Page 52 of Slash & Burn

“This isn’t just about getting off. Not for me, at least.” He licked his lips, my eyes glued to the motion as if it was my own mouth he was skimming. “We’re doing everything. All the dating shit people do. Dinners. Movies. The fair.”

“Thefair?” I hadn’t been to the county fair since I was nine and the ride I was on had malfunctioned, leaving me pinned half upside down for an hour when I really had to pee.

“Yes,” he chuckled, skimming the backs of his knuckles along my jaw. “And anything else you want to do. We’re going to have fun,” he paused, his eyes tracing my features.

“And then?”

“And then I’m going to fuck you brainless, smarty pants.”

A guffaw burst out of me and he swooped in for a kiss, as if the sound of my laughter turned him on.Was that a thing?His tongue licked across my lips, just like I’d imagined a moment ago and when I opened to let him in, he groaned, gripping my hair harshly before he pulled himself back. He glanced down at his watch and shook his head. We were going to be late.

“Well, I’m not going to be much help in this whole dating operation,” I said as we headed down the stairs. “I never really dated.”

He was a step behind me, but paused when we got to the door. “What do you mean? You never went on dates? Not even with Asshole?”

I enjoyed that Adam didn’t even get a name anymore. That suited me just fine. I shook my head. “Not really. We went to dinner a couple of times, maybe. He never liked the places I suggested and he liked staying in so we were alone.”

So he could control what we ate and say whatever he wanted to me without the risk of someone overhearing his manipulations and put-downs, I thought. But I didn’t need to say that because Grady was glaring at me over the roof of his car and I knew he saw right through me.

“That’s good.” He sniffed, tapping the roof with a satisfied smile. “I like it better knowing I’ll have some of your firsts.”

A warm tingling sensation worked through my chest as we climbed inside and got on the road. Why Grady was so invested in this being about more than just sex, I wasn’t sure. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his enthusiasm.

“Here,” he said, handing me a small camera—effectively killing whatever buzz I’d been feeling. “Open that back screen and take some video of me driving us to the event.”

I stared at the camera, resting awkwardly on my open hand. When I didn’t move, Grady’s head whipped my way.

“Come on, we both need to practice. Let’s go.” He nudged my arm, careful not to send the thing flying since I was still barely holding it. “Give it a shot.”

My fear of attention very much included being on camera, so I’d spent most of my life avoiding them. I’d never considered being on the other side of the lens, but as long as it kept me out of the frame, I was willing to at least attempt this silly idea of his. Especially when his smile lit up the entire car. A beaming Grady was hard to deny.

I spent the rest of the ride getting shots of him driving, learning how to zoom in and out. I took some “b-roll”—as he called it—of the landscape as we drove across the long rolling hills, farm land and pasture billowing out on both sides until we got to the community center we were reading in.

The local gym had been filled with mats for the kids to sit on, while the parents packed the rickety wooden bleachers. People had driven in from hours away to see Grady and watching him soak up the appreciation they had for him reminded me of why we were doing this. Whyhewas the best one to do this.

After the reading he took the camera from me and I flinched.

“Just a few shots of you doing your thing.” He winked, aiming the lens my way right before a swarm of kids came up to ask about more books in the series he’d read from.

I forced myself to focus on their eager faces, on the parents asking me to spell the author’s name so they could type it into their phones for later. One little girl spoke so softly I had to get down on one knee to hear her. When she told me a knock-knock joke, instead of asking a question, I was caught off guard and laughed a little too loudly. But she loved it, and so did her grandma who was giggling with us.

Up until then, the reading program had felt like a distraction, like something we were doing for the wrong reasons. But for the first time it all gelled and as we said our goodbyes, and I climbed back into Grady’s car, I felt a kind of contentment I hadn’t in a long time.

“You have plans tonight, Jilly?” Grady asked, his eyes flicking over to me.

Still riding my good mood, I decided to have a little fun with him. Sighing dramatically, I said, “Yeah, actually. I’m hitting that new rave spot in Old Orchard with my motorcycle gang.”

Grady nodded, smirking without even looking over. “I see. Shame. I was going to see if you wanted to get dinner with a couple of friends. But that whole thing sounds much more exciting. Maybe you’ll even get into a bar fight?” He glanced my way, humor curling his full, lush mouth. “Break a bottle over someone’s head or something.”

“Sounds like me.” I rested my head back casually, even though inside I was squirming at the thought of a double date with Grady. “Who’d you have in mind, just out of curiosity?”

When he reached his hand across the console and gave my thigh a squeeze I watched his veiny hand with rapt attention, the tendons on his forearm rippling with the motion. He was so good at this, so comfortable. “Just Cory and his wife, Skylar. He’s been on me to meet up with him, and I thought it might be fun.”

“And they can make plans this last minute?” I looked at the clock on the dash, it was after three. I knew they had their little boy, Micah, and no one gets a babysitter on such short notice these days.

Grady’s hand skimmed further up my thigh, distracting me. “It just so happens to be their scheduled date night.”

“Oh no, I’m not crashing their date night. I don’t need Skylar hating me.” She was new to town, but she’d gotten involved right away, so I knew who she was. Strong, kind, determined. She used to ride motocross, too, and I didn’t have any doubt she was probably very good.

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