I grab the door handle. “Don’t care.”
When I hustle around the truck and open her door, I don’t miss the way she flashes me a glimpse of her pussy as she takes my hand and climbs down.
“Do me a favor.” I don’t let go of her hand.
She doesn’t let go of mine either. “Yeah?”
“Don’t ever wear that skirt in public again.”
Her laugh is high and light, and I have the insane thought that it’d be the best job in the world making her laugh like that over and over again for the rest of our lives.
Quit while you’re ahead.
“I’ll consider it if you give me my underwear back. That’s my cutest pair.”
We stop at her door.
We’re still holding hands. The only girls I’ve ever held hands with have been Ella and June. And Mom, of course.
“No deal.”
She squeezes my hand, digging her teeth into her bottom lip. “We’ll have to agree to disagree, then.”
I can’t look away from her eyes. They glimmer in the light of the moon.
“You’re gonna be sore. Take it easy tomorrow, yeah?”
She scoffs, finally dropping my hand to grab the doorknob. “You’re wild.”
“What does that mean?” I curl one hand around my nape and shove the other in my front pocket in an attempt not to reach for her.
“You claim you don’t wanna blur any lines, but then you go and say sweet shit like that.”
See?It’s so easy to talk about hard shit with Billie. I don’t have a solution, but she’s also not asking for one. We’re swimming in this weirdness together, and neither of us is pretending like we know what happens next.
You know whathasto happen.
I scoff. “Just because I’m a mess don’t mean I can’t be sweet too.”
“Stop using the whole ‘oh, poor me, I’m such a mess’ excuse. You’re better than that.” She opens the door.
“Just like you’re better than Xylophone.”
She’s laughing again. “That’s not his name.”
“Don’t care.”
Her eyes flick to my mouth. The urge to grab her and toss her over my shoulder—gently, of course—and bring her back to my place is so strong it makes me sick to my stomach.
If we start up again, we’llneverstop.
“This was fucked up,” she says. “Thanks.”
Now I’m the one laughing. “Just doing the Lord’s work. I got you home safe, didn’t I?”
“Yeah.”
“And we’re not telling Colt.”
