Fingers aching in their locked position, she uncurled them and freed the belt. “I want to touch you.”
As she leaned toward him, she glimpsed the guys through the crack between their seats. Rio slumped in the last seat in the rear, head bent on his shoulder, mouth open and eyes closed. On the couch, Laz strummed a guitar in his lap, the sound piping to his large headphones. Beside him, Wil’s face pinched in concentration as he restrung his bass.
Jay removed his hand from her waist, redirecting her attention. He clenched his jaw and gripped the bulge in his leathers. Then he fell toward her and buried his moan in her neck. “Let’s go to the lavatory.”
The charged pulse between her legs dulled. What would Nathan think of her if she snuck off to the bathroom with Jay? Her lungs deflated. She couldn’t risk his judgement without first venting her guilt. “Thought you needed to talk to Tony.”
He put his hands on his knees and frowned at his erection. “Um…Not with this.” The leather pants seemed to magnify his arousal.
“I could shoot it with a rubber band.”
He barked out a strained laugh. “Where the hell did that come from?”
“It’s worked for me in the past.”
His smile crashed into a frown. “What do you mean by that exactly?”
“It’s not what you think. I was just a kid.”
“Jesus.” He stared at her, the whites of his eyes glowing in the dampened light. “That’s even worse.”
“No, this is good story. Want to hear it?”
“I don’t know.” He rubbed a hand over his thigh, distractingly close to his erection. “Do I?”
“Yeah.” She curled up in the seat with her legs beneath her and twisted to face him. “When I was little, Craig used to leave me at the neighbor’s house all the time. Nice lady, but she had five boys. Bigger and older, the bastards liked to gang up on me.”
His hand clenched on his leg. “Where was your mother?”
“I didn’t have a mother. Just listen.” She leaned back in the chair. “They cornered me in the basement, the backyard, the bathroom, anywhere Linda wasn’t, and tried to bully me into taking off my pants. You know, the I’ll let you touch mine if you let me touch yours thing?”
“No.” He ground his teeth. “I don’t know.” His hand flexed and his eyes clouded, so she hurried to the good part.
“I was finding it difficult to fight them off. I could’ve tattled on them, but their retaliation would’ve made things worse. Instead, I made a deal with them.”
“Please tell me this deal did not involve the removal of your pants. How old were you?”
She tapped her lip. “Ten…yeah, I was ten. And the deal was, whoever’s dick I could hit with a rubber band from fifteen paces away would never be able to bother me again.”
He groaned.
“They agreed to one attempt each.”
“Fucking hell, Charlee. And if you missed?”
She grimaced. “He would have unrestricted access below my waistband.”
His hand flew to his hair, tangling and yanking with his fingers. “That was a hell of a risk.” His voice rose. “You were only ten, for fuck’s sake.”
“Calm down. What they didn’t know was I had spent the entire summer collecting rubber bands and shooting them at the bagworms that covered the big spruce behind our apartment building.” She grinned. “I tagged a lot of bagworms.”
His hand dropped to his lap and his lips twitched. “You hustled them.”
Just thinking about it made her smile. “They lined up along the basement wall with their briefs around their ankles.” She let out a happy sigh. “Nothing like watching five hard little pricks shrivel with the delightful sound of snapping rubber.”
He shook his head. “That’s fucked up.”
“I don’t know. I earned their respect, and they never messed with me again.” She laughed. “It’s one of my fondest memories.” She glanced at his lap. “How’s the hard little prick?”
“Not little, but definitely shriveled. Thankfully, without a snapping sound.” His mouth descended toward hers.
She angled away, smiling. “Sure you want to do that again?” She pointed at his lap.
“Argh. I’ll be back in a minute.” He stole a quick kiss and jumped from the seat.
She leaned into the aisle to watch his ass flex through his strides. The confident way he carried himself, especially in his tight pants, made her cheeks heat and her body tingle. Good lord, she would have to cool off before she attempted a conversation with Nathan.
Too late. Nathan gave his seat to Jay and headed her way. She took a few calming breaths, looked up and smiled. “Hey.”
He held out his hand. “Give me the gun.”
She flinched. “Why?”
“Because it makes you too brave, too dangerous, and even more of a pain in the ass than you already are.” His hand waited.