Shift

“To find you,” she says through a smirk that I can tell is pasted on. I hold her stare long enough for it to slip into a frown.

I nod.

“What happened?” I ask.

Her eyes fall, her lashes kissing her freckle-dusted cheeks. Goddamn, is she the sweetest angel on earth.

“Had a not-so-great talk with my mom at her office. It’s fine, really. She’s just being overprotective.” She pulls her hands free and makes air quotes around that last word. It makes me laugh. I grab them again and thread my fingers between hers before leaning in to press my lips softly on hers.

“I assume the subject of me came up.” I sigh. I’m not upset. It actually feels nice that she wants to fight for us so badly, enough to barge into her mom’s office. I picture her pointing and telling her mom how it is. Ha

“Why are you smiling?” Her head tilts. I slide my hands along her hips, up the bottoms of her shorts until they cup her ass. I squeeze and she blushes.

“You make me smile, is all,” I say. One eye squints as I look up, and this time because I might be blushing a little. I want to tell her how I feel—how she makes me feel.

“Ooof.” I blow out, shaking my head and squeezing my eyes shut. The weight of our quiet moment has ticked up my pulse, a different type of racing than the one that accompanied the idea of ripping off Colt’s drug money. I bury my head in her lap, my lips kissing the skin of her thighs. Her hands fall into my hair and she weaves her fingers around, massaging my scalp while I sink into her and relax for the first time in, well, maybe ever.

“Where is this race?” she finally asks.

“It’s in the Valley. It might be nothing, but I could use the cash,” I say, lifting up enough to meet her gaze. I can tell the instant our eyes meet that she wants to come. My mouth parts but before I speak, a short laugh escapes.

“Your entire family will kill me if you come,” I say, dragging my hands back down her thighs as I stand. I grab her hand on the way and tug her to her feet. I hug her the minute she’s standing, and my mouth goes to its now-natural spot in the crook of her neck, peppering it with kisses. She smells like summer—like coconut and pineapple and sunscreen.

“So we’ll take Tommy,” she says, and I laugh harder.

“What, are we going to throw him in my trunk? Race off with him bound and gagged?” I can’t imagine Tommy is in a hurry to go anywhere with me.

“Hmmm, tempting, but no. We’ll ask. I know my brother. He might be pissed, but he also loves you like a brother. And if I say I’m going with or without him, well . . .”

I roll my eyes at her idea and back away, shaking my head. I stumble back a few steps and point at her, still smiling.

“This is a bad idea, but who am I to tell you not to do something.”.

She lifts her chin and rolls her shoulders, emboldened.

“Good boy,” she says, and everything about those two words reaches into my body and stirs up memories of her bare breasts and how they felt in my mouth.

“Oh, I’m no good boy, Ha