Page 40 of Untouchable

“I thought you looked great, Puddin’.” Bodine pinches Mikey’s cheek, causing him to slap his hand away with a laugh.

“Shut the fuck up, dude.”

Katarina tilts her head and points at them. “I always knew they were in love.”

I bark out a laugh and the look on her face is one I’d sketch a hundred times until I got it right—full of wonder, amusement, and a smile that’s more beautiful than the scenery she stopped to photograph.

“If you wake up to me sleeping outside your door, you’ll know why.” My eyes widen and she laughs, walking back over to me.

“All you have to do is knock and I’ll let you in.” She leans across me and I hold her gaze, unable to focus on anything other than how all of my restraint disintegrates the closer she is to me. I have no will to push her away, no control over my thoughts, and all I want is to know if her skin feels as smooth as it always looks.

Then she grabs her helmet from my hands and backs away, allowing my mind to clear once again.

“Thanks for stopping. Sometimes you just can’t pass up the perfect moment to stop and capture something so beautiful, you know?”

I swallow past the thick feeling in my throat and nod. “Yeah.”I’m starting to.

CHAPTER 22

Katarina

“GAME NIGHT”

Ilay in bed, staring at the ceiling, while the voices of the guys vibrate through the thin motel wall. The pit in my stomach grows a little more with every rumble of laughter that comes, making me realize just how lonely I am. I hate being alone. It also makes me wonder what it is I’m missing out on. If Ace is one of those laughs shaking the wall, or if he’s sitting in the room rolling his eyes as his best friends cut up together. Unable to fight the curiosity any longer, I throw the covers off, slide my sneakers on, and walk to the check-in area. I remember seeing a shelf with different games on it earlier, giving me an idea.

“Are these for sale?” I ask, pointing to the deck of playing cards.

The guy finally looks up from his phone. “Nah, they’re just things people have left behind. Like a lost and found, just minus the found part.”

“Oh, okay. Well, can I have these?” I pick them up and he shrugs.

“Sure.” I walk back through the glass door and stop when I reach the guys’ room. I take a deep breath, and then knock, jumping when the door swings open a second later and I see Bodine wearing nothing but his sweatpants.

“Kitty Kat, what brings you by at this hour?”

“A late-night strip tease, apparently,” I joke. Before he can say anything, Bodine is hit with a wad of fabric that I soon find out is a shirt. He rolls his eyes at someone out of my eyeline—though I assume it’s Ace—and puts it on.

“I uh, couldn’t sleep. You guys up for a little game night?”

“Hell yeah. Get your ass in here, girl.” I smile at the warm welcome from Bodine, but it falls quickly when I see the scowl on Ace’s face. He’s sitting up on his bed, his hair is wet so I assume he just took a shower, the familiar scent of his shampoo I recall from laying on his pillow hits me as I walk further into the room. Mikey isn’t in the room but the shower is running, so I assume that’s where he is.

“I grabbed a deck of cards from the guy at the check-in desk, but I’m not sure I know how to play anything other than Blackjack or Go-Fish.” I laugh, tossing the deck of cards on the table in the corner of the room.

“That’s cool. We can play either of those,” Bodine offers, Ace still remaining silent.

I sit on the bed across from him and look over. “Is that okay with you?”

“Would it really matter if I said no?” My eyes narrow and I smirk at him.

“Nope.”

Bodine quickly agrees. “It sure wouldn’t. If you don’t want to entertain the lady, you can just use that headband as a sleep mask and turn the fuck around and go to sleep. I’ll keep Kat company.” Bodine winks at me and I roll my eyes, but when I look back at Ace he lookspissed.

“Yeah, that’s not happening.” I look between the two of them, seemingly caught in the middle of a silent conversation being had. Thankfully Mikey comes out from the bathroom and breaks the tension.

“Kitty Kat, what are you doing in here?” I close my eyes, letting my head fall back as I groan.

“Not you too, Mikey.” When I look over at him he’s wearing nothing but his tattoos and a towel around his waist.