Page 87 of What I Should Have Done

“He bet you money to kiss someone on the team, remember?”

“Shit that’s right,” I exclaimed, ignoring the gush of everything I was going to have to clean up sliding down the sides of my legs.

He wiggled his brows, ignoring the mess left on his lap as well. “And it was my dirty mouth you kissed. More than once, I’ll have you know.”

“I was there, asshole,” I replied, narrowing my gaze.

He grinned even wider and slowly rose from the bench. “Don’t forget to pee,” he casually said, strolling toward the shower curtain.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do anymore,” I retorted.

He paused at the curtain and glanced over his shoulder with an arched brow. “We’ll see about that.”

And he was gone before I had a chance to sass something in response.

I bit down on my lip, staring at the curtain as it settled back into place. At some point the shower next to me turned on, and somehow I found the strength to finish my shower as well. I was only mildly disappointed because that meant losing the smell of Mikey from my skin.

Disbelief coursed through me, along with an odd sense of excitement knowing I shared something like that with him. I hated to admit to myself that the idea of sneaking around with him suddenly seemed much more thrilling than the apprehension of what would happen if we were caught.

But I wasn’t about to voice that out loud to Mikey. For now, the understanding that I would let remain between us was that this was a one and done thing. No matter how addicted I already was. It didn’t matter that I immediately craved even the simple brush of his hand against my skin again. That couldn’t happen again.

Some flirting when it was just the two of us would be okay, though. That much I would allow. But this couldn’t happen again. If someone found out, we’d be in enough trouble from just this one time. Dread filled in the small holes between the excitement.

The implosion that would happen if someone found out… But Mikey had promised to not tell anyone, and I wasn’t about to share this fact with others.

No one would find out.

Inhaling deeply for reassurance, I nodded to myself. No one would find out as long as this never happened again.

And I ignored the disappointment that ripped through my soul.

Chapter 30

MIKEY

Ilie on a table top, letting smoke from the cigarette swirl around my head. My mind was consumed by thoughts of Scottie, and I was in no mood to rid myself of the absolute heaven I was reveling in. Splaying my arms out to the side, I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and smiled against the burn of nicotine slipping down my throat.

Scottie’s honey voice slipped through my bliss, and I lazily opened my eyes. “You know, now that I know…things, why the hell would you smoke cigarettes?” Flopping my head sideways, she sauntered up to me and trailed her fingertips over the scars that laced my torso beneath my shirt.

“I don’t often, you know that. But it’s a nasty habit and hard to kick, especially since it’s one I’ve had since my dad, you know, kicked the bucket,” I replied, rolling the cigarette to the side of my mouth.

“Oh, right. Your bad boy phase,” she teased and slid onto the bench.

“Are you saying I’m out of it now?” I giddily asked, and she rolled her eyes.

“So, if you’re not too busy with all of your ‘work,’ and since Dom hasn’t rounded us up yet, want to spar for a minute?” She added air quotes around the word work.

“Never too busy for you, Scotch,” I replied and looked back at the bright, absolutely clear blue sky.

“Says the shithead who ignored me for three days because of it.”

“Well, you did also tell me to ‘fuck off.’”

“I didn’t mean it.”

I chuckled and drew another puff of smoke into my lungs. Slowly exhaling through my nose, the cloud danced around my face, numbing despair that, despite all of the blissful distractions, still managed to wedge itself into my head.

My fingers slid to the dog tags that Jacob had managed to pass me before dying. I hadn’t had the heart to share them with anyone else yet.

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