But that wasn’t what captured my attention. It was his scars. There were several down his arms, some on his neck. I only imagined he had to have more. They had to tell a story and I instantly wanted to see and touch every single one of them, as if they would tell me what happened to him.
He hadn’t moved from his place in front of me, still caging me with arms. I began to think his feet were glued to the floor beneath him. Smoke billowed up all around us, only adding to his tempting allure.
His lips were smooth when they brushed mine. I felt the sudden urge to feel them against me again, but deeper that time.
I bit my lip at the thought, and his eyes glazed over.
“What’s your name?” he asked, seeming caught off guard by his own question. Like he had never asked for a girl’s name before.
For first time since my parents died I wanted to say…
Daisy.
I opened my mouth to reply but quickly asked, “What’s yours?” instead.
He smiled, big and wide. Displaying perfect white teeth.
“Austin.”
I noticed there was a slight southern drawl to his voice and had to resist the urge to ask him where he was from.
He raised his scarred eyebrow at me, waiting for my response.
“Briggs.”
He cocked his head to the side not sure if I was telling him the truth. I wasn’t used to telling people my name, it felt so foreign leaving my lips. I never had a reason to voice my name, people around me already knew. My little black cards were the reason why I was there. I went where my uncle ordered me to go.
“Is that your last name?”
I shook my head no.
“Your parents named you Briggs?” he questioned with a hint of teasing in his tone.
“Your parents named you Austin?” I fired back with the same tone.
He chuckled. “Feisty.”
Standing upright, moving away from me and taking his warmth with him. I immediately missed it.
He hit the blunt again and then handed it over to me. I tried to hide my disappointment, I wanted to feel his lips on mine again. I shook away all the new and unfamiliar feelings, stepping away from him to walk over to the railing.
I hit the blunt a few times, waiting for him to join me. It took longer than it should have, and I was suddenly subconscious about what he was thinking that made him waver and stay by the sliding door where I left him. When I felt his presence next to me, I thought he would lean over the railing to look out at the water like I was.
He didn’t.
He stood close beside me, leaning up against the railing, his left forearm holding up all his weight. His eyes placed intently on the side of my face, looking through me. Not at me.
I cleared my throat and swallowed hard. My heart beating rapidly with the effect he was having on me.
“So, Briggs, you from Miami?”
My nerves were set on fire. A hot blaze ran steady through my body. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. He had me questioning who he was and how he had this hold on me. I hated and loved the newfound feeling he was producing deep within my core.
It was mind-boggling.
I had been around some of the most powerful, corrupt men in the entire world and didn’t bat an eye. They didn’t even fucking faze me anymore. Yet, there I was anxious and nervous about a guy I had only just met. Acting like the teenage girl I was supposed to be and not the fucked up prodigy I’d become.
The connection and pull he had on me was making me want to reveal my truths, and that scared the shit out of me.
“How old are you?”
I shrugged, unable to find my voice.
I knew I was making a complete ass out of myself, but I wasn’t used to talking to ordinary people. All the acquaintances in my life were business transactions.
I handed him back the blunt, not answering his questions.
He eyed me cautiously.
It was too much to take in, and I was making a fool of myself anyway. I pushed off the railing.
“Thanks for the smoke," I said with a nod.
I didn’t give him time to answer. I quickly turned to leave, but he caught my arm, stopping me.
Our eyes connected.
“Where you goin’?” he asked, as if his whole world was about to walk away from him.
I smiled. I couldn’t help it.
“I got a smile,” he added, reaching out with his other hand like he was catching my expression in the air and placed it near his heart.
“I’ll keep that one. Who knows when I’ll get to see it again.”
I laughed, giving him a huge smile that time. He groaned, setting his hand over his heart again, bowing his head in a dramatic gesture.
“Now, you’re just tryin’ to kill me, baby.”
Baby…
I blushed, grinning like a damn schoolgirl. When he unexpectedly pulled me toward him, for a brief moment I thought he was going to wrap me in his arms, but at the last second he set me right next to him by the railing.
“What’s a guy got to do around here to get you to talk to him, huh?”
I shrugged, that time I was just fucking with him.
“Damn, I take two steps forward and three steps back. I won't complain… I got a smile, didn’t I?”
I grinned.
We passed the blunt back and forth a few more times in comfortable silence and then he threw the roach over the railing.