“If shit gets weird and you want to bail,” Bailey said as I grabbed my bag from the trunk, “call me and I’ll pick you up. I’ll also smack Aaron around. Or if you want to smack him, I can hold him down for you.”
“I prefer the second one,” Aaron said, appearing through the gate.
My heart leapt at the sound of his voice and it didn’t slow down when I saw him. Aaron stood in jeans and a white beater showing off a lot of muscles, tattoos, and kissable flesh. How did he manage to get more beautiful with every meeting?
“Hi,” I said, feeling dopey in the presence of such beauty.
“Ugh, get a room,” Bailey said, climbing back into the SUV. “Be good, Aaron, or I’m coming back with tools of torture.”
“If you mean the music you listen to, I’m in absolute terror and will behave.”
“Fuck off,” Bailey said with a grin before speeding off like someone was chasing her.
We both smiled at her fleeing SUV then at each other. Aaron glanced at where two little black and white dogs appeared behind him.
“They’re excited to meet my muse,” he explained, extending his hand to me.
“Your muse?” I murmured, grinning widely as I took his warm hand. “If I was an artist, I have no doubt you’d be my muse. You inspired me to be bad and hatch this plan to sneak off.”
Aaron kissed me gently, sucking softly on my tongue. When his lips left mine, he kept me wrapped against him.
“I’ve always wanted to be a bad influence on someone. Somehow, I always end up as the nice guy instead.”
“Nice guy is code for nerd. There is nothing nerdy about you, Aaron,” I said, licking along the cobra on his neck.
“Hell, we’re going to get the neighbors talking,” he whispered and tugged me past the fence to a small backyard.
As we headed inside, Aaron pointed out his studio in the back and introduced his dogs.
“Do you want to order a pizza?” he asked.
“Sure.”
“What do you like on it?”
An idea occurred to me and I smiled wider. “Let’s each write on a piece of paper what we want on the pizza. That way, we’ll be honest and we can learn something about each other.”
Grinning immediately, Aaron walked to a table with a stack of notebooks. He brought two back with him and handed me one.
“I used to play this game with Raven,” I explained. “We would test each other to see how well we remembered each other’s favorite things. We’d ask a question, write our answers, and show them. Like the newlywed game for sisters. We could play the game without the test part, if you want. Or does that sound stupid?”
“Nothing you say sounds stupid, Lark. I’m not your shitty family.”
I took the notepad. “Let’s start with our dream pizza. Be completely honest even if you like something gross. I want to know you.”
Our eyes met and I knew later we would get to know each other in a more intimate way. My body already warmed at the idea and I knew my nipples were hard under my light pink tee. If Aaron noticed, he didn’t show it. Yet, I suspected he was just that good at playing cool around girls.
Flopping on his comfy couch, I watched Aaron consider where best to sit. He was thinking if he sat next to me that it might seem too forward. If he sat too far away, he might seem distant. I think he was aiming for a middle ground.
“Please, sit next to me,” I said and Aaron grinned. “I missed you the last few days.”
Aaron’s smile faded and I saw genuine hunger in those eyes. As he struggled to fake a relaxed smile, I knew he missed me too. We’d both been waiting for someone special to steal our hearts and now we’d found them. Waiting was killing us both, but a quick trip to the bedroom would likely feel rushed after so much longing.
I wrote my list of favorite pizza toppings on my paper as Aaron did the same. When done, we switched papers.
“Pineapple?” he said, grinning. “Really, Lark?”
“Typical guy. Your pizza toppings require someone to slaughter Old McDonald’s farm.”
Aaron laughed then leaned over and gave us both a taste of what we craved. The moment his lips touched mine, I cupped his smooth cheeks and deepened the kiss. Aaron leaned farther over and his strong body covered mine. For the next few minutes or hour or however long, we tasted and explored and nothing else mattered.
My fingers slid under his shirt and I imagined the tattoos my fingers were caressing. I wanted to see, but the idea of stripping down on the couch felt wrong. Cheap maybe. It didn’t help that Professor and Pollack where staring hardcore at us and panting like we were getting them overheated.
Aaron finally pulled his lips away and the suction sound of our mouths parting startled Pollack who stepped back. Professor remained undaunted.
“Seriously, guys, give me a little space,” he said and the dogs decided he wanted them to climb on the couch with us.
Laughing, I ran my fingers over Aaron’s damp lips. “I can’t remember what we were doing before you came over to say hello.”
Aaron sat back and tugged me against him. “I think we were discussing my love of animal products.”