All the Sauce (IceCats 4)

She snorts. “I guess. I’m actually kind of nervous about him finding out about you.”

I make a face. “Why?”

“Because he doesn’t like guys, especially after all that crap with Taco.”

I hate Taco, and I don’t even know the fucker.

“I know he’s worried something will happen to me.”

“Not when I’m around,” I promise. “And you can tell him I said that. Or I will, at graduation.”

“Ruthless,” she says, resting her chin on my shoulder.

“Yup.” I turn to kiss her just as the door slides open and Dart announces himself.

“Keep it in your pants. I’m out here now.”

I kiss her anyway, and when I pull back, she’s grinning. To Dart, I say, “Fuck off. What are you doing up?”

“You two are loud as hell. Woke me up.”

“Oh, sorry,” Angie says, giving him an apologetic smile. “Want some churros?”

He nods. “I do, actually.” He sits down and then points to Angie. “Did you like your plant?”

She beams. “I did! It’s amazing! I almost didn’t want to leave her.”

Dart blinks and looks at me. “Wow, you’re dating a crazy plant lady.”

I nod. “A hot, crazy plant lady.”

“The best kind of plant lady,” he says and then gets up. “I gotta take a shit.”

I laugh as Angie shakes her head, and Dart heads inside. “He’s a character.”

“He’s a mess,” I interject, finishing off my burrito.

She wipes her hand on a napkin and then makes a face. “I need to wash up.”

“Come on,” I say, and together we clean up everything and head inside. As she throws our trash away, I put our drinks on the counter and look toward the bathroom to see that Dart’s still in it. “He’s in there. You can use mine.”

“Okay,” she says, following me through the living room. We walk into my room, and she points to the beds. “You weren’t kidding. You have two beds in here.”

I nod as I look toward my brother’s bed. It doesn’t have bedding on it, and the whole half of the room looks bare, while mine is all set up with bedding and pictures of my family. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you push them together to have a huge bed?”

I shrug. “Just in case Evan comes back, I want his space to be ready for him.”

“That’s sweet,” she says, reaching out to hold my bicep. “I don’t think he is, though.”

“I don’t either,” I agree on an exhale. “But just in case.”

We share a grin, and I take her hand, putting it in mine and pulling her to the bathroom. Before we can get there, though, she stops me. “You play?”

I don’t have to look to know she is pointing to my guitars. “I do. I don’t sing, though. Evan is the singer.”

“I didn’t know that!”

“Yeah. All of us play guitar. Posey and Quinn play other stuff too.”

She walks over to the three guitars I have hanging up and runs her fingers along them. “These are beautiful.”

“Thanks. They are all my dad’s that he’s given me.”

She looks back at me. “You should play for me.”

“Maybe I will when you don’t have class in ten minutes.”

She looks at her watch and makes a face. “I could skip.” But even I don’t believe she’d do that. She makes another face. “I’m lying. I gotta go.”

“I know you do,” I say, hooking my thumb to the bathroom.

She heads in there, saying, “But I do want you to play for me.”

I watch as she starts to wash her hands. “Only to serenade your naked body.”

She side-eyes me. “That’s unfair.”

“Is it?” I ask, grinning at her. “You want something from me, and I want you to embrace your incredible body.”

She shakes her head. “If you think the only thing I want is to hear you play the guitar, you’ve got another thing coming. I want you just as much as you want me, Owen.”

“Oh, I know you do,” I say to her, and she laughs, shaking her head. “What?”

“You’re so full of yourself.”

“Am I? Or did I feel the heat between your legs and hear your vagina screaming my name?”

She snorts, choking on her laughter. “I can’t stand you!”

I reach for her, bringing her into my arms and close to my body. “If you couldn’t stand me, you wouldn’t be in my arms, looking into my eyes, and being all mine.”

She reaches up, cupping my cheeks and running her thumbs along my cheekbones. “Fine, you’re right. But still, you drive me crazy.”

I kiss her nose. “Good thing you work for a mental health department.”

We dissolve in laughter until our lips meet.

Then the laughter is gone, and heat explodes between us. Since I don’t trust myself, I pull back first and kiss her nose once more. “Have a good day at school, gorgeous.”

She flutters her lashes at me. “I’m not going to make it with you.”

I nod, blowing out a long, loud breath as I put space between us. Her laughter runs down my spine as I pull her to the front door. Once she’s out of it and I close it, I lean my head into the door. “That makes two of us.”