idea.”

“Yep, Deke tried to swear out a warrant on him. Sheriff Larson told him that if he did, Faith Bridges would swear out a warrant for slander against him.”

“Holy shit. Faith wouldn’t do that.”

“She might if the sheriff asked her to. I think they’re getting kind of chummy.”

“Faith and Sheriff Larson?” I ask, completely shocked. I haven’t talked to Faith in a couple of weeks. Seems like I should rectify that and soon.

“Yep. Anyway, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you and Lincoln.”

“Uh, thanks, Charlie,” I murmur.

“Sometimes things happen for the best,” he says.

“Yeah, I guess so,” I respond.

“Sometimes when people break up, it just means there’s better out there—”

“Jodie and I are fine,” Linc says coming around me and grabbing the bags of groceries that Charlie has ready on the counter.

“I…You…We…” I stutter, unsure of what to say.

That apparently doesn’t matter to Linc, because he puts his hand on my back and all but manhandles me out of the grocery store.

“Where’s your vehicle?” Linc asks, and maybe that’s what snaps me out of my stupor.

“None of your business. What are you doing here?” I snap.

“I need to talk to you,” he says, and I pull back to look at him.

I really hate that he’s so hot. He should look horrible. If he had like two noses on his face, or his lips were fat and green in color—that would make me feel better.

And what is up with his hair?

Men should not have hair prettier than a woman’s. His falls midway down his back when it’s down. Today, he has it up in a messy bun, but it’s still sexy as hell. It looks like spun gold. It’s so freaking soft that the feel of it against my naked skin is so good I still dream about it at night—even after all of this time.

That’s also another part of the problem. It feels like I just left Lincoln Locke’s apartment this morning. The embarrassment and pain is still that fresh.

I try my best to gather my wits and stare at him like he’s lost his mind.

“I don’t think we have anything to say to one another, Mr. Locke.”

“Considering you have the whole town calling me the virgin slayer, I think we do.”

“The virgin…the whole town…” I stop because I feel like I can’t breathe. “Why would they do that?” I pant, almost unable to talk.

“Maybe because you told the whole town that you were a virgin when we slept together,” he bites out and my heart stutters in my chest because his tone sounds accusatory.

“I didn’t tell the whole town,” I deny.

“You announced it at the Fireside. You’ve lived in Cherry Falls a lot longer than I have, so don’t pretend you don’t know how people talk around here. Before you ever left that night, twenty people were on the phone telling their friends about what you said and then their friends were calling their friends and—”

“Stop! You’re making it sound like I meant to blurt that shit out.”

Hot Books
» House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City #1)
» A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire
» From Blood and Ash (Blood And Ash #1)
» A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime
» Deviant King (Royal Elite #1)
» Den of Vipers
» House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City #2)
» The Queen of Nothing (The Folk of the Air #
» Sweet Temptation
» The Sweetest Oblivion (Made #1)
» Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
» Wreck & Ruin
» Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2)
» Twisted Hate (Twisted #3)
» The Play (Briar U Book 3)