Chapter Twenty-Seven
ZACK
I’d registered for the show months earlier, but I was so fucking glad Mia was there to experience it with me.
The drive down was a lot of fun. She suggested we play truth or dare again, and this time around it wound up being more R-rated.
But it also gave us another opportunity to find out more about each other.
I found out she dreams of being able to travel and see the world.
She learned my biggest fear was taxidermy displays.
Dead animals should never ever look that real.
She laughed at that, but I told her I truly thought they were creepy as fuck.
And then last night at the hotel… Damn. I’d never in my life thought showering with someone could be so intimate. But running my hands all over her body, skimming over soft skin as I washed every inch of her, was exactly that—intensely intimate.
Now my gaze ran over the front of the Jeep and trailed its way up Mia’s long, tanned legs. She was perched on the hood in her cut-off shorts, a flowy tank top with a slit up the middle showing off her belly button.
Jesus. She was so fucking beautiful.
“I would kill for a fresh-squeezed lemonade,” she said.
I followed her gaze to a small stand nearby. “Wait here. I’ll grab us both one.”
“Thanks, pookie bear,” she called after me.
I glanced back over my shoulder with a smirk. “Careful. I might like that.”
She rolled her eyes, and I turned, jogging to the stand, not able to stop the smile pulling my lips up. She was just joking, but damn did I like the way a pet name rolled off her tongue so easily. It felt right, like a step in the right direction to becoming more than something casual.
I ordered, and then, with the lemonades in hand, headed back to Mia.
My jaw locked as I took in a couple of younger guys talking to her.
They probably weren’t much older than twenty-one.
Judging by their smiles and how they couldn’t seem to stop staring at her tits, they weren’t asking for directions.
I covered the ground between us in five long strides, handing Mia one of the lemonades and raising my brow at the group of guys.
“Hey, man,” one of the douche canoes said, tipping his chin. “This your Jeep?”
“Yeah,” I bit out.
Mia chuckled under her breath at my annoyance.
One of the guys openly leered at Mia. “I like the hot chick showing it off.”
I growled and took a step toward the little punk.
The kid’s eyes widened, and he threw his hands up in a surrender gesture as he stammered, “I—I was just kidding. Didn’t mean anything by it.”
Luckily, the others grabbed their friend and moved on. Little shits.
“So possessive and jealous,” Mia said with a mix of desire and humor.
“Damn right.” I moved between her legs, and she scooted to the edge, wrapping her arms around my neck.
The icy condensation of her lemonade cup between my shoulder blades did nothing to cool my need for her.
“Every time I look at you, I have to fight the urge to suck and lick your stomach and slide my hands up under these insanely short shorts. I’m fucking sure every other guy here wants to do the same thing. ”
“You’re paranoid,” she said with a roll of her eyes.
“He just called you hot,” I argued. Did she miss that comment?
“Okay.” Her lips twitched. “Mostly paranoid.”
I raised a brow, slightly amused she was fighting back a laugh. “You think my jealousy is funny?”
She nodded enthusiastically. “Hilariously funny.”
I gripped her thighs and leaned forward. “Maybe you need another reminder of what I do to this body?”
“Oh.” She beamed. “Another spanking? That could be fun.”
“Keep up your sass and I’ll do it right here in front of all these people.”
“You would not.” She laughed. “You would be too jealous of everyone looking at my ass.”
“That’s true,” I said with a self-deprecating chuckle. But something about showing everyone she was mine enticed me. “Want to walk around, or hang out here some more?”
“Let’s walk some. I’m curious what kind of stuff they have.”
I gripped her by the waist and helped her slide down. Her hands lingered around my neck, and I bent forward, placing a quick kiss to her lips.
Threading my fingers through hers, I turned us toward the vendors. As we walked, hand in hand, I couldn’t stop feeling like we were a real couple. And in that moment, I didn’t think there was anything that could ruin this feeling of complete and utter happiness.