Fighting for Flight by JB Salsbury (best books for students to read .txt) 📗

Her announcement silences the baseball talk as everyone turns to see who it is.

Holy fucking shit.

It’s Raven.

And she’s wearing a dress.

Thankful for my sunglasses, I let my eyes roam her body freely. Her dark hair is braided to the side, the thick chocolate rope lying against the swell of her breast. My gaze lingers on her cleavage, the dress accentuating her already perfect form. The flowing fabric ends well above her knees, exposing her long, toned legs.

I vaguely notice the blonde at her side. That must be Eve.

As they walk toward the bar, I can’t take my eyes off Raven. She glides across the yard in that unconsciously sexy way of hers. A deep moan from one of the guys at the bar has me turning my head. They have their greedy fucking eyes locked on my girl and her friend.

My girl?

Possession flares, having me step away from the bar to meet them, effectively cutting the girls off from the ogling, lecherous dicks behind me.

“Is this a joke?”

“Didn’t see this coming.”

I hear the mumbled comments from the numb-nut gallery, and ball my fists to keep from flipping them off.

“Ladies, glad you could make it.” I’m impressed that my voice didn’t crack under the pressure.

“Hey, Jonah.” Raven tilts her head, motioning to her friend. “This is my friend, Eve. Eve, this is Jonah.”

“Hi, Jonah.” Eve shakes my hand and peruses the backyard. “Nice digs.”

“Thanks. Come on. I’ll introduce you to the guys.”

I direct the girls to walk ahead of me with the idea that I can place my hand on the small of Raven’s back. It’s a gentle way of claiming her in front of the guys. It’s either that or plunge my tongue down her throat in front of everyone, and something tells me she’s not quite ready for that.

She brushes past. Her delicate pear fragrance fills my lungs. I bite my lip and lust saturates my brain. My fingers burn to bury themselves in her hair and pull her to me.

I place my hand where the slope of her spine flows to her ass and nearly stumble over my feet. There, on the backdrop of her perfect olive skin, is the tattoo that has been taunting me for days. A flock of blackbirds serpentine from her shoulder, dipping below the fabric of her dress. From the scale of the tattoo, I’d say the birds start at her hip.

The view evokes images of her laid out naked before me. Running my tongue along my lip, I imagine what it would taste like to kiss her from one end of her tattoo to the other. To feel her skin, warm, soft and sweet against my lips. I’m already hard as a rock, and I haven’t even seen her in her bikini yet. I go over baseball stats, trying to ease my raging need.

“This is my friend Owen.” Raven rakes her sunglasses up on her head. “The pierced one is Rex, and the one who looks like he just jumped off a tractor in Idaho is Caleb.” She nods through the introductions. “Guys, this is Raven and her friend, Eve.”

I watch closely as my friends size up the girls. It’s not wasted on me that they seem to find the two women attractive. But they linger a little too long on Raven’s eyes.

“Damn, girl. You got some wicked peepers.” Owen’s observation has the rest of the guys agreeing in grumbled affirmations.

A familiar blush lights her cheeks. “Thank you. It’s nice to finally meet you guys.”

“Finally?” Rex’s shit-eating grin tugs at his lip ring. “How long have you and Jonah been hanging out?”

Raven’s attention slides to me, her eyes wide. “Oh, we’re not hanging out . . . er . . . we work—”

“What would you girls like to drink?” I redirect the conversation and smile at the relief I catch in Raven’s expression. Why does it feel as if we’re hiding some deep, dark secret?

“Water would be great,” Raven answers and Eve nods.

“You girls up for baseball?” Most girls wouldn’t be interested in the game, but, then again, most girls aren’t car mechanics.

“Baseball?” Raven scrunches up her nose and shakes her head. So damn cute.

I motion to the loungers set up poolside. “Would you rather get some sun?”

She studies the double lounger and looks at Eve. They both smile big. “Yes, please.”

I set them up with towels and a lounger, placing them close enough so that I can admire Raven, and go back and forth from them to the game easily.

With a fresh beer in hand, I relax against the bar and settle in for the game. So far so good. I have a girl, a date, over at my house. The guys are being semi-respectful. The girls are laughing and talking comfortably. What could possibly go wrong?

“Let’s get this party started, motherfuckers!”

Oh, shit. Blake.

Six

Jonah

My glare sharpens toward the sound of his voice, and it takes everything I have not to punch something.

“Fuck me,” I whisper to the floor.

Blake isn’t alone. He has three girls with him. Two of them I’ve seen before. One is the red-headed stripper, and the other is the blond stripper I slept with a week ago.

Girls I’ve slept with don’t come over. Ever. What the hell is Blake thinking?

I drop my head into my hand. Dammit. Blake doesn’t know I slept with her. He was too busy inspecting the tonsils of that redhead when I left the club.

“Jonah.” Blake saunters up, a girl under each arm. “You remember Selena.” He motions with his chin to the girl with unnaturally bright red hair. “And Candy.” He motions to the blonde.

Her name is Candy. Typical.

“And this lovely lady here is Fiona.” He motions to the dark-haired girl with gigantic breasts shoved into a tiny top. Won’t have to worry about her sinking in the pool.

Candy slides out from under Blake’s arm and steps into my space. Too close. I straighten from my leaning stance at the bar to gain some distance.

“Nice to see you again, Jonah.” Her very