She relaxes a little. I knew manners went a long way in this small, southern town, but now I’m thinking I canyes ma’amthis woman until she lands on my dick.
Caroline faces me, bending one leg under her body. “You never answered my question about having a girlfriend. You deflected, like you always do when you don’t want to talk about something.” She meets my eye when she asks, and I realize how rare that is. She talks around me, never really engaging me directly. She’s trusting me to give her honesty, trusting me enough to let me know my answer matters.
I smirk. “No harm in the truth if you don’t want to be my girlfriend, I suppose.”
“You don’t want me as a girlfriend,” Caroline says, shaking her head, eyes narrowed in skepticism. She fires off a statement that basically says she won’t believe me if I do tell her I’ve had a girlfriend because even if my friends are crude, they have no reason to lie about my promiscuity.
I shrug. “It’s true, I did have a girlfriend, Stella, for three years. It ended badly. So, technically, they didn’t lie, they just didn’t tell you why I am the way I am.”
I implore her not to ask any questions about the relationship, but she’s thinking about it.
“Why do you want to hang out with me, then?” Caroline asks, gesturing to herself. “You throw the “girlfriend” word around so casually you have to be joking.”
I swallow, and I taste the battery acid from the breakup with Stella, the panic when I realized the pain wouldn’t go away, ever. Even now that she’s married and pregnant by some investment banker in NYC. “I haven’t spent somuch time with a woman since then,” I admit. “Pretty sure you already qualify as my girlfriend regardless of if I want that or not.”
“Why are you so,” she replies, closing her mouth, “so hot and cold? There are so many other girls in Bronze Bay that can give you what you want. I’ve given you the airport you needed. You’ve helped me with my place. I’m not…that kind of girl.”
“I know.” Scooting closer, I take her hand in mine. “That’s your draw.”
I watch her neck as she swallows hard. “It’s not smart to mix business with anything other than numbers.”What about sixty-nine, Caroline?
I shake my head. “Those rules don’t apply to me. No rules apply to me. I’m quite fierce when I’m pursuing something I want.” I lean in closer. There is a small smattering of freckles across her nose you can’t see unless you’re in kissing distance. Her blue eyes, on mine, reflect a mixture of fear and wanton desire. “I want you.” I skim my hand up her arm and across her exposed collarbone. A trace of goose bumps rises behind the trail of my fingers. “Say the word, and the g-word is yours for the taking.” I haven’t felt an adrenaline rush this strong and state-altering since the last time I almost lost my life. I have a scar to prove it, a long, narrow grazing mark tearing across my ribcage. The internal scars from Stella are worse than anything a bullet could produce, and here I am giving Caroline the power to kill me without even knowing why I am doing it. A taste of her is worth a lifetime of torture. That’s the rationale I’ll embrace—the only logical reason I’d give someone this power again, and she really is different. There are no pretenses, and I’mpretty sure she hates me as much as she likes me, and that’s a dose of “fuck you” I’ve needed for a while.
I’m lost in the moment, in my asinine proposition, and in the wonder of how she’ll reply. I don’t see the cock-blocking intruder coming. Someone raps on the passenger side window, tearing us out of the breathless moment.
Caroline spins, recognizes the face, and cranks the handle to roll down the window. “Malena, you scared the rice, beans, and pepper out of me!” she exclaims, one hand on her chest. A pretty brunette, all teeth and high-glossed lips, leans around Caroline to peer at me. I don’t react with a smile or otherwise. To be quite honest, I’m furious. “How have you been?” Caroline croons, seeming pleased her friend has saved her from answering my question.
“I thought that was you, Caroline. I was gonna ask what you were doing out here, but now it’s clearly obvious. I’m Malena,” her friend says, trying to get me to respond. I don’t miss how her eyes rake over my body and face. “You two coming in?”
Why else would we be here?
“Tahoe, this is my friend Malena. We went to school together,” Caroline says, turning to me without meeting my questioning gaze. “Malena, this is my friend Tahoe. He, ah, he’s working with me now. At the airport. They’ll be using one of the hangars and airspace for their training.” That’s all she says, and I want to shake her, then kiss her, then stake my claim on her. Airports have nothing on my dick.
“Nice to meet you, Ta-hoe,” Malena drawls, looking at me. “I know of his kind, Caroline. No need to say anything further. Any of your friends joining us tonight?”She winks, like a damn poker shark.
I grin, tip my head in greeting, and reply, “I’ll send them your way if they do.” More and more cars and trucks and bicycles pour into the small parking lot.
Caroline notices. “Something going on here tonight?”
Malena clicks her tongue. “Don’t you know? It’s Britt and Whit’s engagement party!”
Caroline falters but catches herself quickly. “Of course. Of course. Why didn’t they have it down at St. Ives? It’s so much nicer than here.”
Malena shrugs. “You know how Whit loves his drink. I’m sure they gave him a deal for the night.”
Caroline nods. She then asks about her family, as politeness dictates, and then promises to catch up inside. She rolls up the window, cranking hard at the end because it’s a piece of shit that barely closes, and sighs.
“I take it this isn’t good news? Come on, it’s a party! Think of how much fun this could be.” I tug on her hand, a stupid, goofy smile on my face. “Let’s go wish Britt and Whit the best of luck!” I say it in the most sarcastic voice I can manage.
Caroline rolls her eyes to the ceiling. “They are the town stereotypes. Well, I guess they used to be. Now it’s just kind of pathetic.”
“Caroline May, are you talking bad about people?” I croon. “Tell me more.” My tone is still joking, but a little part of me wants to know merely because something is bothering her. I’ve yet to see her annoyed with anyone except me.
“Shut up, Tahoe. You seriously want to know?”
I nod and steel myself for trivial drama I’m sure to forget in five minutes. “Okay, well, he was the quarterbackat my high school, and obviously, she was a cheerleader. They were together all four years of high school. They broke up a couple of times, but everyone always knew they would get back together, so girls wouldn’t date Whit because they were afraid of Britt’s wrath, and all the popular jocks steered clear of Britt because, well, Whit probably would have killed them had they touched her. You get it? They were meant to be. Written in the stars. In true fashion, Whit cheated on her with most of the popular girls from the town over, and Britt cheated on him too. She’d banged the whole band by senior year. The percussion section twice.”
I laugh at the imagery that creates. “Wow. I have a feeling that’s not the worst part.”
