Page 80 of The Crush
“You can bite me right now if you want to,” I tell him silkily, tipping my head back. “I don’t mind either.”
He lets out a long exhale, leaning in and placing a kiss beneath my jaw before he grasps my chin to tilt it back down. He leaves another kiss just as quick on my lips, laughing again as he pulls away and I move after him.
“Temptingas that offer is, I think you should get some sleep.” He presses his forehead against mine before adding, “We can bite each other tomorrow.”
“Mm.” Now that he mentions it, Iamtired, especially now that he’s stripped off my jeans and shirt, replacing them with a pair of his sweats and one of his oversized T-shirts.
“This shirt smells good,” I mumble, pressing my face into it as I curl into the pillows.
“It’s clean,” he informs me while helping me negotiate the covers.
“Smells likeyou.” I turn over on my side once I’m settled, watching him lean in toward me. “I’m going to keep it.”
“It’s yours.” His fingers drift over my cheek, my forehead, my mouth. “Get some sleep, okay?”
I nod, but then the wind whips loudly against the panes of the window behind me, rattling it hard in its old frame. “Are you going to sleep, too?”
“Yeah,” he tells me, guiding me back down when I try to sit up again. “I’m just going to take care of something. I’ll be right back.”
“Danny.” I want to argue with him, make him stay, but everything feels so, so heavy. “You don’t have to be scared, okay?” I mumble instead. “It’ll be okay. You’ll be okay.”
He frowns, looking at the floor before kissing the crown of my head. “Don’t worry about me, bonita, all right? I’m only going to go check on your brothers.”
“Then you’ll come right back?”
“Yep.”
I yawn, wrapping myself around his pillow as a consolation prize. “Okay.”
“Your glass of water is on the nightstand,” he whispers in my ear. Another kiss on my cheek. “I won’t be long.”
Sixty-Six
Daniel
“Danny!” Gabe exclaims as soon as I walk into the kitchen, greeting me like a long-lost friend. “You’re back!”
Eli’s head jerks up from where he’d nearly been asleep in a kitchen chair, his elbows resting on his knees. “He’sbeenback, Gabe. He came home over the summer, remember?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose, never more sorry in my life to be sober. Although my dad looks thoroughly amused by the whole situation as he observes from his spot by the counter.
“I came out to confiscate keys. Seemed like it might be time based on volume alone.” The set from Eli’s truck jingles in his hand.Clink. Clink. Clink.
At the sound, Gabe pivots, swaying, and I take a step forward in the event I might need to catch him. Somehow. “Sorry, Tadeo, were we being too loud?”
“No, mijo.” Tadeo pats his arm. “Why don’t you come with me though, and we’ll get you settled on the couch? With a bucket. Eli, you want to take the guest room?”
Eli nods, but then abruptly switches to shaking his head. “No, I have to get back. Everything is going to be behind because I wasn’t there earlier. If I’m not there again in the morning, it’ll be worse.”
“You can’t drive like this,” my dad starts, switching fully to a stern paternal tone. “You’re going to have to wait—”
“No, I have to go back. He won’t like it.”
I sigh, both at Eli’s distress and the common cause, and I’m not sure if it’s unexpected sympathy that compels me or the desire to avoid dealing with not only one but three hungover Riveras in the morning. “I can run them home. I haven’t had anything to drink.”
“I don’t know,” my dad says, his face creasing with fresh concern as he looks at me. “It’s awfully late. And might be more people than usual out on the road.”
“I know,” I reassure him even as my stomach turns. “I’ll be careful.” When he continues to hesitate, I add, “Besides, returning the Rivera children to their parents in one piece might buy me some good will. ”
