“Shall we?” I smiled, starting towards the warehouse.
“Hold on.”
I slowed near the front of the Cadillac as he caught up, coming to a stop in front of me to roll up the sleeves of the T-shirt.
“What do you think?” I asked as I watched his hands at work. “Could I be an underground fighter?”
I stole a glance at his face to find him smiling a little, his attention fixed on finishing the sleeves before he took a step back.
“Dunno.” He gestured to my arms. “Flex for me.”
I held up an arm, the corner of my mouth twitching while I tried to remain serious, and flexed as best I could.
Dean wrapped his hand around my bicep, pathetically small compared to the size of his own, and gently squeezed. Frowning, he gave me a definite nod. “Oh, definitely. You’d wipe the floor with all of us.”
A giggle bubbled from the center of my chest and his smile was back again. I likened it to magic with how easily it changed his usually hardened face.
Almost bashfully, he looked back to the warehouse and his smile dulled a little as he nodded towards the building. “We should head back in before Seb starts wondering if we’ve left him.”
“Yeah, of course.”
I followed along beside him, walking just a little closer than I had when we arrived. When we were several feet from the warehouse doors, I raised my chin slightly, eyeing him side-on before I spoke.
“So... Do you let all the girls wear your gym clothes?”
A knowing smile played coyly on his lips as he raised his scarred right eyebrow. “Just the ones who roll dumpsters into me.”
For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable in my own skin. The thrill of forgetting the shit-show of a family barbecue was right at my fingertips in the form of a bright red cup.
The first mouthful burned all the way down my throat, leaving a nasty taste on my tongue as I screwed up my face and gagged. The second, third, and fifth, or sixth, not so much. It gave me newfound confidence. A carelessness. Spurred on by the deep thrum of the music as it pulsed through my body. Right through my core.
The night became a blur, with brief images of it resurfacing like snapshots from a film reel. Every time the strobe lights flashed across my eyes the image changed. One moment I was dancing alone but surrounded by people, Seb smiling. The next, I tossed my head back with a laugh and stumbled into a wall.
No, not a wall. A strong, tall body.
Chapter 33
Lily
A dull ache spread through my forehead, drawing my eyebrows together in a grimace as I slowly opened my eyes. Peering through my lashes, I glanced into the blindingly bright sun that shone through the window above my head. A car window.
As my whereabouts slowly came into focus, I could feel leather beneath my legs and a seat belt button poking uncomfortably into my hip. But it was the soft, white fabric beneath my hand and cheek, and that familiar cologne, that pulled me to my senses the fastest.
I slowly lifted my head from the shoulder I had fallen asleep on and dropped my gaze to where my hand was lying flat against his stomach. His shirt crinkled around my fingers as his stomach rose and fell with his steady breath.
Oh. My. God.
Dean was sitting slumped against the interior of the car, with his head resting on the window and his jet-black hair tousled and hanging messily across his forehead.
I slowly attempted to raise myself from him, removing my hand from his stomach and pushing it against the seat below me instead. Only to pause as his left arm slid loosely around my middle, falling from where it was resting along my back. His thumb lightly grazed my lower stomach and I tensed.
I wasn’t the kind of person to get caught in situations like this. To even do anything remotely close to this. The whole ordeal was out of character — exciting in the moment but reckless now. I couldn’t help the heat rising in my chest as my heart raced.
Surely, we hadn’t. We couldn’t have. Would my body know if something happened when I couldn’t remember?
The thought scared me a little, but I had to think logically. I still wore the clothes he let me borrow last night and there was no other evidence of anything else happening. Other than the two of us falling asleep together in the backseat of his car. Which only increased the confusion and anxiety swirling around my head.
I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be doing this.
