Four Letter Word

I smiled, admitting, “Already there, babe.”

Her cheeks pinked up again, this time with the kind of embarrassment I liked seeing on her, and without looking at her phone, she hit a button and pressed it to her ear.

“Hello?” she answered, smiling at me, then losing that smile and the pink in her cheeks after whoever she was speaking to responded. Her face hardened. “What are you doing calling me? I told you, I never wanted to speak to you again.”

My jaw clenched

“Babe,” I said, my voice carrying warning, because I knew who was calling Syd and I also knew I was a second away from taking that phone and laying into that motherfucker for calling my girl.

Syd ignored me and kept on at him.

“I’m happy now, Marcus. Happier than I ever was with you ’cause I have a boyfriend who is amazing, and if you’re calling me to try and get me back, you are wasting your time. I’m—”

She stopped laying into him, met my eyes and widened hers, then looked down at a spot on my shirt.

“Oh. Yeah, I forgot to do that,” she said with a softer voice. “I’ll take care of it next week.” She listened for a second, then added, “That’s fine. Thank you for letting me know. Okay. Bye.” She ended the call and slipped her phone away.

“What’s that piece of shit want?” I asked.

Syd looked at me. Her hand slipped around my neck again, joining her other one.

“He was just reminding me to change my address with the post office,” she said. “My mail is still going there.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” She sucked on her lip. “But I was ready to tell him all about how amazing you are if he was calling for other reasons, and I would’ve had a lot to say, meaning that phone call would’ve lasted hours. You’re that amazing. Also, I would’ve given examples and gone into detail.”

I smirked.

Syd’s cheeks pinked up again when she leaned closer and shyly added, “A lot of detail.”

I chuckled.

“Come here.” I shifted her ass in my hands, pulling her until her tits pushed up against my chest and her arms wrapped around my neck instead of her fingers, then I turned my head and pressed my mouth to her jaw and the smooth skin below.

“Seriously. Think I just became a woman,” Jamie said.

Syd’s growl vibrated against my lips.

“Do you have the authority to fire him?” she asked quietly. “He’s ruining the moment.”

I chuckled, shifting her back until her legs released and her feet dropped to the floor, then sliding my arm over her shoulder, I tucked her against my side as we moved together in front of the counter.

Jamie grinned and slid his phone away, shook the hair out of his eyes, and remained leaning on the counter, fixating his gaze on Syd.

“See you’re off today. Is my girl workin’?” he asked, cocking his head. “Fuckin’ starved for a burger and her smart-ass mouth.”

“I really think she’d prefer it if you went someplace else to eat,” Syd replied, sliding her hand around my back.

Jamie grinned bigger.

“Beautiful. She’s workin’. I’m headin’ out.” He shifted his eyes to me as Syd sighed heavily in response. “You good?” he asked, straightening. “Should be back around four.”

I nodded, answering, “No problem.”

Jamie looked at Syd again. His brows pulled together.

“What kind of flowers does she like?”

Silence turned my head. I looked down at my girl and saw disbelief etched on her face.

“You …want to know what kind of flowers Tori likes?” she questioned slowly.

“That’s what I’m askin’.”

“Why?”

“Why the hell do you think? I wanna get her some.”

Syd’s expression changed from disbelief to straight-up shock. She stared at Jamie with her mouth slack and hanging open, eyes rounded and refusing to blink.

“You do?” she pressed, tipping forward. “But …you’re an idiot.”

Jamie flinched. “What the fuck?”

“I’m just saying, that’s thoughtful and you don’t strike me as a thoughtful person,” Syd quickly clarified. “Now you wanna be that guy who takes her flowers?”

“No. Honestly? I really fuckin’ don’t,” Jamie said, crossing his arms and appearing irritated. “I wanna be the guy who fucks up a car owned by some worthless motherfucker who did her wrong and gets to see that soft look on her face after I do it.”

Syd sucked in a breath. The hand gripping my waist held tighter.

“Unless you got a list of names of people I can pay a visit to, I’m shit outta luck with that,” he added. “So are you gonna help me out? Or do I need to buy one of every flower and hope for the best.”

Syd slid her other hand over my stomach, body turned so I could feel her tits against my ribs.

“Tori only likes dahlias,” she said. Her voice was softer. “That’s it. Coral ones if you can find them, but if you can’t, she likes every color. And she likes displaying them so make sure you put them in something, not just with the stems wrapped up.”

Jamie nodded, looking hopeful, then started flipping his keys around his finger and heading for the door, calling back, “Thanks, Sunshine. Appreciate it,” before disappearing through it.

Syd tipped her head back to smile up at me.