“I don’t think it’s working on me either,” Brianna whispered as she went back to staring at Nova and his girlfriends, because he was doing a very good job at ignoring the rest of them.
Nova leaned into the girl next to him. She had a soft Caribbean accent and beautifully tanned skin. It made the gold glitter she’d sprayed on her arms look like pixie dust. Nova’s hand was on her lower back. His face was in the curve of her neck. He whispered something in French, making her wilt back into him before he dragged his tongue up to her ear.
“I’m sorry,” Tino apologized for his brother. “He’s…really high.”
“Yeah,” Brianna agreed, studying the three of them with a sense of awe, because the girls were still kissing. She honestly didn’t think she would ever be sitting on the train watching something like this, especially with Nova Moretti somehow tangled up in between them like it was exactly where he was supposed to be. “I guess he is.”
“The roll makes touching feel good.” Tino played with the zipper on his jacket, because he had to give his T-shirt to his brother once he walked back and found it at the warehouse. Nova’s had disappeared somewhere. “It makes your skin extra sensitive.”
“Have you done it before?” she asked curiously. “Ecstasy.”
Tino shook his head. “No, tonight was the first time I took it.”
“I saw your…friends.” A flush rose up on her cheeks. “The girls who had your jacket and shirt. They’re pretty. Very pretty.” She looked back to Nova, watching him with these two beautiful women, feeling extremely plain as she whispered, “Exotic. You probably like exotic.”
Tino didn’t respond, because Carina had found the approved boyfriend next to her and was playing with his hair that was spiked high with gel, but Tino pulled her back.
“You said touching makes it better,” Carina argued.
Tino snorted. “That doesn’t mean you’re supposed to do it.”
“I’ve done it with women,” the guy next to her said. “I can do it with women easy.” His gaze was on Carina’s tits, because the hormone fairy had visited Carina with a vengeance, and most boys with a pulse noticed. “Sometimes they like to watch. Sometimes they like to play.”
“Wrong crowd, Bobby,” Tino snapped at him. “Way wrong crowd.”
“What?” Bobby lifted his head and looked at Tino. “Is she your girl?”
He sounded strangely hopeful about it, which was odd, considering his fascination with Carina’s chest.
“She’s my sister.” Tino pointed to Carina’s forehead. The letters were dim because the ink was designed to show up under a black light, but it was still there. “So I wouldn’t look too hard unless you want my father to murder you.”
Carina would normally be really pissed off about that.
This time she went back to playing with Bobby’s hair, patting it and admiring the way it stayed standing.
Bobby seemed more than happy to let her, despite the murder threat that should probably be taken seriously considering the source. Tino appeared to give up on both of them with another roll of his eyes as he turned back to Brianna and asked, “What were you saying?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
Brianna couldn’t stop watching the way Nova looked with those girls. He had moved over a seat and pulled the Hispanic girl onto his lap. Unlike her friend, she had light skin and freckles over her nose. Nova spoke to her in Spanish, as if all the languages in his brain were sort of just out there, jumbled somehow, but it didn’t seem to matter to them. Brianna got the impression this wasn’t their first time together like this. They all looked incredibly comfortable as Nova tossed his head against the back of his chair. His hand was in her hair, and there was something about the look on his face as she kissed Nova’s neck that made Brianna feel beyond hot.
Brianna slid a hand to her chest, knowing she got all blotchy when she blushed. She looked to see if she was a spotted freak, and noticed the letters on her chest. She traced the M by the curve of her breast, remembering the way Tino looked when he wrote it there, shirtless, angry, and extremely territorial as he told everyone she was private property. The rush of pleasure that one memory created was crazy, wiping out that sickening sensation of jealousy that had been nagging at her since she’d seen those beautiful girls Tino had taken his shirt off for them at the warehouse. She looked back to Nova when he leaned over and kissed his Caribbean girlfriend like he needed the connection to keep breathing. The flicker of light looked so pretty on their skin, and it just made Brianna feel hot.
So hot.
Sweating.
Thank God she wore extra deodorant.
She shifted in her seat, still watching, still caressing the iridescent letters on her chest. She was sixteen, but she hadn’t kissed a boy. Not really. Not like that, with tongues touching where she could actually see it happen. She closed her eyes for one moment, trying to imagine Tino’s tongue against hers, and she slid her hand down to trace the lace of her bra, pretending it was his fingers against her skin.