He stands abruptly, and his arms come around my waist, pulling my back to his front. “I’ll pick you up at six tomorrow.”
Shit. Why did he have to give me a time? Damn it.
“Exactly six,” I say quietly.
“Exactly,” he promises.
Chapter 25
CHASE
“Big brother called me today,” Blake says as he walks into my shop, looking over at me as I finish dabbing away the excess ink on the spine of the girl who is lying face-down in my chair.
“Who?” I ask absently, moving around to examine my work.
“Aidan. He called. Asked if I’d seen his sister out any. What’s his deal? And why is he calling me? I don’t know him.”
“Hell if I know,” I tell him as the chick in my chair stands up and gives me a naked shot of her chest.
I don’t even acknowledge it as I turn around and grab the aftercare bag. Glad I make them prepay. It means I can just walk away while she takes her time putting her shirt on.
She doesn’t bat an eye as she faces Blake, and he gives her a lopsided grin while staring at her rack.
“What’d you tell him?” I ask Blake as I go over to the sink to wash my hands.
“Told him she was getting out some, but didn’t go into details. Obviously. He asked if you were staying away. I didn’t want to lie, so I told him you were doing your own thing.”
“I’m guessing she told him what she stumbled onto that time she came back,” I grumble.
As the flasher walks by, she sticks something in Blake’s hand, and he watches her ass all the way out.
“I love summer girls.”
As if I needed my summer girl to be in my head any more than she already is.
“So, you and Mika? How’s that going? I can only assume that’s where you’ve been hanging out since you never answer your phone anymore, and Bertie mentioned you two sat in Little Bit Of Italian Heaven for hours the other day.”
Small towns equals big mouths.
“Yeah. I’m… I have no fucking clue what I’m doing to be honest. I suddenly feel like a teenager again, because I’m not acting like myself at all around her.”
I’d have already fucked her and had her begging me to stay with her by now if I was acting like me instead of an insecure fucking kid. It’s annoying. But that’s what she does to me. She drives me crazy and makes me forget who I am.
He starts to say more, but I glance at the clock, realizing that ink took longer than planned. I only have five minutes to get to Mika’s. I could use a shower and stuff, but I promised her six, and she’s a stickler for punctuality.
Blake is still talking as I grab my keys and jog to the truck.
“The hell, man?” he yells.
“Can’t fuck up on night one,” I tell him, laughing when he gives me an incredulous look.
I roll into her driveway at exactly six, and she opens the door with relief in her eyes when she sees me. When I smile at her, she shakily leans against the door. It almost looks like she’s been worried I wasn’t going to show.
She looks incredible. Her hair is down and curled in waves, showing how long it’s gotten. She’s wearing a low cut shirt that has me wanting to trace her skin with my tongue.
Immediately my jeans feel too tight.
Her cut off shorts have strings dangling and playing with the tan flesh of her legs. Legs that I remember too well when they were wrapped around me.
“Care if I take a shower in your house? I was running late but didn’t want to keep you waiting.” Cold shower it is, thanks to the unrelenting hard-on.
She turns a little pale, but she nods. What the hell?
When I reach her, she lets me cup her chin, tilting her head up so that our eyes meet.
“You okay?”
She nods against my hand and slowly melts against me. Her tongue darts out to wet her lips, and I watch it, fighting the urge to take it and suck it into my mouth. There are a lot of places I want to put my mouth, but I’ve got to take things slow.
She’s staying, though. Just knowing that… Fuck. I can’t help myself.
I may not can give her what she wants in life, but I can’t ignore the fact she’s never really moved on. Especially if she’s finding a thousand ways to kill me.
My lips twitch, but she doesn’t notice. She’s still leaning into my hand, letting me keep her close.
“Don’t ever give me an exact time again, please,” she says quietly.
My brow furrows. “Why?”
“Just don’t, okay?” she asks, looking up at me. “Please.”
“Sure. I’ll…um… I’ll go get that shower right quick, toss my clothes back on, and we’ll go.”
She nods again, and I walk by her, careful not to make her uncomfortable since she already looks nervous. Life would be fucking epic if she’d take a shower with me. That’s probably pushing things a little too fast though.
“Oh,” I say turning back around just as she does. “You look like you’re trying to drive me crazy.”
She fights not to smile, but I wink at her and resume my trip up the stairs. It feels like summer for the first time since I was a kid.
Chapter 26
MIKA