She's changed into a tight leopard-print jacket, purplevelvet shorts, shimmering with every tiny movement.
"Here—got you this one," Paul says, tugging a blanket across and nodding his chin at Ben. "Those two have their own thermostat under their skin."
I can't help the smile nudging its way in when I look at Ben whose chest is glazed despite the desert drop. Meanwhile, I'm one shiver away from hypothermia.
"Thanks, temperature twin," I tell Paul, wrapping myself in the blanket. He's zipped into his zig-zag windbreaker, but his arms are glowing with the UV ink we traced earlier.
Ben drops onto the cushion beside them, leans in to sniff Mara's cup, then jerks back as if someone had pinched his nose.
"What the hell is that? Battery acid?"
"Nothing for you," she says dryly and slides it toward me. "Babe, want some? You'll fly."
She lets it hang there and yanks Paul into a kiss that doesn't belong in public.
I wrinkle my nose. "What is this? A rematch with the couple from earlier?"
"For fuck's sake!" Ben vaults upright, shaking his head indignantly. "Put a freaking warning label on your PDA, Mara! Disgusting."
Mara pulls back long enough to smirk. "Please. You wish your marriage had this much heat."
I blink. Hope she's right—that his bed is Arctic cold.
Ben levels her with a deadly look. "You're my little sister. I'll give you a thousand dollars to never remind me you're doing any of that. Ever."
Before Mara can double down or announce what's in that cup, I snatch it and pivot away.
Ben shadows me instantly, eyebrow raised. "Hey, careful. You don't even know what that is," he says.
"And you do?"
He nods toward Mara and Paul. "All I know is that whatever's in there madethathappen."
"Then you'd want some, no?" I lift it to my lips, teasing him.
His eyes drop to my mouth, linger there, then rise again. "I don't need to alter my reality. I'm perfectly capable of misbehaving without it. Plus, I'm content with what I feel."
"Aww!" I coo, but he rolls his eyes and takes a step back.
"I'm also sure I'll be the guy stuck monitoring your vitals when you faceplant."
I roll my eyes.
The thing is, I absolutely shouldn't, since substances and I don't have happy endings, and Ben knows it. But it's been many, many years since something foreign touched my lips and I'm tempted.
"Come on. You're a doctor," I say, batting my eyes. "Rational one, for the most part."
Ben takes a deep breath and steers me to a cushion, then puts his arm over my shoulder. "You want it? Fine. But you stay here with me. No moving out of my sight."
I give him a smile, loving that he lets me choose despite it all, and take a sip.
Mara whoops, mid-kiss, her and Paul probably swirling inSaturn's rings and they both get up, disappearing in the crowd.
Ben and I lie down next to each other, head to head.
"See? I'm still here. No drama."
"Mmm. Give it a minute."
