“What do you think is better in a relationship? Friendship or hot sex?”
He reaches out and touches the tip of my nose. “I think you forgot love, silly.”
“Oh, yeah.” I frown.
“Why is that cute little face frowning?”
I let out a sigh. “I’m not sure I know what love is. What it’s supposed to be. It confuses me.”
“It confuses me too. I kept thinking if it was real love with Whitney that we’d get back together. That it would just happen.”
“That’s exactly what I’m wondering. Is real love easy or hard?”
“You make me hard.” He grins and raises his eyebrows at me.
I smack him gently on his buff arm.
“What? I’m serious. You do. So, um, what exactly did you and my brother do? Like, what really happened between you?”
“Like, sexually?”
“Yeah.”
“Nothing. Well, he did see a bit of my bra the other night.
“He got to see your bra?”
“I was getting dressed for carnival and well, yeah, sorta. I’m talking like just the straps because I was holding a dress in front of me asking if it was appropriate before I put it on.”
“Was it the same sexy leopard bra you had on the other night? I don’t remember much of the party, but I do remember that.”
“It’s not really that sexy. It covers up more than a bikini.”
“I think pretty much anything would look sexy on you. But you’re right, it would probably look better off.” He grins at me and his eyes glisten.
Charm and sexiness definitely run in the Johnson family.
I bite the corner of my lip, trying to stop myself from smiling.
He says quietly, “And I probably shouldn’t do this, but I am.”
Then he leans over and kisses me.
Now, he’s dragging me across campus. Says he wants to show me all his favorite places.
Stop number one is a parking lot.
We walk up to a fully modified BMW 1M V-8 Hurricane RS. It’s got a custom paint job in carbon fiber gray, has blacked out windows, extra body moldings, and all sorts of engine modifications. It’s a hot car. Tommy would love it.
I watch him gently wipe a speck of dust off the hood.
“Your car is your baby, isn’t it?”
He laughs. “Pretty obvious, huh?”
“I got a really sweet car for my birthday,” I say wistfully.
“Really? What kind?”
I tell him about my beautiful Mercedes. The car I have never even driven.
He lets out a whistle. “Your parents have good taste.”
“I’m the one who saw a picture of it and told Tom, uh, my stepdad that I loved it. I never imagined they’d buy it for me.”
“Why didn’t you bring it?”
Because I didn’t want a stalker to use it to track me down.
But, shit. Why didn’t I? Why wouldn’t I? I try not to panic. I think about how Tommy named all his cars. How you’d find him sitting in the garage staring at them and wiping them with a diaper. I come up with an answer.
“I didn’t want it to have to sit outside. Especially in the winter. So I need to buy a car here. How well do you know the area around school?”
His eyes light up. “I know it quite well. I was going to ask if you wanted to go off campus for some killer pizza tonight. Thought we could discuss my image. We could go early and swing by a couple dealerships. So what do you want? Do you know?”
“I was thinking a Range Rover.”
He nods his head. “A tight one, though, right?” He looks me up and down.
“What’s that for?”
“I’m trying to figure out what you’d look best in.”
“I already know what I’d look best in. The black V-8 with the supercharged motor. Deep chestnut interior. Probably have to do some cool wheels later.”
“You have good taste.”
“Well, thank you. So I need to change and grab my purse. What time do you want to leave?”
“Just text me when you’re ready.”
You should hate yourself.
3pm
I’m redoing my makeup when I get a text from Riley.
Sex God: You were kissing my brother in front of me. Break my heart. </3
Me: It was one kiss and you hooked up with Audrey last night.
Sex God: Because you were with Aiden. Having a million dances.
Me: It was 29.
Sex God: Why didn’t you meet me at the party? It was fun.
Me: I was upset. Didn’t feel like a party. Didn’t want to go back to Aiden’s room.
Sex God: Why?! What happened? Did he try stuff you didn’t want him to? I’ll kick his ass, seriously.
Me: It’s a long story. And no, he was a total gentleman.
Sex God: So who upset you?
Me: Aiden. He confuses me. I have no idea what he thinks. One minute he’s all romantic. The next he acts like he hates me.
Sex God: What are you doing now? Wanna go to the cafe with me and Dallas later?
Me: I’m going off campus for dinner.
Sex God: With the dance team?
Me: Um, no.
Sex God: My brother?!
Me: Yeah.
Sex God: He asked you on a DATE!?
Me: No. It’s pizza. He hung with me and Dallas last night.
Sex God: So you can party with Dallas and my brother, but not me?