“I just realized what time it is, and I need to head out to Whiskey Barrel,” I lie. The words sound all wrong.
“Right…” She trails off, chuckling, not believing me. I quickly leave her with promises of calling her tomorrow to make plans to stop by one night this week.
“I need to know more about that thing you were telling me about earlier.”
She giggles. “You two have fun.”
As soon as I hang up and toss my phone on the bed, I peek over my shoulder to Brix, who’s leaning against the desk at the opposite end of my room.
His arms are crossed in front of his chest, brushing the pad of his thumb over his bottom lip, tracking my every move.
He’s dressed in his usual black t-shirt and jeans. Probably the only person in North Carolina who still wears them in the middle of summer, but that’s Brix for ya. His dark eyes follow me as I saunter over to my closet, searching for something to wear.
“I thought you had band practice?”
“I did. I wanted to see you before you went to work.”
Things between us have begun to shift. Conversations that used to be clipped, full of smartass comments tossed back and forth at each other, are different. He says things that were so unlike him before but now wrap themselves around my heart.
I give him a small smile, and he eyes me like he doesn’t know why or what he’s done to earn it. He hesitates for a moment before pushing off the desk to approach me. I turn back to my closet, searching for something to wear as he comes up behind me, snaking his arms around my waist.
“You smell so fucking delicious,” Brix moans while tracing his nose over the column of my neck. His hands slip beneath the cotton of my tank, trailing a line across my shorts.
“How much longer until you have to be at work?”
Both of our eyes turn to the time displayed on the alarm clock sitting atop my nightstand. “I still have about fifteen minutes until I need to leave if I want to make it on time.”
“Not enough time for all I want to do to you, but plenty of time if we focus on the important parts.” His teeth drag along my tender skin as a soft growl leaves his throat.
Leaning back against his shoulder, I relish the feel of his hands on me.
“I wish I didn’t have to work tonight so I could stay home with you,” I whisper.
He nods in agreement as I turn to wrap my arms around his neck.
“Why don’t you come with me? I can serve you drinks, and you can hang out while I’m working.”
It’s a Thursday night, so I don’t expect it to be busy with our normal weekend crowd. When he doesn’t answer me right away, my guard goes up sensing his reluctance.
When we’re here, we don’t have to think about our parents or the consequences which would come with us being together. All of that changes when we leave the house and people we know are around, eyes are on us, questions are being asked. We haven’t even figured out how to sort through what to say. Well, maybe I haven’t figured it out. Brix just would refuse to answer, not bothering in the least what anyone thinks.
“Never mind. It’s fine, forget I asked. I’ll be home around midnight if you want to wait up for me?”
I try to push the look in his eyes out of my mind, turning back to my closet, swallowing down the ball of emotion forming in my throat. It shouldn’t bother me this much.
“Whoa, whoa. What was that about?”
He reaches for my wrist, pulling me back to face him. I blink through the tears forming along the brim of my eyes. I hate how I’m letting this get to me.
His eyes search mine, pressing his hand against the side of my face to look at him.
“Whatever thoughts you had in your mind just now, push that shit out. It’s not what you think it is. Of course, I want to come with you. I don’t give a fuck about what anyone says, nor do I have any hesitations about us.”
Wrapping my hand around his wrist, I lean into his palm when he presses a soft kiss against my mouth. I want to silence every doubt storming through my mind right now, forget every fear I’ve had, and enjoy having Brix here with me.
Deepening the kiss, I open my mouth to him, brushing my tongue across his lip, biting down on his lip ring. He growls, pulling me closer to him, so our chests are pressed firmly against each other.
“You drive me crazy,” he whispers, breaking our kiss, his hand dragging over my hip down to squeeze my ass.
