Page 50 of Untouchable

“Hope you like ‘em sour.” I turn around and put one in my mouth, securing the rest of the bag in my vest pocket before snapping it shut.

“I’ll just suck it til it’s sweet.”

What did I ever do to be put in this position with the one person I can’t rail the attitude out of?

I wonder if she tastes sweeter than she acts. Shame that I’ll never know.

I’m surprised we actually rode until sunrise. The view is taking my breath away and making me wish Pops was riding just ahead of me. Looking back with that big smile of his saying something like,“Look at that sunrise, Ace. That’s the truest work of art you’ll ever see. Nothing beats this feeling, does it?”The emotion sneaks up on me, causing me to blink away the tears and shake the tightness in my chest. I see an exit sign that has motels listed and head that way. When we pull up and park the bikes, I untie Katarina’s hand and the four of us all seem to have the same idea. We walk around to face the sunrise, stretching our limbs, and watching as it slowly climbs further into the sky.

“You guys go get us a couple of rooms. I won’t be long.” Mikey and Bodine nod, grabbing their bags from their bikes without question, while Katarina looks at me in confusion.

“You need to sleep, Reaper. I’ll be up soon.” Her cheeks redden. “I just mean, don’t worry about me.” She lets out a soft laugh, grabbing her bag.

“I wouldn’t dare.” She turns to catch up with Mikey and Bodine, and I quickly pull my bag from the rack. I pull my sketchbook and pencils out before popping back up on my bike. I flip the book open, my breath hitching when it lands on the last sketch I was working on. There will always be another sunrise to sketch, so I abandon my plans to draw this one and continue working on the piece I’m staring at now. Her hair was easy to perfect, the thick locks always set in loose waves and tied with my bandana. Her perfectly manicured eyebrows, the freckles across her nose from being in the sun, and those scythe eyes were all mastered within a few tries, barely wasting any part of my eraser to get them just right. It’s her lips I can’t get quiteright. Watching her from a distance for so long allowed me to notice when her long, golden locks would swish through the clubhouse, followed by those combat boots she wears like armor. Lately, I’ve gotten the chance to watch her more closely, finding myself getting lost in her eyes more often than not. But her lips… I haven’t let myself study them too closely. Because I know myself well enough that if I spent even a second too long looking at them, I’d want to taste them, and if that happens—I lose the ground of loyalty I stand on with her father. So I continue to sketch them, over and over again, until the sun is fully in the sky and a shadow appears, skewing my perspective of the entire image.

“Me rindo.”I throw the pencil down, sitting up until the muscles in my back are thoroughly stretched. Then I see it, the shadow’s hair being caught in the wind.

“Is that…me?” I flip the book closed quickly. Turning to see Katarina standing right beside me.

“Jesus, Katarina, you scared me.” I take a deep breath, readying myself for a smart-ass comment about how she assumes nothing would scare me, or for her to jump out and snatch the book from my hands, but she just stands there. With wide eyes and red cheeks—though I’m pretty sure it's from getting too much sun at the zoo yesterday.

“You lied.” I watch her lips as she says the words.

Yep, there’s a reason I never look at them. They’re pouty, pink, and perfect in every way.

I frown hard, focusing back on her eyes again. “What?”

“What’s on the agenda today?” Mikey claps as he and Bodine come walking up. I squint when I look at them—both bright-eyed, showered, and wearing new clothes. Then I notice just how high the sun is and realize I have been sitting out here for hours, not the minutes I thought I had been. I swallow hard, slightly worried that Katarina is about to bust me out about sketchingher. Then I notice the dark circles around her eyes and the fact that shehasn’tchanged.

“I need to go to the mall,” she says simply. Her eyes are still on mine, but I can’t for the life of me figure out what they’re trying to tell me.

Maybe nothing.

“Cool. Go put your shit up, Papi. We’ll wait out here.” I turn around, blocking their view as I slide my notebook back into my bag before zipping it up and heading inside. Bodine hands me the key to our room and Kat watches my every move, then while the guys are distracted, she grabs my arm and silently hands me another room key.

Her room key.

CHAPTER 28

Katarina

“KATARINA’S SECRET”

He draws.

He drewme.

I’ve never been one to be rendered speechless, if anything I’m usually the one with a mouthful to say about everything. But that sketch…it did the trick. It’s obvious he lied about hobbies because he didn’t want me to know that he draws, but I don’t know if that secret is just from me or if no one knows, and I wasn’t going to be the one to bring it up around Mikey and Bodine if they didn’t know. I could see the anxiousness on Ace’s face the minute he turned around, but I wanted to tell him how amazing it was. He’s extremely talented, but then I saw my face with no lips and thought maybe it was an expressive piece of how he wishes I would shut up, so I decided not to say anything about it.

I was grateful that no one asked why I needed to go to the mall when I mentioned it, because the idea of telling them I forgot to pack underwear just felt like a disaster waiting to happen. So the fact that they’re all three flanking me like bodyguards as we walk through the mall makes me wonder how on earth I’m going to shake them when it’s time to head into a literal lingerie store. I love the fact that even though we’re milesand miles away from home they keep their cuts on. The loyalty these guys have to the club my dad co-founded with Ace’s makes my heart feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“How do these look?” I turn around with a new pair of aviator sunglasses on, and all three guys walk over from looking at different things around the store.

Ace squints. “Exactly like the ones you already have.”

“Nah, these have little purple shits on the side. Hers don’t have that,” Bodine corrects, walking closer and pointing to the purple design.

“Try these, blue seems more…you.” Mikey hands me a pair from the opposite side of the rack, and I put the purple ones back, sliding them on.

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