Page 29 of Sin

“I’d feel a lot better if you actually followed basic traffic laws,” I grumbled, the spot on the side of my head from smacking it into the window throbbed. “How did you manage to get a license?”

“I didn’t.” He shrugged when my mouth fell open. “Never got around to it. And honestly, it felt kinda pointless to take driving lessons when it was something I could easily teach myself.”

I shook my head. “No, you definitely should have taken the driving lessons.”

He grinned as if he thought I was being funny. I wasn’t.

“Yo, little snake.” I watched as Blade climbed out of the van, holding a couple wristbands.

When she tossed me an electric blue wristband, I held it up to my face, studying it. “Aw, you made us friendship bracelets?”

She rolled her eyes, then took the wristband from me and slapped it on my wrist with more force than necessary. I raised my brow at her when she then grabbed my hand and held it up to my face. “Say, “I’m a little snake.”

I scrunched my nose at her. “Is that supposed to be some sort of kinky talk or something? Because I don’t know if it’s working for me. Besides, you know I’m gay, right?”

She smashed the wristband harder at my face while Lewis howled with laughter. “Just say it.”

“I’m a little snake? Why do I—”

I yelped as the wristband expanded, building and forming a layer of skin-hugging material over my arm. It kept moving across my body until it covered me from neck to toe. The weirdest sensation slithered up my neck as what I assumed were Lewis’s nanobots formed a mask over the upper part of my face. But just as I moved to touch it, a second layer morphed over my torso and shoulders, distracting me. I brushed cautious, gloved fingers over what looked like… a corset?

I twisted to look at myself in the reflection of the van, realizing that yes, it was a corset vest lined with deep blue snake skin. My mask was designed to match the material. I almost felt like I recognized the suit’s design, though I wasn’t sure why.

Maybe it was because in the past, I used to carry around a small notebook full of drawings, many of them of Super suits. A lot of them just of London’s face.

I’d always found it relaxing to draw, even if my drawings were fairly crude and rudimentary. Despite my lack of skill though, London had always complimented my designs. Some of the designs in those notebooks were more fashion than anything, since the suits wouldn’t be functional in a true fight. I remembered drawing one once our senior year of high school where the suit had a corset just like the one I wore now. London had shown a particular interest in it, which had led to a memorable evening of role play.

I wondered where those notebooks chalk full of drawings were now? Probably somewhere deep in storage with the rest of my belongings. Maybe they were still in one of the apartment closets at one of my old businesses. I’d handed over the clubs and casinos I used to own to some old friends, and from what I’d heard, Fynn and George had kept the places from shutting down. They’d had to rename and reestablish the businesses since having them associated with my name wasn’t exactly smart for business now.

The corset was tight but not constricting, and when I turned to get a view of the back, I spotted how the back was tied with a criss-crossing pattern.

“Well?” Blade asked, sounding impatient. “What do you think?”

“You designed this?” I asked in awe, stretching and flexing my arms to get a feel for the suit. I would have expected it to be difficult to move in, but as I tested it out, it was like the suit shifted with me.

“Some of it, yes,” she said vaguely.

I grinned at her, impressed. “I think it might be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”

She blushed. Full on blushed.

I gaped at her because I didn’t think I’d ever seen her look so… bashful. It somewhat humanized her.

“Don’t tell her that,” Lewis groaned. “She’s got a big enough head as it is.”

“Well, you know, this is just a prototype, so I’m sure it will need some improvement,” she said, downplaying the suit and elbowing Lewis in the ribs, making him double over. “We’ll have you try it out today, and if there’s something you don’t like or want added we can always do that later.” She grinned and ran a hand over the material on my forearm. “It’s fireproof, waterproof, and thanks to Lewis’s nanotech, it’s configured to adjust and balance the suit’s internal temperature to keep you from getting too hot or cold. It doesn’t have any built-in weapons, like some of ours, but I wanted you to get a feel for the suit before I added to it.”

“And the snakeskin?” I asked in amusement.

“An ode to your nickname, obviously,” she teased.

“Obviously,” I agreed dryly. “But we’re gonna change the suiting up phrase, right?” When she didn’t respond, my amusement faded. “Right?”

“Oh, look, London’s doing shirtless pushups!” she said, widening her eyes and pointing behind me.

The idiot part of me spun to look, just to remember the only thing behind us was the van. How dare she lie about something so serious?

When I turned back to chide Blade, however, she was already halfway to the gas station entrance with Mare tagging along beside her.

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