“Trust me, tea’s not the only thing I’ve choked on,” I teased. Fuck, I loved sucking cock. I had an oral fixation to the extreme, and it had been far too long since I sucked dick.
Drake’s eyes widened, and then his gaze fixed on my lips. I licked them on instinct. Bad August. This wasn’t what I should be doing.
The waitress swung by with our burgers, thankfully saving me from babbling about dicks. Though more people should. They were great.
I took a huge bite, relief flooding through me along with the delicious flavors. Just because I hated being alone didn’t mean I should latch onto the first person to walk my way—or dive into my kitchen to put out a fire. But the competency wasn’t a detractor, if I was being honest.
Drake let out a low moan, and I whipped my head up. His long lashes fluttered again, and the look of enjoyment on his features amplified his hotness.
“Damn, these burgers are so good,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s the tiredness speaking, but I could live off these.”
“See?” I said. “Told you.”
“So, if you’re a tattoo artist, what’s your style?” he asked between bites.
“Watercolor,” I stated. I rolled up my sleeve to show off the skull and crossbones against a splash of ocean I’d gotten done in watercolor style. This had been one of my first tattoos in the city, and I’d gotten addicted.
“Damn, that’s pretty,” he said, reaching out. His fingers stopped right before touching my skin, and he looked up. “Can I?”
“Yeah, examine away.”
His fingers brushed against my skin, and electricity rolled up my spine. My breath hitched. Even with us sitting in opposite seats, his proximity raised the heat in the room, and I shifted in my seat as he skimmed his fingertips across the tattoo on my bicep. He was just checking out the ink, which had been expertly done. That was all.
“Gorgeous,” he said. “I’ll have to check out your work sometime.”
“You can find it walking around town,” I said, pride thrumming through me. “I was one of Owen’s first recruits when he opened Alchemy Ink. Me, Cas, and Nyx have been there from the start.”
“I’m overdue for an appointment,” he said. “Maybe I’ll come to Alchemy Ink.”
Please do.The words didn’t escape my lips though, because yeah, while I’d never met Serena’s hottie brother while we’d dated, we’d been together for six months and had just broken up. Weird territory, to say the very least.
“Can’t visit you at the workplace,” I joked. “Otherwise, I’ll be labeled an arsonist.” I chewed on another bite of my burger, making a concerted effort to focus on that so I didn’t fawn over Drake.
“Okay, so explain something to me,” he said. “What’s the deal with the air fryer?”
I blinked, not expecting the question at all. “Look, I was trying to educate Serena in the ways of good food, and that’s my baby. I needed it back.” Truth be told, I had far too many kitchen appliances. Every minor thing made its way into my cabinets, from the cast-iron garlic roaster to my fat separator. All useful, even if the assortment spilled off the shelves.
Drake snorted. “Couldn’t an oven suffice?”
I placed a hand over my chest with a mock gasp. “How dare. Next you’ll be telling me my insta-pot is a fad too.”
Drake crooked an eyebrow. “I mean…”
“Why did I kidnap someone so mouthy?” I teased. “You can pry my air fryer out of my cold, dead hands.”
“Far be it for me to part you from your precious kitchen appliance,” he said. “I was just here to see it safely home.”
“After being up for a million hours,” I responded. “How are you still upright?”
“Stamina, baby,” he responded, a wicked glint in his eyes again. I shifted in the seat, trying to ignore my cock’s valiant attempt to stiffen. “For real, I’ve done these shifts for years. It’s old hat. Your body gets used to the stint to an extent.”
“Mm, I like sleep far too much,” I said, taking the final bites of my burger. “You couldn’t pay me to stay up for twenty-four hours. I think it’s awesome you found something you love that much, though.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Yeah, it’s great.”
My brows drew together. “That sounds as enthusiastic as a DMV visit.”
He snorted. “Nah, I like the work. It’s just gotten a little boring as of late.”
