“Oh thank god,” she says. “Yes. Any day this week. Just please, remove them.”
It’s clear to me she needs us as bad as we need her, and I fucking hate playing nice with a person who obviously doesn’t respect me. With a grunt, I make a choice to throw my arm over Drew’s shoulder, then pull him close again.
“Good, good,” I say, holding her eye steady. “You’re making my man here very happy.”
An awkward silence stretches out. I know how we look to her, and I watch with satisfaction as deep discomfort settles on her face. “Oh,” she manages.
Drew barely suppresses a giggle. “Very happy,” he says, and when her expression sours further, I have to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Anna turns and hurries away, and Drew lets out a long laugh. “Oh my god,” he says as he steps away from my side. “I can’t believe you just did that!”
“She was pissing me off.” I arch an eyebrow. “You never fuck with people?”
“Not really.” He gives me a funny smile, then laughs again. “You’re a bad influence on me.”
Honestly, I don’t really fuck with people, either, but I also don’t stand there and eat shit when someone is passing judgment on me.
“She can get over it,” I say with a glare toward the house. “We’re doing her a favor.”
Drew picks up the few components he’s removed from the machine, some gears and gadgets and a few little figures, as well as a bigger plastic ramp. “She sure doesn’t like us, huh?”
“You were nothing but nice to her,” I point out. “And you saw the way she sneered at us.”
“Because she thought we were a couple.”
I clench my jaw. “Doesn’t matter what she thought.”
Drew turns back to me, the toolbox in one hand and that mischievous smile on his face again. Half his mouth is cocked up in a smile, and the sunlight splashes on the bright ink of his new tattoos.
“Yeah, but she thought we were a couple,” he says again.
I harrumph, then turn to my bike. “You ready to drive back?”
Drew follows me out of the garage. “Are you shy?” he says. “Oh my god, Caesar. That’s adorable.”
“I’m not fucking shy,” I spit out, but as I fumble with my key, Drew just laughs again. The warm sound of it washes over me, easing my nerves. “And I don’t care what that woman thinks.”
I hope on the bike and rev it up. When I turn back to Drew, he’s grinning.
“What?” I ask.
“Thank you again. For everything.”
I hand him his helmet. “It’s nothing.”
Drew leans forward, then presses a gentle kiss to my cheek. I’m not sure a man has ever kissed me that way before Drew, gentle and quick, and a soft groan escapes from my gut.
“It’s something,” he tells me, then hops onto the back of the bike.
A few minutes later, we’re on the open road again. Drew clings to me, and warm wind whips around us. I want to push the speed, take her faster, but I hold myself back, knowing that Drew’s safety is in my hands.
The bike thrums between my legs, and the closer we get to the city, the more I don’t want the ride to end. Drew and I can’t talk, but he presses his body to mine. I feel close to him, but disarmed, too.
I’d been happily minding my own business, stuck in the familiar rut of my life. I was content to be my grumpy-ass self. Then this kid shows up, and now I’m confused.
I want things I’m not supposed to want. I need things I can’t need.
But I do need them, and he’s flirting with me, and the flames keep licking higher.
