Page 53 of Raff
“So, still no word from Arty?”
“Not yet. But don’t stress about that. We’re going to have fun tonight. We can worry about all that shit tomorrow.” I took a few deep breaths, meaning to calm down my desire, but all I managed to do was breathe in the intoxicating scent of her.
“Yeah, no. I’m determined to try to only focus on that when it’s time. Now that we’re here, I don’t really have a lot of time left to enjoy things.”
My heart dropped at that.
The road trip felt endless in the best kind of ways. But we were at the final destination. Once we knew about Drake, once we had a location, it was basically over. Barring no complications. Like a missing hacker or something.
I was running out of time.
Well, I was out of time to catch her when she was all soft and sweet with me. There would be plenty of time back in Shady Valley. But there would likely be at least a week between this trip and seeing her again. Likely more like two.
It was almost over.
I tried to shake that thought off, but it had claws.
“When’s the last time you went to a club?” I asked, trying to distract myself.
“An actual club? God, I’m not even sure. College, I guess.”
“Baby girl, that’s way too long.”
“My last club experience involved half-dragging, half-carrying my roommate out after her drink was spiked, then sitting with her all night at the hospital to make sure she was okay.”
“No one is gonna spike your drink when I’m around. You can relax and have fun.”
“What kind of fun? Getting drunk?”
“If you want. Or just have a few, dance, enjoy the atmosphere. I’m sure Zayn’s club is something else. You can probably expect some celebrities. But if you’re not having fun, we can leave. No questions.”
“I sound like a Debbie Downer, don’t I?”
“No. You sound like someone who hasn’t done anything just for the fun of it for so long that you might not even know what you’ll enjoy anymore.”
“That is… a little painful but very true.”
“It’s not a bad thing. It means you have a ton of chances to fall in love with new things.”
“That’s a really cool way to reframe it,” she said, watching me as I moved across the lower level toward the kitchen.
Normally, I was pretty nocturnal. But the road trip made it so we had to check out early and get on the road, so staying up late was going to require more caffeine.
“You can count on me for finding the bright side,” I agreed, reaching up into the cabinet to grab the grounds.
As I was coming back down, I caught sight of Lula, her lips parted, her gaze hazy as it moved over my midsection.
I’d never be jacked like some guys at the club, like her cousin Detroit, but I worked out with enough frequency that there was definition in my abs. And being on the thinner side just made them all the more visible, without spending hours a day at the gym.
“Baby?”
Her gaze flicked upward, going round, knowing she was caught looking.
“Coffee?” I asked, trying not to smile.
“What? Oh, um. We don’t have any soy—”
I moved over to the fridge, reaching in, and pulling out the soy milk.
