Page 391 of Rock Me All Night
"Come with me to the show. I want your company."
"As...?"
"A good friend."
Great. I'm his good friend. I can live with that. As long as he's done blowing hot. "Okay."
He offers me his soda. "Anna didn't get to drinking it. She had her heart set on getting her lips around something else."
God damn, he's casual and confident with that information.
He takes a sip, testing the flavor. "Diet cherry coke."
I take a long sip. Nothing like artificial cherry flavoring. Tastes like cough syrup. Like the days I stayed home from school sick when I was a kid, before Mom and Dad split, before Mom wrote me off the way she wrote off Dad and Drew.
"Thank you." I take the soda and drink greedily. I can do sharing. I offer Tom my box of chocolate covered raisins.
He takes one and pops it in his mouth. Chews. Swallows. There's this hint of chocolate on his lips.
"You've got a little." I motion to the spot. "I can get it."
"Alright."
He blinks as I run my finger over the corner of his mouth. The pad brushes his lip. Soft. I'm close enough I can smell his breath. No hint of alcohol today.
I wipe the hint of chocolate off his lips and suck it off my fingers. Now, I'm the one getting ideas. Please, brain, think of something besides how Tom would feel in my mouth.
I clear my throat. "How's your hangover?"
"Greasy burger did the trick." He takes another chocolate covered raisin. "How long have you been a vegetarian?"
"Since I was a kid. We went to a petting zoo in third grade. A field trip, take the city kids to the country kind of thing. I was enamored with this adorable goat. She had a big pink bow, just like a stuffed animal. I couldn't eat meat after that."
"It's commendable, living by your principles."
"I guess so. It's pretty easy in Berkley. I don't really think about it."
"You go on dates?" He asks. "Normally?"
"Every once in a while."
"How often do guys ask if you eat—" He leans in close, lowering his voice as if he's scandalized. "Other kinds of meat?"
"Too often."
"What do you say?"
"This sounds like a way to ask without asking."
"I'm not." He leans back into his seat. "Already know the answer."
"How do you know the answer?"
Tom raises his brows. "You want to look me in the eyes and tell me you haven't been thinking about sucking me off?"
My God damn body buzzes like a power line.
"Don't lie. It's unbecoming." He takes a long sip of the soda. "I won't give you a hard time about it. Got a little carried away last night. Didn't mean to tease you. I..." He runs a hand through his hair. "Never mind."
