Mick pulls the curtain back, and all the Reeds scramble to look like they weren’t listening in. Ryan goes to apply ointment to Mick’s tattoo and Friday pulls me into a hug. “You okay?” she asks.
“Yeah. I think it’s going to work out.”
“All it takes is a little love.”
“And a little bit of Henry.”
We both laugh, and then Mick and I leave the tattoo shop hand in hand.
Mick
Ryan had a shit-eating grin on his face. I knew something was up; I just didn’t know what. Then Wren pulled back the curtain, and I felt like all my hopes and dreams had just been delivered to me on a silver platter. There was no way I was letting her get out of there unless she took me with her. I knew that immediately.
I was planning on
going straight to her apartment when I left the shop. I needed to work this thing out between us. I couldn’t just leave it hanging.
And, man…when she told me that she didn’t take that pill, my love for her grew even bigger. It’s not because she didn’t take the pill. It’s because she wanted to talk to me about taking the pill. That’s what I want, the give and take of a respectful relationship. I imagine that if she’ll pull, I’ll push, and if she pushes, I’ll pull, but as long as we meet in the middle, we should be all right.
She holds my hand on the short walk to her apartment. She doesn’t say a word; she just looks up at me every so often and her cheeks go rosy.
I tug on her hand. “What are you thinking about?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing, really.”
I laugh and tug her hand again. “Yes, you are. What is it?”
“I was thinking about that one time…” She stops and shakes her head again.
“That one time, what?”
“Stop. Nothing.” She lays her hands on her cheeks and looks away.
I lean close to her ear. “You’re thinking about the time we fucked.” I hold up my hands when she glares at me. “It’s okay. I was thinking about it too.”
“You were?” She blinks her pretty eyes at me.
“I think about it all the time. Every minute, it seems like.” I reach down and adjust my junk, because just talking about it is getting me hard. “Can we finish this conversation when we get to your apartment?”
She nods. “I was just thinking…it was amazing.”
Oh, God. “It was.” I clear my throat, because I suddenly feel like I can’t speak without a growl in my voice.
“I was thinking maybe we should do that again, and go a little slower this time.” She licks her lips and looks down toward my zipper.
“Do you think that we should…maybe…talk a little? First?” I ask. I just said that to be nice. It’s the last thing I want to do right now.
“We could. If you want to.” She gives me a side eye.
A grin tugs at the corners of my lips. “Or we could wait…to talk.”
Her grin grows huge. “We could. If you want to.”
“The last time didn’t last very long,” I admit. No man wants to be quick in the sack, but I felt like I’d been waiting for her my whole life.
“We could go a little slower the next time.” She swings our clasped hands between us. “You know. To see what it’s like.” Suddenly she gasps, stops walking, and stares up at me. “What if it’s terrible?” Her eyes twinkle with merriment.
“Not possible,” I say quickly.