Very Bad Things

And at the thought of him, my eyes wandered back over to where he stood with Tiffany. They were sitting at a picnic table now, and Tiffany’s back was to me while Leo faced me. Even though we were several feet away from him, I felt the weight of his stare. Those blue eyes of his had zeroed right in on me, and he might say he didn’t want me, but his actions hinted otherwise. He’d been hard for me in the bathroom; he’d tried to sniff me in the bed; he’d held my hand all night. But maybe it was just wishful thinking on my part. He already had someone.

“Are you going to Emma Eason’s party this weekend?” Cuba asked me, getting my attention.

“Emma doesn’t like me much, but you can count on me being there. I’ve got some catching up to do when it comes to partying.”

“I’d like to be around when you catch up,” he teased, stepping a little closer to me. He stroked his thumb across my cheek, wiping away some of the ice cream I’d gotten on my face. He sucked it off his fingers. Slowly. My eyes got big.

I stood there blankly, not able to think of a single thing to say. Me. The word girl. A conversational idiot. This flirting while sober thing was hard.

“I think I have you figured out. You’re not real subtle are you?” I finally said.

He laughed. “Nope. Besides, it saves time, doesn’t it? If I like a girl, I let her know. And you, I like.”

“Uh-huh. I bet you say that to all the girls.”

“You know, I tried to talk to you some last year, but you never seemed interested,” he said, watching me eat the ice cream. “I said hi to you once in class, and you looked right through me, like I was invisible.”

I bit my lip. “Cuba, I’m sorry. I don’t remember that. Sometimes I get in a zone thinking about all the things I have to get done. Ignoring you was never on purpose.” I said, telling him a half-truth. Oh, I’d been in a zone alright. One where I’d had to constantly concentrate on holding myself together.

He grinned. “Good. I hope we have a class together this year.”

I nodded absently, my attention switching to Leo as he stood and hugged Tiffany, and after a few moments she walked off, ending their date. As soon as she was out of sight, Leo headed our way.

Leo strolled over to us with the fluid grace of a man who knew he was the epitome of a confident male, assured in his virility and sexual prowess. And even though my blood raced with the anticipation of being close to him again, I still fumed over Tiffany. Why did he affect me like this?

“Date leave?” I asked him.

He ignored my question and cut his eyes at Cuba, like he didn’t like him.

“Who has a running date in the park anyway?” I said, goading him, wanting to push his buttons.

“Grown-ups,” he replied instantly, making me want to squish my cone in his face, but no way was I parting with my precious.

“You’re just not that in to her if you can’t put forth the effort it takes for a real date. Seriously, all you did was run around in the heat, sweat like a pig, and buy her some water,” I retorted, not able to stop the flow of smart-ass remarks with him. I mean, this wasn’t like me at all.

He threw back his head and laughed uproariously, and I stood hypnotized by this Leo, seeing his sexy lips curve up and his sparkling eyes shine with amusement. Even if the joke was at my expense, it didn’t bother me, because it had been worth it to see him like that, so carefree and happy. And I also sensed he wasn’t the kind of guy to laugh at someone to be mean. He’d taken up for Teddy in a heartbeat, telling me real quick Teddy was valuable to the band. And so, even though I wanted to be mad, I couldn’t stop myself from joining in and laughing with him.

Somehow, I remembered my manners. “Cuba, this is Leo Tate. He’s Sebastian’s older brother and guardian. Leo, this is Cuba, a football player and student at BA.”

Leo’s back went ramrod straight as he approached Cuba to shake hands, easing up to him as stealthily as a tiger on the prowl. Standing across from each other, I could see that Leo was about three inches taller than Cuba, which put Leo around the six foot five mark. No wonder he drove the Escalade; it was the only car big enough for him.

As I watched, they acknowledged each other in some ritualistic badass caveman style, with glaring eyes and grunts, mostly from Leo’s end. Tension crackled in the air as Leo’s eyes bounced back and forth from me to Cuba, and I wondered what the hell he was thinking with that hard look on his face. And the way he was staring at Cuba made me think he was jealous, but that wasn’t true. He’d just been with Tiffany, “the girl he was seeing.” Why would he be mad because I was hanging out with Cuba? I huffed and was gearing up to tell him he could just turn himself right back around and walk back the way—

He turned to me, and his eyes seemed to search every inch of my body, making me feel hot. “Did you get a tattoo today?” he asked.

“No, but I made an appointment,” I said, taking a lick of my forgotten ice cream, wondering if I’d get the same reaction from Leo that I’d gotten from Cuba. “Got a nipple piercing instead.”

Leo’s entire stance stiffened, and his eyes flicked from my mouth to my breasts, where they stayed, and heaven help me, I couldn’t resist, so I reached for the hem of my top. “Wanna see?” I teased.

“Hell, yeah,” Cuba muttered out while Leo stood there with a clenched jaw. I knew that reaction; I’d seen it when I’d taken my clothes off in front of him. Either he was angry or horny, or maybe both at the same time. I hadn’t decided.