Page 69 of Burn With Me

“Compensating for your shitty personality?” I bite out, forcing the words out as a distraction.

Isaac smirks at me. “Sure, Sunshine,” he replies easily.

It’s gotta be his personality because I know damn well he’s not compensating for a small dick. I’ve had that monster inside of me. And fuck me … now I’m thinking about it. Sex with Isaac.

I suck in a breath and shake away those thoughts. “Why are we going to a piercing shop?” I ask.

Isaac puts the car into drive and pulls away from the curb. “Paris likes to have little get togethers there every once in a while,” he says. “He’s been in a foul mood this week so he’s throwing a party.”

I frown. “In a piercing shop?” I eye him. “Is that even legal?”

Isaac chuckles, the sound going straight down to my crotch. “You should know what money buys, Aurora,” he replies. “The people who run the shop are professionals. Close friends of Paris by now, but with enough cash on the line, they’ll close up early and give him access to whatever the fuck he wants so long as he signs an NDA with a clause stating neither himself nor anyone he brings will threaten to sue them.”

I roll my eyes. “As if that would stop you if you really wanted to fuck them over.”

He shrugs, unrepentant. “Whatever makes them feel safe,” he says off-handedly as if the very thought of an average person trying to protect themselves from the upper echelon is a futile effort. I almost feel sorry for the shop owners.

There’s so much more I could ask—why does his friend choose to go to a piercing shop of all places to relieve stress? What is he doing joining him? How long has he been doing this? What else does he do that I don’t know about?

I don’t ask any of them. I simply keep my mouth shut and rest my head along the cold window as Isaac drives us through the California streets, heading further and further from campus until he steers the front of his Escalade into a parking lot in front of a semi-familiar building.

Needle Point Piercings.

My hands twist in my lap as he parks the car and I reach for the belt buckle. Just as I press down on the button, Isaac’s hand comes out and lands on mine and I jerk, my eyes moving to his face. “Wait there,” he orders.

I blink, but before I can ask why, he’s already turned off the vehicle and is out of the car. I track him as he moves around the hood until he stops in front of my door. The belt I’ve already unbuckled slides back over my shoulder as Isaac opens the door and holds out his hand. He catches my confused expression and grins, the expression transforming his face from one of brooding darkness to boyish amusement.

“You ruined my chance at helping you into the car,” he answers my unspoken question as he takes my hand and leads me out, helping me use the running board beneath the door to get down to the pavement unscathed. “I couldn’t let you do it again.”

Self-consciousness eats away at my insides. He doesn’t release my hand even when I no longer need his assistance. Instead, he pulls me from the doorway and shuts the door at my back before lifting our combined hands and kissing the back of my knuckles. “Shall we?”

My heart is pounding in my throat as he leads me, unspeaking, to the front of the shop. The sign hanging in the glass is turned to ‘closed’, but Isaac doesn’t even hesitate. He pulls the glass door open and holds it for me to duck beneath his arm and enter the building. My inner warning bells are going haywire, but it’s too late to back out now. I’m too curious to know more about this man, too deep into him to keep my head above the water. I might as well see if I can take advantage of what he’s showing me. See if there’s anything to use against him when the time comes.

The inside of the shop is well lit. A tall, bulky guy with stretched lobes and tattoos up both arms stands behind the counter. He looks up when we enter, and I can see the words on his lips before he says it. He’s about to tell us that the shop is closed, but then his eyes move past me to Isaac and his whole demeanor changes. He straightens away from the counter and sets his phone down.

“Hey, Cooper,” Isaac says, stepping up to my side. “Paris already here?”

Cooper nods and gestures to the open doorway, leading further back into the shop. "Yes, sir,” Cooper says. “Already in the back with some friends.”

Isaac pushes me forward and I start walking. “Thanks, man.” He nods to the man, who steps to the side of the counter as we pass.

“Your private room has been reserved,” he says, his gaze flicking from Isaac to me—a curiosity in the depths.Me too, buddy,I want to say.I’m curious to know what he’s planning too.“Everything’s been set up there too, but Paris asked that you stop in and say hi before you, as he put it, lock yourselves up in the room of shame.”

Isaac laughs. “Room of shame?” I repeat.

Cooper looks at me. “I assume he meant—” he starts, only to be interrupted by a new masculine voice.

“Paris is a dick,” the new man says. “And worse, he’s a fucking exhibitionist—he thinks anyone who likes to do private shit behind closed doors is ashamed of themselves.”

I look up and blink as I’m forced to look even further up at the man that steps into the open doorway leading to the back of the shop. “Shep.” Isaac releases me to hold out a hand to the new man.

The vague familiarness of the man’s features has me thinking back to where I could have possibly seen him before. Then it hits me—Hazelwood. This is one of Isaac’s friends. I’d seen him that day atBeanBerryand again multiple times across campus and in various classes.

Shep clasps hands with Isaac, his gaze flicking to me. “You can go back to whatever you were doing, Coop,” Shep says. “I’ll take ‘em back.”

“Alright,” Cooper agrees easily, nodding as he slips back behind the counter and picks up his phone once more. “Let me know if you guys need anything.”

“Will do,” Shep replies.

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