“So what’s a safe subject?” she asked just as Rocco was bringing the pizza out to the table. He handed us paper plates and napkins before leaving us alone again.
“You,” I suggested. “Tell me about you.”
“What do you want to know?” she asked, reaching for a slice of pizza.
I loved the fact that she didn’t pretend to be a bird, didn’t act as though one bite of pizza would require her to spend two months at the gym. No, not Payton. She grabbed a slice and took a bite before I could even come up with a question.
“What are you smiling at?” Payton was studying me as she reached for a napkin and then wiped the sauce from her lips.
“You,” I admitted truthfully.
“Well, quit.”
Not a chance in hell. There hadn’t been a damn thing in my life to smile at for as long as I could remember, but now, with Payton, I wasn’t sure I would ever stop smiling.
“Are you from Austin?” I asked after snatching a slice of pizza.
“Yep. Born and raised,” she admitted. “My parents are from here, too.”
“They still married?”
“Yeah. My dad owns a body shop and my mother’s a CPA.”
“Brothers or sisters?” I asked between bites.
“Nope. Only child.”
“Did your dad restore your Mustang?”
“He helped. He owns a body shop, so it was a project they all undertook for a while. It was a gift for my eighteenth birthday.”
“Not a fan of the Mustang?”
“It’s fine. I just wish it was a little more… modern.”
“But it’s a classic.”
“That it is. And by classic, I think you mean old.”
“Not quite what I meant, but okay, I get your point.” Laughing, I consumed my pizza, watching Payton do the same. Was it strange that I found the way she ate pizza incredibly sexy?
While Payton stopped at one slice, I had four. By the time we finished, the place was filled to capacity. I had to wrap my arm around her — certainly not a hardship — just so we could make it to the door.
Once outside, the scent of gasoline and fall assaulted me.
“Where to now?” Payton asked as we strolled down Sixth Street once again.
“It’s your night. You tell me.”
“Why is it my night?” She peered up at me as she spoke.
I just wanted to push her against the building and ravage her mouth until neither of us knew what day it was.
But I didn’t.
I was trying to control myself. That’s what you did on a first date, right? Especially if you wanted the first date to lead to another. And then another.
“Because it is,” I told her. “Want to stop in one of the bars?”
“Sure. You pick though. I’m not good at that.”
“Picking bars?”
“Picking anything.” Payton’s smile was beautiful. So damn beautiful.
As we walked down the street, I pointed to one of the tattoo shops. “That’s where I got most of my work done.”
“Really?” Payton stopped suddenly, looking up at me. “How much art do you have?”
“Not much more than what you see,” I told her. My arms and my shoulders were the main areas I’d focused on. I had a cross on my back, between my shoulder blades.
“Do they have meaning behind them?” she asked, still not moving.
“Some do. Some don’t. There for a while, I just did it to piss off…” I stopped myself immediately, realizing that I was headed down a conversational dead end.
“Off limits tonight, huh?” She obviously understood why I stopped.
“Just tonight,” I explained, squeezing her hand.
“Okay.” Payton’s eyes slid down to my mouth.
I could feel the heat in her gaze and I desperately wanted to kiss her. It didn’t matter that we were standing in the middle of a crowded sidewalk on one of the busiest streets in downtown Austin for a Friday night. I couldn’t promise her that I wouldn’t kiss her for the rest of the night, but I did remember her stipulation. For now, I was going to do my damnedest to give her what she asked for.
“Come on. Let’s see how much trouble we can get in.” I forced a smile, my brain working overtime on how I was supposed to not kiss her. The temptation was just too great.
After all, the night was still young.
Chapter Twenty-One
Payton
The following morning, I found myself lying in my bed, unable to get up.
Although it was November, and the temperature at night hovered somewhere in the low fifties, it still managed to get cold in the apartment thanks to the crappy insulation. No one seemed to have a problem with the colder temperatures except me. Chloe liked the cold and Aaron hadn’t been home enough for it to matter to him. And since Chloe was anal when it came to controlling the thermostat, the heater obviously wasn’t on, which was why I was snuggled beneath the down comforter on my bed, staring around my room. I was freezing.
Chloe was the reason I was awake. She was the reason I was usually up early every Saturday morning, in fact. The woman was up with the sun, another one of her many quirks. And on Saturday mornings, she always got up and made blueberry pancakes while singing in the kitchen.
It sounded worse than it was.
The woman could sing. I mean she could belt out a tune like nobody’s business. It was incredible and there were certainly worse ways to wake up.
But now that my eyes were open, the sun peeking in through the curtains on my window, I thought back to last night.
First date.
Yep, that had been a first date to top all first dates.
After Sebastian and I had left the pizza place, we stopped to watch a guy paint mind-blowing pictures using just spray paint and little cardboard cutouts. I hadn’t been in any hurry to move on, especially when Sebastian wrapped his arms around me, allowing me to lean against his chest. We probably stood there for a solid half hour and during that time, the guy with the spray paint completed three pictures. They were incredible.
By two o’clock, Sebastian and I had decided to call it a night. We’d spent several hours people watching, laughing and joking about random things and keeping our conversation light and impersonal.
At first, I’d been disappointed that Sebastian didn’t want to open up to me, but when I recognized the storm clouds in his brilliant gold gaze, I knew whatever he was holding back was hard for him. That didn’t mean I didn’t want to know, but I also didn’t want for our date to go to crap right off. So, we’d had a couple of beers early on at one of the popular bars on Sixth Street and then closed the place down at two. We’d stopped drinking early, so it hadn’t been the alcohol talking when I had wanted to take him back to my apartment and ravish him until dawn.
Just like the personal conversation, that hadn’t happened either, and now I was wondering when I’d get to see him again.
There was a light tap on my bedroom door before it flew open and in strolled Chloe. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt that read “My imaginary friend thinks you have serious mental problems.” That was one of her favorites, although she had a drawer full of different ones.
“Mornin’ sunshine!” Chloe exclaimed moments before she flung herself onto my bed and cuddled up beside me. “Whatcha doin’?”
“Just laying here,” I told her, pulling the blanket up to my nose. I don’t know how the girl could stand it to be so cold in the apartment, but she was the culprit who continued to turn down the temperature until ice was practically forming on the air vents. I would admit that it probably wasn’t quite cool enough outside to turn on the heater, but I was pretty sure we could have gone without the air conditioner for a couple of weeks.
“How’d your date go?” she asked, flopping onto her back and staring at the ceiling along with me.
“Amazing,” I told her, unable to stop the grin from forming on my face.
“Yeah?” Chloe turned her head to the side a
nd looked at me. “So, the mechanic can fix more than just cars, can he?”
“Shut up,” I scolded her, laughing. “It was nice.”
“Nice. I’m sure that sexy bad boy would love to know you called him nice.”
“I didn’t call him nice. I said the date was nice.”
“I’m sure that’s what he was going for,” Chloe said with a laugh. “What time did you get home?”
“It was after two. Where were you anyway?” I turned my head to look at her.
Chloe wasn’t home when I arrived, so I hadn’t had anyone to share the details of my date with. Which was probably a good thing because, at the time, I’d been floating on a cloud and I would have sounded pathetic.
“Out.”
“That’s it. That’s all you’re gonna tell me?” I asked, turning my head and looking at the ceiling again.
“Yup!” she squealed and jumped to her feet. “Breakfast’s ready. Come eat with me.”
The only reason I agreed was because my stomach grumbled loudly, reminding me that I’d only had one slice of pizza for dinner last night and that had been early. If I had been out with Chloe or Aaron, I would have had at least two, but with Sebastian, I didn’t want to look like a pig so I’d cut myself off.
The scent of sweet blueberries drifted from the kitchen, seemingly calling out to my stomach. Snatching my white, fluffy robe from the small chair beside my bed, I wrapped it around myself and followed Chloe to the kitchen.
I nearly tripped over my own two feet when I stepped into the small breakfast area.
There, sitting in one of the kitchen chairs was…
“Payton, you remember Toby.”
“I… uh…” Yeah, I remembered him. Although I hadn’t been positive what his name was, but I certainly remembered him.
I patted my hair, wondering just how bad I looked and then decided to slip into the bathroom. Although, run to the bathroom was a more apt description.
Sebastian’s friend Toby was in our kitchen.
Our kitchen.
Toby.
And Chloe was still in her pajamas.
I stared at myself in the mirror above the sink, trying to remember what Toby had been wearing. Jeans and a T-shirt, maybe? Did he have on shoes? The powers of deductive reasoning were telling me that Toby had spent the night. But I was hoping that I was missing something.
Why didn’t Chloe mention this to me before? Why would she let me stumble out of my bedroom looking like death warmed over just to find a strange man in my kitchen?
After brushing my teeth, I splashed cold water on my face and massaged the skin beneath my eyes, willing myself to look more awake. I took a brush to my hair but then decided to pull it back in a ponytail. Without makeup, I really did look like a teenager, but at the moment, it beat the alternative: looking like a zombie apocalypse had started and they’d taken me first.
Shit.
A gentle knock on the door had me spinning around and clutching my hand to my chest.
“You okay in there?” Chloe called from the other side of the door.
No. I wasn’t. But that’s not what I said. “Yep. Be out in a sec.” I hoped my voice sounded more chipper than I felt.
“You can do this,” I told the woman in the mirror. “Just walk out there and have a civil conversation with Sebastian’s friend. It doesn’t matter why he’s here. It doesn’t even matter that he might’ve stayed the night.”
Like hell.
Another splash of cold water on my face and I was scrubbing it off with a hand towel before tightening the belt on my robe and reaching for the door knob.
Part of me expected to see Chloe standing in the hallway, ready to tell me just what the hell was going on, but the only thing that met me was the lingering scent of pancakes and syrup.
Taking a deep breath, I pasted a smile on my face and walked into the living room.
“Oh, my God!” I squealed like an idiot, spun on my heel and darted into my bedroom before slamming the door behind me.
Sebastian was in my kitchen.
Oh crap. Oh crap. Oh crap.
I buried my face in my hands and started laughing uncontrollably.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Payton
I had no idea how long I stood there like that, but then there was a knock on my door. “Come in.” I could hardly speak through my laughter, but I figured Chloe was back to check on me so I forced the words out.
“Hey.”
I was pretty sure I had a minor heart attack. Grateful that my bed was close by, I dropped to my butt and stared at the sexy man standing in my bedroom doorway.
“You okay?” he asked, that mischievous gleam in his eyes disarming me.
“Nope. Not okay,” I mumbled loudly. “Not sure I’ll be okay ever again.”
That only seemed to intensify his amusement, and Sebastian moved into the room and closed the door behind him.
Shit.
Not good.
“What…” I closed my mouth, cleared my throat and tried again. “What…?” are you doing here? I couldn’t seem to get the last part of the sentence out of my mouth, but I knew I was gaping at Sebastian.
“Cat got your tongue, Angel?” Sebastian stalked closer to me.
That was the only way to explain the predatory gleam in his beautiful eyes. I felt like a mouse who’d been cornered by a cat, and I didn’t know quite what to do about it.
The next thing I knew, I was on my back with my feet resting on the floor, and Sebastian was above me. His hands were planted firmly on the bed as he held himself up. I was in desperate need of air because being this close to him was…
“Good morning,” he whispered in that raspy tone that I’d come to want more of.
I was suddenly grateful that I had brushed my teeth.
“Morning.” Oh, Lord. Was that my voice? Did I just croak?
The smirk that tilted the corner of Sebastian’s mouth sent my hormones into overdrive. I could feel the warmth of his body through my robe although he wasn’t touching me.
I cleared my throat, intent on not looking like a love-struck fool as I lay beneath him, staring up at his handsome face. “What are you doing here?”
“Toby mentioned breakfast.”
“Why is Toby here?” I felt a little better now that I’d found my voice again. The fact that Sebastian was still hovering above me was doing strange things to my insides, but at least I sounded like I was unaffected.
Maybe.
“Chloe invited him.”
“So he didn’t stay the night?” I attempted to sit up only to find that Sebastian wasn’t going to move.
“Not my business,” Sebastian murmured, his eyes drifting down to my mouth.
No, it wasn’t. Nor was it my business, but I had to admit, I wasn’t used to waking up to find strange men in our apartment. I’d lived with Chloe for the last year after I’d decided that in order to save money, I needed to take on an additional roommate. Aaron and I had been in a two bedroom apartment until I met Chloe when I decided to try a new hair stylist closer to where we’d moved. From the moment we started talking, we’d been instant friends and a few short months later, Aaron and I moved to a three bedroom apartment following the logic that with three people splitting the rent we’d save more money.
It had worked, and until now, especially with Aaron always gone, things had been rather boring at home.
Finding strange men in my kitchen first thing in the morning took boring and shattered it into a million pieces.
“What are you thinking about?”
Sebastian’s question pulled me from my thoughts. “Nothing. What are you thinking about?” I realized he was still looking at my mouth.
“Kissing you. It’s the only thing I can think about.”
Okay, so that one sentence sent a torrent of tingles through my insides. I was tempted to rub up against him like a cat, wanting to press my body to his, to feel every hard plane of his body against me. Thankfully my legs were shut,
but I couldn’t move because Sebastian was practically straddling me, his feet still planted firmly on the floor, legs spread wide, his knees trapping my thighs between them.
“Well, you know the rules,” I whispered, wishing the rules would take a flying leap right out the window. I wanted him to kiss me. I’d wanted that since I made the stupid rule in the first place.
Sebastian had thrown me for a loop last night. After we had left the pizza place, aside from holding my hand and putting his arms around me while we’d watched the painter, we hadn’t touched at all. No kissing, no making out in the parking lot. Nothing.
And even when he had walked me to my door at two-thirty in the morning, he didn’t even offer a good night kiss. It had left me desperately wanting him.
I was pretty sure that was his plan.
“I do know the rules,” he said softly. “But you know what I think about rules?”
“Hmm?” I asked, unable to tear my gaze from his lips. When he talked, I could see the silver barbell through his tongue.
Sebastian didn’t answer my question with words. He simply leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.
It was like an explosion occurred inside me. Unable to resist, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him back. I was the aggressor, forcing my tongue into his mouth until we were crushed together. The growl that erupted from him made my body ignite and I feared that I was going to go up in a puff of smoke any minute now.
“Angel,” he growled against my lips, his hand sliding behind my head.
The next thing I knew, Sebastian was flat on the bed and I was lying on top of him, straddling his hips. I could feel his erection pressing against me and holy smokes, I wanted more of him.
But he didn’t touch me and I didn’t touch him, other than where our bodies were resting against one another. His tongue dueled with mine and his hands were cupping my head, but he wasn’t trying to cop a feel.
God, I wanted him to cop a feel.
Shit.
Now I was acting like a horny teenager.
Someone pounded on the door and I drew my mouth from Sebastian’s, staring down at him.
“Come on, kids. Time to eat,” Toby called through the door.
Unhinged (Unhinged #1) Page 13