“No.” He took my moment of weakness to pull me into his chest, right next to his heart.
“What is the point of being alive if you don’t live it?” His eyes were bright and his voice was urgent. I’d never seen him like this. “I know you’re scared and I’m scared as hell too. That’s what love is, being scared as hell, but doing it anyway because it’s worth it.” He held me so tight, his arms like ropes that tied me to him, tied this moment together.
“You terrify me, sweetheart.”
“I terrify you. Me, with the pink obsession? I terrify the guy with the piercings and the tattoos and the, ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude?”
“Terrifying things come in pink packages.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Well, I’m not scared of you, big bad boy.” He unwrapped his arms and held my face.
“I never, ever want you to be scared of me.”
“You’re not Zack,” I said. “You’re not anything like him.”
“That is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me, sweetheart.”
Just as he was leaning down for a kiss, there was a pounding on my door.
“Um, you wanna get that? Just tell them I’m not feeling well, maybe?” He climbed over me and put his pants on as I pulled the blanket up to cover myself.
“Oh, hey, Stryk,” Simon said. Stryker made sure to keep the door only halfway open so they couldn’t see me. “We just wanted to see if Katie was up for breakfast, but…never mind.”
“She’s…she’s not feeling that great. We’ll probably just have something here.”
“Sure, yeah, that’s…that’s great.” I could hear other voices, but I couldn’t tell who they were. “See you later?”
“Sure thing.”
“Is she okay?” That was Lottie.
“Yeah, she is.” He wasn’t facing me, but I could hear the grin in his voice. “She just needs to take an extra day, I think.”
“If she needs anything…”
“I know. I’ll call you, I promise.”
He closed the door and I could hear them chattering. More than one of them had a problem with voice volume modulation.
“Thanks for that. I wasn’t sure what they’d say about all this.” I motioned to the drawings that had stained my sheets a bit.
“Anytime, sweetheart.” He took his clothes back off. “Now where were we?”
Chapter Twenty-five
Stryker
Katie and I spent the next few hours alternating between getting closer and eating the rest of the ice cream Lottie had stocked up on, and sometimes combining the two, which was the most fun.
“How long do you think it’s going to take to wash this off?” The marker had faded from her skin a little, but she was still a walking, talking canvas. “I would like to leave this room at some point and rejoin the world.”
“Why? The world is so overrated.”
“True, but I think our friends might like to see us.”
I kissed her shoulder. “You, maybe. I’m fine with staying in this room with you forever.”
“That would be a bit of an issue when the semester is over and summer break comes and we have to move out.”
“We could hide in the ceiling and then wait until everyone left and only come out at night to get supplies. Like vampires.”
“You have put way too much thought into this. But seriously, I need to shower. I need to…do something.”
“I have something you can do.” I took my hand and slid it down her stomach.
“Fine, if you want, you can come shower with me. I need someone who can reach my back.” She got out of bed, then put my hand on her waist.
“I wish we could save it somehow,” she said.
“Are you at all opposed to nude photography?” My phone sat on her desk, and I reached for it, turning it on.
“I guess not, as long as these don’t end up somehow plastered all over the internet.” I was about to answer her when I saw another text from Ric.
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Katie was waiting for me to answer.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just…Trish, being Trish.” Fucking Ric. That was why I’d left my phone off.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, fine.”
I looked back at her, putting a smile on my face. She studied me for a second, and I thought she was going to demand that I tell her, but then she smiled.
“Where do you want me?” she said, posing and throwing her head back. God, she was stunning.
I moved the blankets on her bed so she could lay out and took first pictures of her front, moving from her neck on down. I grabbed a lamp to