Starfire(13)
“Do you think people expected you’d snitch to your dad?”
He smirked. “The irony is that thanks to my dad, I knew who all the dealers were and where the bootleggers operated. I had it all, but didn’t know what to do with it.”
“You could have been the most popular guy in school.”
He nodded, his expression wistful. “And you could have been valedictorian, except for some bribe money.”
As I let these revelations wash over me, Adrian flicked at his lower lip with his tongue, which took me back in time, to watching him flick that piercing he used to wear in his lower lip.
“When did you take the lip ring out?” I asked.
“The first day I started working after school. I arrived in Seattle, by bus, and saw a bunch of skinny kids with piercings hanging out on the sidewalk outside the bus station. When I walked by, they nodded at me like I was one of them.”
“Street kids?”
“Yes. But I wasn’t one of them, because I had an internship and an apartment lined up. I slipped the lip ring out about two blocks later.”
“Did the hole completely close up?”
He took a drink of his root beer using the straw, then said, “I’m not dribbling, am I?” He patted his chin, pretending he wasn’t sure himself. “It closed up after two weeks.”
“I wish I could have kissed you back when you had the piercing.” I gave him a flirty look. “Just to satisfy my curiosity.”
He squared up his shoulders and gave me a smoldering look, his blue eyes blazing with interest. “We’re adults now, Peaches. You don’t need an excuse like curiosity. If you want to kiss me, just kiss me. No labels, no restrictions.”
We were interrupted by our dinner arriving, hot and fragrant with fresh parmesan cheese. My cheeks were flushing from all the talk about kissing, and I felt nervous about what might happen after dinner.
I pushed away my half-empty glass of Diet Coke. “I’ll get a vodka and soda,” I told the waitress.
“Make it a double and I’ll have the same,” Adrian said.
We silently dug into our food, eating and exchanging goofy looks. The drinks arrived, and we stared into each other’s eyes as we started to drink.
His eyes crinkled, and he didn’t set the glass down, so I didn’t set mine down either. I won the drinking contest, setting down the glass, empty except for ice, first.
“Liquid courage,” he joked.
“Courage for what? Are we going on a crime spree after this?”
“Thanks to some recent intel from my dad’s cop buddies, I’ve got a few ideas.”
I shook my head, a perma-grin plastered on my face. “What am I getting myself into?”
“A bunch of trouble we should have gotten into five years ago. You know, I didn’t even have fun at prom.”
The vodka sent delightful swirls of relaxation through my body. “You never came to prom.”
He made a funny face. “Oh, I was there. For all of ten minutes. You were having such a good time with your friends, and Jett Spencer.” He frowned. “I had this whole speech figured out, and I was going to tell you about Brie rigging the vote, too. But you looked so happy, and I wanted you to be happy, even if it was with Jett Spencer.”
“Fuck me with a ten-pound box of fucks, but you need to stop dropping these bombshells on me, Adrian.”
“Black Sheep Books is closing down.”
My jaw dropped open.
Adrian grinned.
My jaw remained in the ajar position.
He explained, “The owners have been in the red for two years, and they’re calling it quits. On behalf of Gordon, I’m negotiating taking over their inventory, rather than having them liquidate and glut the local market.”
I whispered, “I hate those sheep fuckers.”
He nodded, looking sly. “I know you do. That’s why I wanted to tell you the good news myself.” He rubbed his hands together. “Negotiations are going well.”
My head was buzzing with vodka and the intoxication of Adrian’s attention, plus this delicious news.
“I hope you stick it to them,” I said.
“Oh, they’re going to spread wide for all the things they’ve done, like poaching employees.”
“You’re going to bend them over that negotiation table, aren’t you?”
“I’m going to spank that exposed ass. And after we’ve had our way with them, we’ll be back on top.”
I licked my lips. “My panties are so wet right now.”
Adrian pretended to gulp-swallow with nervousness. “Negotiating makes me hard, too.”
“You’re a dirty boy.”
He gave me a devious look. “You don’t know the half of it. We could move Peachtree into their space and take over a fifteen-year lease at below-market rent.”