The girls walk off to set up whilst Jesse follows behind them. I take a quick glance back over my shoulder, the car that followed us from the market is now gone. Something about this feels off. I’ll try to catch Jesse alone later on, surely he noticed something as well.

Stretching out comfortably behind Kinsley, I wrap my arm around her waist encouraging her to lean back against me as I sit with my back against the treetrunk. Out of the corner of my eye I catch Jesse’s glare from across the spread of food in front of us. I’m trying to work out if this guy is in protective big brother mode, or if the poor bugger has been friendzoned. To hide the smirk I know would be impossible to hold back, I nuzzle into the crook of her neck. Bursts of something sweet tingle my nose as I breathe in the smell of her hair. She swats at my thigh; I wonder if her cheeks are turning rosy.

I’ve never been the relationship type of guy, there is too much evil in this world to allow myself to be weakened by loving someone; especially the world my parents have placed at my feet, the dirty world they expect me to run.

Money can buy you whatever you want, unfortunately for me the only thing I want is to have no part of it. Right at this moment, for the first time in my life there is an overwhelming sense of satisfaction simply having this girl in my arms, making sure everyone who sees us knows she is mine. A protectiveness which I have only ever felt for a select five people in my life – the guys who I call my brothers and my sister, Emma – has now extended to her. This shy little brunette with honey coloured eyes.

I want the world to know she is mine.

I want her to know she is mine.

Chapter Twelve

Tanner

I didn’t want to freak the girls out, but all day I saw that same blacked-out SUV wherever we went. I’m not the paranoid type, I know what I saw and I’m determined to get to the bottom of it. Knowing that the girls had created a group text message thread for the four of us, I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, saving Jesse’s phone number before typing out a message to him directly.

Me - Hey Jesse, it’s Tanner. I need to talk to you about something, give me a call when you’re free.