Caesar grunts. “You haven’t even fucked with the machines yet.”
I push myself up to look him in the eye. He doesn’t have to tell me that it’s been a long time since he asked someone to sleep over, and I don’t have to tell him that it’s been years since I had an offer like this.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to make it quite so easy on him.
“I’ll spend the night,” I tell him. “But you have to agree to another date first.”
He grunts. “Fine. I can do that.”
“With your friends,” I add.
Caesar stares at me, then rubs his hand over his face. “What?”
“I want to meet your friends. The other artists at the tattoo shop or whoever. I want to meet them.”
“Kid, that’s not—”
“You’re not a loner, right?” I challenge him. “That’s what you keep saying.”
He stares at me, frustrated. I almost cave and drop it, but then I think about all the nights that Caesar has spent alone in this bed.
Maybe this is all a fantasy, and I’ll go home in a week and find myself in the exact same spot I was in when I left Indiana for Chicago. But even if I never see Caesar after this trip, I need to know that he’s not going to be so damn lonely. He’s just too good to be alone.
I pretend to start crawling off of him. “Or I could just head back to my friend’s place…”
Caesar grabs my side and hauls me back. “You’re fucking relentless. You know that?”
And because I know my guy well enough to know that’s a yes, I just kiss him on the nose to show that I understand.
CHAPTERSIXTEEN
DREW
The secondI open the door to Piper’s apartment, the clapping starts.
“Woohoo!” she cheers, laughing. “Overnight!”
“Oh god.” I stumble over to the couch and collapse against her. “I’m exhausted.”
Piper catches me. She’s in a pair of sweatpants and a faded T-shirt, and her curly hair is clipped back. Her place is small and impeccably decorated, with tons of framed travel photos and stylishly minimal furniture.
“I’m sure you are exhausted,” she laughs. “Do you want some breakfast?”
I lay my hands on my belly. “No, he fed me.”
“He fed you!” She laughs.
“Eggs and bacon and toast.” I grin, proud of this fact, then pull myself up so I can face her on the couch. “And lots of black coffee.”
“Impressive. I take it you didn’t sleep much?” Piper wiggles her eyebrows. “Or at all.”
I laugh. “Staying up all night is just something you and Gabriella do. The rest of us need sleep.”
“Especially if you’re fifty, I imagine.”
“Fifty-one. Anyway, we weren’t up late doing that. I mean, we had sex twice and then once this morning, but we were mainly just hanging out and messing around with the pinball machines.”
“Sounds dreamy.”
