Chapter 22
Indigo
“Ohmibob, this is so good! Did you make this?” I wiggled happily in my seat as I took a bite of my sandwich, perched on a blanket spread over Sheila’s hood.
Priest had knocked on my door at eight o’clock on the dot, and I was treated to a sexy smile when I opened it.
Priest escorted me to Sheila, making me feel very fancy.
I drew the line at handing him the keys, though.
Sheila didn’t know Priest that well, and I figured they should ease into their relationship from the passenger seat.
Priest navigated while I drove and tried to guess what he had planned.
We rolled through Sagebrush and into an area on the outskirts of town I wasn’t familiar with.
We turned into a large lot, the entrance guarded by a single man in a faded trucker hat sitting on a folding chair.
His feet were propped on a dusty red-and-white chest cooler.
Priest passed me some cash to hand the man, who took it without looking our way and waved us on with a raspy, “Enjoy the show.”
I parked Sheila in the lot, which contained a few other vehicles.
“I hope you like old Will Farrell movies, angel,” Priest said with a wink as he climbed out of Sheila and walked around to her rear doors.
I turned in my seat as he opened them and watched as Priest grabbed a basket and blanket that definitely weren’t there earlier today.
Priest walked to Sheila’s hood and began to spread a blanket out, placing the basket down by his feet and crooking a finger to me through the glass of her windshield.
As if in a daze, I climbed out of Sheila and went to Priest, who grabbed my hips and lifted me onto the hood of the van.
He handed me the basket before gently settling himself next to me, careful not to damage Sheila.
“There’s a double feature tonight, Anchorman and Superstar.
I thought we could have a picnic and watch the movies.
This way, Sheila won’t be left out.” I practically swooned at the thoughtfulness of my Growly Gus.
The drive-in movie lot filled in a bit more, but there was enough distance between vehicles to give us the illusion of privacy.
Priest unpacked the picnic basket he’d prepared, handing me a paper plate and napkin along with one of the thickest sandwiches I’d ever seen.
Generous slices of garlicky roast beef were topped with loads of yummy veggies and a spicy mayo, all packed into a fluffy roll. It was pure bliss in sandwich form.
Priest wore a small, satisfied smile as he watched me eat.
He was supposed to be watching the movie playing on the giant, patched screen across the lot, but every time I peeked at him between bites, he was caressing me with his gaze.
Priest had packed bottles of water and cans of soda in his basket, which he wouldn’t let me dig into because he said he had a surprise for dessert.
We both munched, laughed, and flirted (awkwardly on my part) through the first movie.
As the credits rolled, Priest stowed our trash and the basket back in Sheila’s cargo area, and I took a moment to breathe and wonder at the knowledge that I was on an all-American wet dream of a first date.
He'd been so thoughtful and sweet, watching me watch the movie, which I’d never seen before.
It was like he was having fun simply by observing me enjoying myself and experiencing something new.
Is that what love is? The question filtered from my mind and into my chest, where it steeped until it was ready to be honestly examined.
The closing of Sheila’s doors snapped my mind from my rose-colored thoughts.
Priest settled himself back onto Sheila’s hood and presented me with the sexiest dessert I’d ever seen.
“Is that…” My eyes snapped from his offering to his face, which was lit up with pleasure and amusement.
“Yeah, angel. It is. Now open those pretty pink lips for me, I have something you’re gonna want to taste. ”
For once, my lady lizard brain and her more evolved frontal cortex metaphorically high-fived while my lips obediently parted, mouth watering.
A motherfucking Cheesecake Factory sampler platter.
I was going to ride this man.
Priest
I hadn’t really been on a date since high school, and despite being out of practice, I felt like I’d smashed our first date out of the park.
I’d wanted to do something fun, something not too crowded so we could talk, but not so isolated that Indigo felt uncomfortable.
The drive-in might have been old-fashioned, but the look on her face when she saw I’d taken care of everything and even brought a blanket for Sheila’s hood made something in my chest swell with pride.
I’d made her smile like that. I’d fed her and made her laugh, and fuck if it wasn’t satisfying.
I knew my angel had a sweet tooth, and the look on her face when I unveiled a cheesecake sampler platter made the drive to the restaurant in Reno to get it worth every minute.
Indigo moaned as she slid a bite of tiramisu cheesecake between her lips, and I sat transfixed, watching her.
“Wanna bite?” she asked, and I had to suppress the urge to tell her that cheesecake wasn’t what I wanted in my mouth at the moment.
She held her plastic fork out in offering, and I leaned forward to accept a taste.
She smiled at me as she watched me chew, waiting for my verdict.
It sometimes blew me away how invested she became in the simplest of things.
Indigo didn’t seem to take anything for granted.
“Delicious, angel,” I said, and she did a happy wiggle as she tried a different slice of cake.
Halfway through the movie, which neither of us had paid much mind, she pushed the plate away with a sad sigh.
“I want to keep eating because it’s so good, but I’m stuffed.
” She rubbed her belly and leaned back onto Sheila’s windshield.
“I think that churro cheesecake may have changed me on a cellular level. It was that good. I don’t think I’ll ever be the same.
” I chuckled as I stowed the platter back into the basket and carefully settled myself on the hood of the van, leaning against the windshield next to Indi.
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I know how much you love sweets.”
Indigo turned her head so our faces were inches apart. “Oh, yeah? And how did you know something like that, Growly Gus? I don’t remember telling you about my dessert preferences.”
“You didn’t have to tell me. I know because I paid attention.
I know you have a sweet tooth just like I know that you prefer your bagels scorched and the volume on Sheila’s radio changed in increments of five.
You sing along to every song you hear, even if you don’t know the words, and you wrinkle your nose in the cutest way when you’re thinking hard or trying to remember something.
” Indigo blushed adorably, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“I’ve always watched you. You had my attention whether I liked it or not.
But it wasn’t until our night in the confessional that I started to really see you.
I’ve been on a mission ever since to give you just a little bit of sweetness every day.
” Indigo’s dreamy expression turned sultry, her eyes bright with need as they darted down to my lips.
“Every day?” she asked. “Be careful, Growly, a girl could get used to something like that.”
I propped myself up on an elbow and reached over to gently grasp the back of Indigo’s neck, tipping her chin up to me with my thumb.
My entire focus was homed in on the woman in my arms, our eyes pulled together in an irresistible gravity.
Leaning down, I stop with my lips ghosting against her own and say, “That’s the goal, angel. ”
I couldn’t say who moved first to close the distance between our lips, all I knew was that suddenly I wasn’t sure where she ended and I began anymore.
I felt myself sink into her softness. Indigo relaxed and became deliciously pliant.
With a moan, she parted her lips and allowed me to explore her sweet mouth with my tongue.
I wanted nothing more than to sink myself inside the woman who’d been driving me crazy for months, but I remembered that we were not in private—in fact, we were very much in public.
I needed to be the responsible adult here—ha!
—and get Indigo home and away from roaming eyes.
Just as I was about to break our kiss and respectfully but urgently suggest that we head home so we could finish what we’d started, we were both suddenly jolted forward. “What the fuck,” I snarled, bracing us against the hood so we didn’t slip off.
Indigo’s voice came out slightly panicked.
“Did someone just hit Sheila?” I slid off the hood and marched toward the hatchback, whose bumper was currently kissing Sheila’s without fucking consent.
The driver of the little silver car got out, smoke pouring out of the vehicle as he did.
His eyes were red-rimmed, and he looked stoned.
“Sorry, man, I didn’t see you,” he said, chuckling.
I firmly held a leash on my anger, frustrated that this asshat caused the tense edge of panic in Indigo’s voice after I worked so hard to help her relax and have fun.
“Didn’t see us? Fuck you, man! There are only like three other cars left in the lot, and this van is huge.
You better hope there isn’t a dent in Sheila’s bumper or I’m going to kick your ass!
” I shined the flashlight from my phone at Sheila’s bumper, looking for damage.
Indigo came stomping around from the front of the van, clutching a baseball bat and muttering to herself.
Before I could stop her, Indigo pulled the bat back and slammed it into the driver’s side headlight of the hatchback.
Dropping my phone in my haste, I snagged Indigo around the waist, swinging her back toward me and away from the stoner who suddenly looked a little more sober at the sight of a violent chick with purple hair threatening him with a bat.
Indigo pointed her weapon at the driver.
“Apologize, or I’m going for your kneecaps next!
” She stopped trying to squirm out of my hold and leaned back a bit into my chest.
“I-I’m sorry I hit your car…ma’am?”
“Don’t apologize to me, idiot! Apologize to Sheila!” She swung her bat as much as she could one-handed in his direction while my arm remained firmly banded around her waist.
“Jesus, I’m sorry, Sheila.” Stoner guy rushed back into his shitty hatchback.
His two friends hadn’t even moved when Indi broke his headlight, so they were probably too high to notice what was going on.
Once he had backed up and driven away, I released Indigo and picked up my phone, which mercifully didn’t seem damaged from its fall in the gravel.
“I’m sorry they hit Sheila, angel, but I think she’s fine.
There was a little bit of a scratch on her, but Bones can fix that for you, easy. ”
“It’s time to go, Priest,” Indigo said in a clipped tone.
She headed toward the driver’s side door, while I stowed our blanket in the back of the van and got into the front passenger seat, trying not to let my irritation show.
I was so pissed those assholes ruined her night.
She deserved to have fun without some random dude swooping in at the end and upsetting her.
Indigo slid Sheila’s key into the ignition, but she seemed to change her mind and didn’t start the vehicle.
Instead, she leaned over the center console, grabbed a fistful of my shirt, and pulled me in for a searing kiss.
Indigo nipped my bottom lip before she pulled away and sat back in her seat. “Wha—”
“You defended Sheila,” Indigo interrupted, breathlessly. “You threatened those guys if they hurt her, and it was the single hottest thing I’ve ever seen in my entire life.” Her words came out rushed, and she had her eyes trained on Sheila’s roof as if she couldn’t stand to look at me.
“Angel, I—”
“Nope,” Indigo interrupted again with her hand up.
“I’m gonna need to play the silent game with you until we’re back home.
” She started the van and looked around cautiously, before turning Sheila toward the exit and back to the compound.
“You can’t say anything else… and don’t smolder at me!
You’re too distracting, and a distracted driver is a dead driver.
” I smirked, and she licked her lips as her eyes flicked to me, before she checked her mirrors and merged onto the highway.
“Bobdamnit, stop! You can’t get any hotter than you already are!
It’s not fair!” I couldn’t resist the laughter that spilled from my lips, nor the husky rasp in my voice.
Indigo shivered at the sound, ratcheting up the sexual tension thickening in the van.
The air seemed to pulse between us, need twisting and turning with desire until we were both ensnared by the power of our sexual chemistry.
But I kept my hands to myself and didn’t whisper any of the filthy things I was imagining into Indigo’s ear as she white knuckled Sheila’s steering wheel.
I wanted to, but her plea for the general safety and welfare of others didn’t fall on deaf ears. After all, I’m not a complete monster.