I swallow almost immediately, even though being in a shower is the perfect excuse to spit. But fuck it, he has no problems ingesting me and when I’m all in, I’m all in. I want every part of Blake, not just some.
“My fucking god,” he rasps, leaning against the shower wall, the water still spraying on us.
I carefully get up, my knees aching, trying not to slip on the slick tiles.
I place a soft kiss on his rounded shoulder.
He slowly turns to look at me, his eyes sated, his hair wet, flattened over his head, looking so god damn beautiful.
“You,” he whispers, sounding amazed. “Look at you.”
I’m not sure what I look like, my lips swollen from sucking, my skin soaked, my hair sticking down my back.
But whatever he sees, he makes me feel like I couldn’t be more beautiful.
When we’re all clean and dry, it’s tempting to just fall back into bed again. But Blake has to go to the bookstore to work for a few hours.
“You could keep me company,” he offers as we get in Mr. Mean.
“I’d love to pop in for a second,” I tell him, very conscious of not being that girl who gets clingy after sex. I’ve learned some things from Rio. “But I’ve got some errands I have to do in town. I can take the bus back to the school to get my car after.”
He frowns. “You sure? I can drive you home when my shift is over.”
I smile reassuringly, giving him a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it. But thank you.”
“So,” I say to him as we cruise down the busy streets of downtown, looking for parking. “What do you think your dad would say if he knew what we were doing?”
“He’d say, way to go son, she’s gorgeous.”
“I meant about the books. And would he really say that?”
He gives me a look. “Let’s not go there. But books? He’d say I’m contributing to something that ruined his life,” he says glibly. “What would your parents say?”
“They’d say I’m dragging the family name through the mud. Then they’d say that they’re terrible parents and don’t know where they went wrong and wonder why both their children ended up being such nonconformists.” I pause. “Then my mother would tell me I’m going to Hell.”
“Tall order,” he says. “Another reason to keep Blake Lovecox a secret until the end of time.”
“Or at least until we get a movie deal.”
“Agreed.”
Despite how busy the city is with tourists, the bookstore is actually pretty quiet.
“I thought summer was your busy season,” I admit.
“It is. Usually when the Clipper ferry or the cruise ships get in. Give it another hour.” He leans in close to me. “If it wasn’t for that, this store would have gone under long ago.”
“You’re here,” a voice booms from the counter.
I look over to see his father, who could be Blake’s double, albeit shorter, rounder and with glasses. It’s funny, I’d always known him as the owner and now to know him as Blake’s dad makes things a lot more interesting. I’m pretty sure he yelled at me once when I was in high school for trying to read “A Feast for Crows” here without buying it. As you can imagine, I was here for a long time.
“And on time,” Blake says, flashing that charming smile of his on his dad. It doesn’t seem to work on him. Then again, it barely works on me…no, really.
Oh, who am I kidding?
“Who is this?” his father asks.
“Dad, this is Amanda,” he says.
“Your girlfriend!” A kid’s voice fills the air and after a few thumps of feet running on the hardwood, I see who I can only assume is Kevin emerging behind a row of books and running toward me with a plastic sword drawn. “You exist!”
My eyes dart to Blake and I raise my brows in question. Girlfriend?
“Yes, my girlfriend,” Blake says through a strained smile as he tries to pat Kevin’s head.
Kevin shies away and comes right over to me. “You’re his girlfriend. I’m his best friend,” he says proudly, poking his thumb into his chest.
“This is my stepbrother Kevin,” Blake explains.
“Did you tell her about LAIRE?” he asks excitedly.
“Laire?” I repeat. I’m still having problems with the girlfriend thing. Why would he tell them I’m his girlfriend?
“It’s an acronym,” Kevin explains to me, as if I’m dumb. “Live Action Interactive Role-Playing Explorers. There’s a battle at Beacon Hill Park and Blake promised me that the both of you were going to take me there.”
Obviously this is the first I’ve heard of this. My gaze goes to Blake, amused. “Are you going to dress up like Loki?”
Blake frowns. “Um…”
“Because you know I’ll go if you dress like Loki.”
He wiggles his lips for a moment, trying to get out of it. “I’m not really sure that dressing up as other characters is allowed...”
“Yes it is!” Kevin says, waving his sword through the air. “That’s why this one is so fun! It’s like Comic Con but with fighting. I’m going as my own character, Betoolamous the Brave but you can wear whatever you want.”
“Still think this is a mistake,” their dad says with a sigh, turning back to the cash register. “Why can’t you go to a Justin Bieber concert like other kids your age?”