Page 34 of Untouchable

I smile at him. “I could never.” I stand up and round the table, squeezing him tight as he pats my arms.

“When do you leave?” he asks, standing to clear the table.

“Sometime tomorrow. I’m not sure when exactly. I’ll text you before we leave though,” I assure him.

“Alright then.”

Alright then… The official father’s stamp of approval.

CHAPTER 19

Ace

“THE PINA COLADA SONG”

It’s road trip day.

I barely slept a wink last night—going as far as turning my 5:30 alarm off because I knew I would need the extra sleep if we’re going to be on the road most of the day. I’ve been sitting outside Mikey and Bodine’s place for thirty minutes, waiting for them to get their shit together and be ready to go. If I’d known it would take them this long, I would have gone inside instead of sweating to death out here.

“Dude, I’m telling you, you’re not going to need those. I don’t even know why you packed them.” Mikey shakes his head as he secures his duffle to the back of his bike.

“Not going to need what?” I pull my sunglasses down to glare at Bodine who slaps Mikey on the back of the head.

“Nothing, man. Don’t worry about it.” I swear to god the two of them were separated at birth or something.

I slide my glasses up again, pulling my phone out to text Katarina that we’refinallyon the way to pick her up. “What’s in the bag, Bodine?” I ask again.

His shoulders sag. “Condoms! Okay?” I stand up from my bike and his hand shoots out to stop me. “And before you sayanything?—”

“Oh I wasn't going tosayanything,” I correct him, taking a step closer, causing him to step back.

“Can a guy not just be prepared without you wanting to punch me?”

I can feel the vein in my neck on the verge of popping as I listen to him. “It depends on what, or better yetwho, you’re preparing for.”

His face twists and he rears back. “Bar chicks, duh.” I narrow my gaze on him and his brows raise. “I heard your rules, Papi. I didn’t bring condoms to try and bone Kat.”

“There will be nobar girls. We’re doing this to get Katarina out of town and keep her safe.”

“Dude, you’re going to have to let the girl have a little fun or she’s going to be miserable as hell and want to come back home,orshe’s going to be suspicious as to why you invited her on this trip in the first place. You have tobea good time or show her a good time. One or the other.”

Yeah, fuck that.

“We good?” Bodine asks.

We will be if you never mentionboningKatarina ever again.

“Yeah. We’re good. Let’s roll, we’re late and I still have to pick up coffee.”

When we pull up to Kat’s apartment complex, she’s not on the sidewalk like she said she would be, and when I check my texts she hasn’t texted me back either. I tell the boys to cut the bikes so I can call her, thinking if she’s somehow still asleep, it might wake her up. Only I stop short of hittingcallwhen we hear something coming from around the building.

“Yo, is that the pina colada song?” Mikey asks, rolling his shoulders as he begins singing along with the very faint music. I press call, hearing the music go quiet, then I hang up and hear it come back on.

What the hell?

I stand up from my bike, causing Mikey and Bodine to do the same, and walk around her building. When we make it up to the wrought iron gate, my suspicions are confirmed, because Kat and Tabitha are dancing by the pool in nothing but string bikinis. Just as I’m about to call her again to make the music stop, Bodine starts scream-singing the words to the song, causing them both to jump and spill the drinks in their hands. They double over in laughter, and I can’t remember the last time I saw someone look so genuinely happy. Especially Katarina.

“Oh mygod!Bodine, you scared us half to death.” Katarina scolds him, stopping the music on her phone.

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