“Sure, I’ll have some water.”
It’s a good thing because that’s all I have.
After pulling two water bottles from the fridge, I toss one to Bee. She catches it easily and then we both stand there drinking, not knowing what to do.
It’s not even a minute later she puts the lid on and turns. “I shouldn’t have asked to come here.”
Before she gets more than three feet away from me and toward the door, “You didn’t,” sort of tumbles out of my mouth. “You said you didn’t want to be alone. I brought you here. It was my choice.”
Slowly she looks my way and gives a small nod. My brain starts searching for words. I find none. I don’t know why I want to. She makes me itch under my skin. It’s not annoying but it’s always there, and I don’t know what it means. It’s like I feel her, even when we’re not touching.
“How’s the piercing?”
“Don’t know. You’re the expert. Why don’t you check it for me.”
She rolls her eyes and grins, not at all taken aback by my words. Not that she would be. Not Bee.
She sets the water bottle down and steps toward me. My breath gets caught up in my lungs. Holy shit. I’m actually holding my breath as she pushes my jacket off my shoulder.
Neither of us reaches for it as it falls to the floor.
Bee looks at me and winks. Her voice is low and feisty when she says, “Sure thing. Just remember, you’re the one who asked. The torture we both feel for the rest of the night will be all your fault.”
Without planning it, my hand reaches for hers, my fingers wrapping around her wrist. “You don’t play fair.”
“Like I said, you asked for it.” And then she pulls her hand out of my grasp. Puts both hands flat on my stomach and starts to push my shirt up—slowly. So fucking slowly I feel like I could lose it.
“We agreed…,” she says. “No more sex, remember?”
“Shit,” I hiss. “Why did we say that?” Slower… higher, her hands warm and smooth against my skin.
“You know why.”
I can’t believe it when I close my eyes. It sounds fucked up but it makes me feel more vulnerable. Like she can do anything she wants to me and I wouldn’t know before she strikes. Still, I don’t open them, just keep letting her push my shirt up until my chest shows.
My hands are begging me to rip it off, to strip her and take her right in my kitchen but I fight it.
“Looks good.” Bee’s breath ghosts across my pierced nipple.
“You did that on purpose.” I make myself open my eyes.
She shrugs. “I’m bad like that,” she says before she steps toward the sink and washes her hands. It means she’s planning to touch me.
She is so bad. I like that about her—like that she’s different from any woman I’ve ever known. The fact that she’s standing here right now proves that.
“It’s a little pink, but not too bad. We need to keep an eye on it, okay? Does it hurt?”
Her first finger traces around my nipple and my mouth waters to do the same thing to her. “Tender. Nothing too bad, though.”
“Make sure you clean it tonight. You’ve been using the antibacterial soap, right?”
The sexiness in her voice is gone and even though I shouldn’t, I want it back.
“Yep.” Stepping away from her, I lower my shirt, pick up my jacket, and set it on the counter. “Let’s go sit down.”
Bee grabs her water again and follows me to the living room. Before she makes it to the couch, I’m already starting to pick up the drawings, trying to put them away so she can’t see them. My whole body tenses when she grabs my arm.
“You don’t have to hide that from me. I do it, too, remember?”
The papers fall from my hand. “So show me something.”
There’s blank paper and pencils and erasers all over the table. Bee pulls off her sweatshirt and sets it on the couch before sitting on the floor. I go down next to her, both our backs against the couch as we sit around the small table.
“This is going to be quick, so no laughing.” Bee bends over, her arm and body trying to hide the paper from me as she starts drawing.
“What the hell is that? I thought you were showing me something?”
She looks over her shoulder at me and smiles. Really fucking smiles and I think it’s the first real, bone-deep smile I’ve seen from her. If I wasn’t already sitting down, she’d knock me on my ass.
“When I’m done, Scratch. Have some patience.”
It’s crazy how that name doesn’t bother me anymore. Trying to block out her smile, I shake my head. “Hell, maybe I shouldn’t be workin’ under you, if you don’t even trust your drawing skills.”
My teasing comment doesn’t even faze her. Bee looks at the paper, me, and then the paper again. The only sound in the room is her pencil scratching out whatever she’s drawing.
Quiet I can do, so I watch her while she works. Wondering what she’s doing and how in the hell we got here. That urge to pull away, to question what she’s doing here is still pulsing beneath my skin, but not strong enough for me to do something about it. Right now I’m watching the way she puts her blond hair behind her ear with her black-painted fingernails.
It hasn’t been more than a couple minutes, but I realize I’m watching this woman the whole time, studying her, and it’s like a jolt, pushing me to my feet. This is so fucking strange, being here with someone like this.
“I’ll be right back,” I mumble. Bee is so lost in whatever she’s drawing that I don’t even know if she heard me. Behind me, I close the bathroom door before splashing some water on my face as though that will make a difference.
My cell rings and I almost don’t pull it out of my pocket until I remember Laney got hurt and I haven’t even checked on her. Phone in hand, Laney’s name lights up on the screen.
My thumb lingers over ANSWER before I push it. “Hey.”
“Hey. How are you?” Her voice is soft.
Standing in my bathroom freaking out over nothing. “Okay. How are you feeling?”
“Good. Not really in much pain at all. I’m annoyed over this stupid neck brace. I want to take it off.”
“When do you go to the doctor?”
“Tomorrow, so I should be able to take it off then. I don’t see what a day would change.”
“Keep it on till then to be safe,” I tell her.
Laney laughs; then it trails off. “I wish you realized how big your heart is, Maddy.”
Is it, really? I want to ask her. Wouldn’t I have put aside worries about college and money to tell Mom what was happening with Dad? If I had, maybe she’d be better. Maybe Adrian’s son would be alive. “I fucked up… with Adrian after the accident. I shouldn’t have been such an asshole to him.”
“You should tell him that sometime.” She pauses for a second. “What’s going on? You sound different.”
I look up at myself in the mirror. “Nope. Still me. Listen, I gotta run. Let me know how things go after you see the doc, yeah?”
“Love you,” she whispers.
“You too.” I turn my phone all the way off before shoving it in my pocket. Unwilling to let myself hide out in my bathroom, I slide the door open and go out.
“Thought you ran away, Scratch.” Bee looks up at me from where she’s sitting on the floor.
“Had to get up and move around before I fell asleep waiting for you to finish.”
“Asshole.” There’s a smile on her face and then she lifts the piece of paper so I can see it.
It’s me.
A loud laugh shocks me by bursting out of my mouth. “What the fuck is that?” When I get to her, I pull the paper out of her hands.
“It’s you.”
“Need your eyes checked?” Her body touches mine when I go down beside her. It’s crazy how I can tell it’s me, but she’s obviously trying to be funny too. It’s a caricature of me, like the ones people draw at carnivals. My head’s huge, my hair floppy, and there’s a smile on my face that’s so big, I’m not sure I’ve ever had one like it. “And what the hell’s up with the bike?”