Page 3 of Ink & Reina

I didn’t want to fuck her up.

Chapter Two

Reina

Rain was relentlessly pounding down on my umbrella and soaking through my shoes with every step I took. I was so cold, my teeth were chattering, and I still had another fifteen minutes in my walk before I made it home and could hop in a hot shower.

Johnny was going to give me a ride home today considering football practice had been canceled because of the rain, but Dad chewed his ass out about something this morning—like usual—and Johnny hadn’t shown his face yet. In fact, he didn’t even show up at school, hence my walk home in the downpour.

I didn’t hold it against him. Dad and Johnny had always clashed heads, and sometimes, it was better for Johnny to go take a breather than it was for him to worry about me and how I was faring.

Didn’t mean this entire day hadn’t sucked though.

A motorcycle pulled up beside me, jerking me out of my head. Drew, the boy working on a project with Johnny, was sitting astride it, his helmet sitting on his head. He looked sexyas fuck, every bit of a guy on the verge of being a man. Every part of my body came alive at the sight of him. There was something about seeing him sitting astride his bike, leather clinging to his shoulders and the rain slamming down around him, that made my breath catch in my throat.

“Need a ride?” he asked over the loud rumble of his bike.

“You don’t mind?” I asked, raising my voice so he could hear me.

He shook his head and took his helmet off, his black hair instantly getting drenched by the down poor. He held the helmet out to me. “Put this on and hop on,” he ordered.

I quickly did as he said, not stupid enough to turn down a ride that would get me home quicker. After folding my umbrella, he took it from me and hung it on his handlebar. When I didn’t move after getting on, he pulled my arms around him, pulling me flush against his back. My heart knocked hard against my breastbone, and I sucked in a sharp breath. I could feel his abs beneath my palms, and his back muscles were flexing against my chest as he maneuvered his bike along the street, speeding toward my house.

This was the closest I’d ever been to a guy that wasn’t my brother, and parts of me awakened that were only awake when I read those spicy romance novels that my dad hated. Drew was strong and muscular, and he made me feel… safe. A different kind of safe than I felt when I was with Johnny.

My skin was a deep red by the time we pulled up to my house.

I quickly slid off the bike and handed him his helmet before I rushed up to the porch. He followed me, his clothes dripping onto the wood boards beneath us. “Fuck, I hate the rain,” he groaned once we were under the porch roof. We were both drenched, but we’d gotten here a lot faster than if I’d walked the entire way.

I wrung my hair out, flushing when the water splattered on the wooden slats. “I don’t mind it as long as I’m not stuck in it,” I admitted. “It’s soothing.”

He aimed that perfect smile at me, almost stopping my heart. How was it possible for a guy to be so fucking gorgeous?

“Johnny might be back soon,” I told him, needing to change the subject so I didn’t do or say something stupid—like confess how hot I thought he was. “Do you want to come inside, Drew?”

He reached out and grabbed my arm, halting me when I turned toward the door. The heat from his palm seared across my skin, and I couldn’t fight the shiver that raced down my spine. “Ink,” he told me. “My friends call me Ink.”

I turned to him, instantly intrigued. “Why?” I questioned.

He shrugged off one side of his leather jacket, revealing a set of tribal tattoos that covered his bicep. My mouth dried, and I quickly licked my lips. A bad boy, drove a motorcycle,andhad tattoos? He was practically a book boyfriend walking, which wasreallydangerous for a book nerd like me.

“Make sense now?” he asked me as he completely pulled off his leather jacket. Another tattoo peeked out from the collar of his shirt, but I couldn’t make out what it was, and I was too nervous to ask.

I dumbly nodded, too entranced to form a coherent response. He flashed that grin at me again before draping his jacket over one of the leather chairs. “Hate to sound weird or something, but does your brother have some clothes I can change into?”

Johnny’s car rolled into the drive at that moment, preventing me from answering. He rushed out of the car and jogged up the steps, an apologetic look on his face. “I’m so fucking sorry I didn’t come pick you up,” Johnny rushed out, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. Guilt colored his voice, and my heart sank. He had enough to deal with without worrying about me, too. He looked at Ink. “You gave her a ride home?”

Ink nodded. “Yeah; she was getting soaked, and we were coming to the same place anyway.”

Johnny stared him down for a moment. I swallowed thickly, trying to breathe through the tension quickly thickening the air. My brother was pretty intimidating when he wanted to be with his height and build, and though Ink was a bit skinnier, he was also a bit taller than my brother.

He evenly met Johnny’s gaze unflinchingly. Neither of them was backing down from the other, and it was making me nervous.

Johnny nodded once, and suddenly, the tension evaporated—as if it had never been there in the first place. “Come on. I’ve got some clothes you can change into. We need to work on this stupid-ass project.”

“I’ll make coffee,” I announced.

Johnny smiled at me and reached up to ruffle my damp hair. My cheeks colored, and I ducked my head. “You’re the best, little sis. Get some dry clothes on first, yeah?”

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