“I like the dragon especially. The red-and-black is gorgeous.” On your skin, I added silently. “You’ve never shown them to me before.”
He leveled a long look on me, one that confused me as much as it tempted me to touch. “Yeah, well. I usually save the unveiling for a special occasion.”
“Huh?”
“The first time I sleep with someone. Then she traces all my ink and I lay back, pretending she’s the only one who ever thought to do it.”
“That sounds depressing.”
“It is, a little. I have personal reasons for getting them, but they’re not a fetish or a separate erogenous zone.”
I was torn between the urge to learn more about what drove Max nuts in bed and the conviction that was a terrible idea. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave yet. He was close enough that I felt the heat of his thigh against mine.
My breath quickened. “Are you planning to tell me what gets you hot? While you’re nearly naked, I might add. Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“True. I might embarrass myself. You’d never let me live it down.”
Smiling, I stood up. “I’ll shower, you can put pants on. Then, if you still want to talk about your hot zones—”
“We’ll put a pin in it. But I was wondering...”
“What?”
“Do you have any ink?”
“Just one.” I pulled my bodice down just enough to show him the small red heart—tattooed over my actual blood-pumping one—with Eli written inside it. Since I didn’t wear low-cut tops as a rule, very few people had seen it.
Max froze, then he lifted his chin, his dark gaze locking on my face. His eyes blazed with something I couldn’t even identify, fiercer than desire, stronger than longing. Flutters quivered to life in my stomach, but I couldn’t possibly be reading this right.
His lips parted, and it took three tries before he could speak. He cleared this throat, finally getting the words out. “You should shower.”
Nodding, I practically ran to the bathroom, crazily aware of my pulse pounding in my throat, my ears, my wrists, and my pussy throbbed, too, echoing the excitement. Dear God. I want to fuck Max. If he was anyone else in the world, I would, if he was interested. But after Eli, I couldn’t risk losing my best friend. Not again. Not when it had taken five years for me to get here...and stop feeling so alone.
I stood in the shower much longer than I needed to, conscious that I was using the same soap, the same shampoo, that my naked body was occupying the same space his had. Sighing, I banged my head lightly on the wall and let the water run down my cheeks like tears. Despite the pervasive ache in my throat, I didn’t cry. I didn’t masturbate either, though I was tempted.
Max had on a T-shirt and sweats when I came out of the bathroom. In my rush, I’d repeated his mistake, forgetting my clothes in the bedroom. He was lounging on the bed, fiddling with his phone, and he smirked when he spotted me barely covered in the towel.
“Close your eyes,” I ordered.
To my relief, he didn’t make a big thing of it, letting me dash out and snag my backpack. Then I retreated to dry off, slather on some lotion and put on clean underwear and the pajamas I’d been wearing since we left. I wondered what he made of that until I remembered he’d been wearing the same sweats at night, and that we often wandered the apartment at home in the same comfy clothes to prolong the stretches between runs to the laundry room.
God, this trip is making me mental. I ambled out of the bathroom and took a deep breath, then flung myself over Max, landing on the other side.
He laughed at my acrobatic entry and shifted over to make room for me on the bed. “Can’t believe how late it is.”
“What time is Michael picking us up?”
“Ten.”
“Thank God. We can sleep in.”
“You do that every damn day, entitled princess.”
I rolled over and poked him in the side. “Are you jealous?”
“Of your sloth? Please.”
I started massacring the Pussycat Dolls, making up lyrics as I went. “Don’t cha wish you were unemployed like me, don’t cha wish you could lay around like me—”
“Please don’t ever sing again, seriously. I just died a little inside.”
Laughing, I fell back onto my pillow and turned over. “Shut the light off.”
“’Night, Kaufman.”
“G’night.”
* * *
I woke to the delicious smell of breakfast. Rolling out of bed, I stumbled into the other room to find Max setting the table with takeout. He’d brought back scrambled eggs, sweet rolls and juice, and I squelched the urge to hug him. Noticing me, he smiled and stepped into a slant of sunlight, all golden skin and liquid, dark eyes. I nearly retreated, except that would be weird enough to make him wonder what my deal was.
“You’re awesome,” I said.
“I might’ve heard that once or twice. Not usually for bringing breakfast.”
“Yes, I get it. Women send thank-you notes for sex, you’re the god of peen.” Feigning a casual tone, I sat down and dug into my food.
“I might get that as my next tattoo.”
I nodded. “You should put it right on your treasure trail. But make sure the lettering is classy. We wouldn’t want to give anyone the wrong impression.”
“You make a good point,” he said with mock solemnity.
After breakfast, I got ready, pulling on leggings and an oversize T-shirt with a silver glittery skull emblazoned on it. One of these days I might grow out of this style, but part of me couldn’t stand to think about it because this was how I’d dressed with Eli. My mother called it “arrested development,” but I wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
Soon, Eli whispered.
The word didn’t even sound much like him anymore, more of an echo thrown back by a chasm, long after the original voice faded. Grabbing my purse, I went downstairs to look for Michael. He was just pulling up when I stepped onto the sidewalk, so I waved as he rolled down the window.
“You ready for the adventure of a lifetime?”
“Definitely. Do I get shotgun this time?”
“Fine by me. Big bro can ride in back.”
Snickering, I ran around the Scion and hopped in. Max came out a few minutes later, looking vaguely disgruntled. “I go to the bathroom for two seconds and you vanish on me.”
“It’s a miracle you tracked me down.”
Michael laughed. “Okay, the weather’s nice enough that we can check out some parks if you feel outdoorsy.”