I didn’t understand what he was saying. He was more intoxicated than I initially thought. He reached for the bottle and finished it in three large gulps. Rolling the window down, he tossed it into the darkness. In a flash he pulled a fresh one from under the seat. He popped the cork and offered it to me.
I shook my head. “No thanks. You’ve drunk enough for both of us.”
“It’ll warm you up. With you being so in love with Callahan, we probably shouldn’t be touching too much,” he snickered, and tugged on his shirt. “You got me all wet.”
Guilt twisted my insides. I took the bottle and brought it to my lips, sipping. It burned my throat and I wanted to vomit, but I pushed it down. Riot, empty handed, took the opportunity to pull his wet shirt over his head and toss it on the floor.
Without realizing it, my eyes grazed over his muscles. I counted each line in his abdomen. Eight. A thin line of hairtraveled down the line in the middle, and tattoos covered everything in random bursts.
“You should probably blink at some point.”
Embarrassment flooded me as Riot sat back and closed his eyes.
“I’m sorry, I was just admiring your tattoos. Did Boogie do them all?”
He chuckled, seeing through my lame excuse. “Some, not all. You want a tour?”
I did. I very much did.
I sat up straight and put my hands in my lap. He turned his head and popped one eye open. Seeing I was serious, he sighed and sat up. As if it annoyed him, he ran me through the tattoos on his chest, explaining why he got them, who did them, and how much they hurt. When he finished his front, he turned and showed me his back, and then turned back.
He raised one eyebrow and smirked. “That’s the end of the safe tour.”
“Safe?” My heart beated hard in my chest. I knew what he meant. I’d seen glimpses of the rest, but never full looks. I wasn’t supposed to see any of it, but… I wanted to.
“Oh, don’t tease. You’re not as innocent as you were made to appear.”
My stomach fluttered.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re right. I don’t want to see the tattoos under your belt.”
“Liar.”
“Excuse me?” I gasped.
“You’re lying. I see how you look at me when you think I’m not paying attention. You want me just as much as I want you.”
“You want me?” The butterflies in my belly seemed frantic to escape as I waited for him to answer. He was quiet for a long moment.
“Yes.” The word came out almost bitterly, as if he hated to admit it.
“I thought you liked Callahan.” I twisted my hands together in my lap.
“My feelings for him are different than what I feel for you.”
“I don’t understand.” My heart sank.
“I want to fuck him.”
“Oh.”
“I want to love you.”
My breath got caught in my throat. What did I say to that? What was the difference between the two? Did that mean I wasn’t attractive to him? No one said anything for a long time. Instead, we listened to Atlas Adam DJ, while we passed the bottle back and forth. Soon, I was tipsy too.
The energy in the truck began to relax, and we began to laugh and sing aloud to the music. We stopped tiptoeing around each other and it felt like it had been before. He touched my knee and I giggled.
“That tickles!” I jerked my leg away. His beautiful eyes lit up devilishly.
