“What are you even doing here?”
Emilio looked annoyed, “Working.”
I couldn’t help but giggle, “Working? Like a sex worker?”
That seemed to piss him off, “Bethany,” he breathed and remained as calm as he could. “Get in the car.”
I would have pushed his buttons, but somehow, I felt drunker. Barely able to stand straight, I fell into the passenger seat. Emilio slams the door shut and swiftly walks to the driver’s side. As I watch him walk around the car, his unbuttoned shirt is pushed back from a light brush of wind, exposing his torso. His obliques were perfectly sculpted. Did he work out? When did he have the time? When he was seated in the driver’s seat, I blushed from my body reacting to checking him out. Emilio sped off without even glancing at me once.
The rush of watching the city fly past me as I looked out the window; the engine's humming vibration sent waves of static through my body, mixed with his scent, sparked strong arousal. It wasn’t as though he smelt differently than before—for some reason, it was stronger tonight and doing something to me. When he said he was working tonight, what exactly was he doing? Was he a participant? The city looked different tonight. The color of the lights was bursting toward me, and I felt as though I could feel the outside air hitting my face as we drove.
I turned my head toward him and watched as he gripped the steering wheel with one hand and the clutch with his other as he switched gears.
“Did I ruin your night?” I asked.
Ignoring my question, “You shouldn’t be at those parties.”
“Why? Because people are having sex everywhere.” rolling my eyes, “I know what sex is. I’ve done it before.”
“That’s not a place for someone like you to be.”
“Ugh, here we go again with this.”
“Luca finds out and will lock you in his cellar."
“Luca. Luca. Luca. All everyone cares about is what Luca will say, do, or think,” I whined.
“Your brother built meaning behind the name DeCarlo. Something you clearly don’t value.”
“That’s not true,” I pouted, trying even to convince myself. Of course, I was proud to be a DeCarlo, but that didn’t mean it made me happy. “You said you were there tonight working?”
“There’s no need to go into details about it.”
“You sound scared,” I teased.
“Scared?” Emilio shot me a look, “Scared of what?”
“That Luca would find out how you spend your free time.”
“Your brother doesn’t need to know what I do in my spare time.” Emilio looked at me with a concerned face and asked, “Are you feeling okay?”
“I only had a couple of sips, but everything is… a lot.”
Emilio inhaled sharply, “Something was put in your drink.”
“How do you know that?”
“Once I saw you, I knew something was up. That’s not like you.”
Right, of course not. “It’s getting really hot. Can you turn on the AC?”
He blasts the air, and the coldness on my skin makes me pant. My body woke up as though life was sprung back into me, and I was loving it.
“Feels good?” The side of his mouth curved into a smirk as though he had a secret but said nothing.
I nod my head, “Mmhhmm.”
“That prick from the party put something in your drink. Probably X. So you’ll feel everything a bit more intensely.”
