She’s taking a sip of water, but she’s grinning behind the glass. It’s trouble.
And I am so here for it. I raise my eyebrows in question.Are we doing this?Because if she’s in, so am I. We both know there are boundaries, but that doesn’t mean we can’t push them to their fucking limits.
She sets the glass down and takes a slice of pizza. Before it makes it to her mouth, her eyebrows rise casually in answer.
Game on.
I wait for her to take a bite and then reach across Jess to grab my water. When I do, my knee slides forward slowly until it makes full contact.
She lets out a startled cough.
“You okay?” I ask, innocently.
She nods, swallows, and whispers, “It’s so good,” into a napkin as she wipes her mouth.
Slowly, I lift my heel off the ground and lower it, creating some friction. “And hot, right?” I don’t know how I manage to make that sound normal, but I do. Turned on Sophie is officially my new favorite.
The napkin is pressed to her mouth with both hands, and she’s holding her breath. When she finally blows it out in a rush, she agrees, “You have no idea.”
“Oh, I think I do,” I say without hesitation, before taking a swig.
I want to tell everyone to get the fuck out, slip her shorts off, lay her down on this tabletop, and show her exactly how good it could be.
“Pretty sure that burned the roof of my mouth.” She’s quick and I love it.
“Same,” Jess says as he probes the back of his front teeth with his tongue. “I’ve got a dangly thing now. I hate that.” Then he looks at her. “You sure you’re okay, Soph? You’re really red.”
I still my leg, and she smiles before looking at my oblivious brother. “Have you ever seen something that made your mouth water, and when you got a taste, it was even better than you hoped for,” she pauses and licks her bottom lip, “and you just wanted more?”
Jess stops and thinks about it, while he takes a gulp. “Yeah, I had some fudge like that once in the Ozarks on a road trip. I still think about it.”
She points at him with a piece of slightly burned crust. “Exactly. I’ll think about this for a very, very long time. I’ll probably dream about it.”
Same.
Hannah picks that moment to walk through the door and join us. The door slams shut, then opens again, and Ben walks through looking pissed. I know he’s Jess’s friend, but there’s something about the dude I don’t particularly like.
I sigh and mutter, “Fuckin’ shit,” quietly while I slide back in my seat.
Soph cracks a smile and bites the inside of her lips to hold back a laugh.
“What a waste of a day,” Hannah says while she helps herself to a slice and sits on the table behind us. “They couldn’t make the repair on-site and had to tow the RV to a shop. It won’t be ready until morning.”
“How’d you get here?” Soph asks.
“Uber,” Ben says, since Hannah’s mouth is full. “We’ve been on the phone with the rental company all afternoon, but they did book us three hotel rooms tonight for the trouble.”
“Three?” Jess asks, because they should only need two.
When he doesn’t answer, all eyes shift to Hannah. She’s shooting daggers at Ben. “Three,” she confirms.
Oh shit.
twenty-one
“Cansomeone get me another one of these?” Ben says into the mic before he finishes off the pint in his hand.
He’s so drunk, I’m not sure how he’s still standing. I haven’t taken any photos during his set, which he’s only halfway into, because it’s been a shit show. Hannah hasn’t filmed at all. Her equipment is stowed in the van, and she’s been focusing all her attention on Jose Cuervo. The crowd thinned out after Thicker Than Water played an hour ago, and those who remain have been drinking all afternoon. I’m not a vibe girly, but even I can feel it’s off. This can’t end well.
