Her lips part.
I can see the words on the tip of her tongue.
And I'm not praying for her to hold them back.
I'm desperate for every fucking syllable.
Tell me you want me, angel.
Tell me you want me to fuck you so hard you get grass stains on your skin.
Tell me you want me to throw you on that bench, rip off your jeans, and lick you until you're screaming.
Her eyes go to the building to our left. One of the science buildings. "It's different than before."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She leads me across the campus. "It feels real. Like this is really happening tomorrow."
We move onto the sidewalk. Past the science building. "It is." Toward the foreign languages building. "I remember the first time I walked into a shop looking for a job."
"It wasn't Inked Hearts?"
"No. I met Ryan at this dive in Downtown LA. He knew Manning. Invited me to Inked Hearts. He invited Dean and Dean invited Walker."
"What was that place like?"
"It was cleaner than it looked. Very go the fuck away. Band stickers on the walls. A burly guy at the register. A bunch of elitists who scowled at tattoos that weren't traditional enough."
"And you liked that?"
"The bands, yeah. It was a lot of punk. Metal. Hardcore shit. Nobody who listened to KIIS FM would dare enter that place."
"Perfect for you."
Yeah, it was. It still is. I can't say I'm into the elitist bullshit anymore.
But the whole I'm pissed and I don't want your opinion?
I get that.
"You've been seventeen," I say.
"Only three weeks ago even." She bites her lip. "There was a long time that I didn't see you."
"Mom didn't want me around Em. Not once I started apprenticing."
"Oh. I never realized. I thought you were just—"
"An obnoxious teenager who didn't want to be around my family?"
"I guess. I'm not sure. I was young. And I... I mostly thought you were hot."
"And old?"
"Yeah. But the same age as Harry Potter."
I chuckle. "I think he's older."