Page 20 of Delinquents Turned Fugitives
He dusted his shoulder off as the elevator dinged. I laughed and lunged at him, pressing him into the wall and letting the doors close in front of us without boarding while the hotel staff watched. “You know that’s not much of a feat if there’s only air between their ears.”
“If there was only air between their ears and I sucked it out, their faces would collapse like balloons.”
“Ew.”
“You’re the one who brought it up.” He shrugged and tilted his head to look down at me as his hand slid up the wall to press the elevator button again. “You okay now?” His voice radiated genuine concern.
I went up on my tiptoes and leaned into him. “Okay enough. But I want a real kiss, Gray.”
His eyes flickered back and forth over mine. I knew I was a disaster between the fake tears and the real ones and I probably looked like some horror movie clown. But Gray just gently stroked his thumb over my waist. Then he leaned forward and closed the distance between us.
His lips were soft and full and encased mine. His hand was strong and firm against my back as he gently traced my spine. Gray kept our kiss classy this time. I had no idea if that was because an older couple stepped into my peripheral vision to wait for the elevator or because to him, that kind of kiss was more sincere. But it meant that for me, our kiss was full of longing. I'd hardly kissed him before and I was desperate to see the fire that lit up in his eyes when he bested me with a prank. I wanted to watch that heat transform into a different kind of flame. But tonight wasn't the night for it. Our checklist was still a thousand miles long. And so, when he nipped at my lips and pulled back, I sighed.
"I'm sorry," I murmured. “I’ll hold it together.”
"No. I am," he said. He nuzzled me, rubbing his nose softly against mine just as the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. We stepped inside and the older couple followed.
The entire ride up Gray and I made googly eyes at one another. We traded the mushiest looks I'd ever seen. It almost felt like we were daring each other not to giggle.
But I thought it worked, because as we left, the older woman grabbed her husband's sleeve and nagged, "You never look at me that way."
As soon as the doors shut, I lifted a hand to high five Gray. "Mission accomplished."
But he didn't stop at a high five. Gray grabbed my hips and slammed me into the mirrored wall of the elevator, jostling the whole thing. He bit my lip and attacked my mouth with a ferocious kiss. His fingers dug into my thighs almost to the point of pain.
It only served to heighten my tired senses and snap them awake. I slid my hands around his neck and let my pulse run wild as Gray's tongue plundered my mouth. My stomach tightened and my nerves buzzed with anticipation as he pressed himself into me and I felt his length against my thigh.
A buzz from his pocket forced him to pull away seconds before the door opened.
I panted, breathless, as Gray tucked my mussed hair behind my ear and then pulled his own burner phone from his pocket. His eyes didn't leave mine, but held them tight in his own gaze as he answered the call. His eyes were dark, dilated—almost like the night we met, when he'd snuck into my dorm room and held me down. But tonight, I knew those eyes were intense for different reasons. "Yeah?" he bit out, curtly answering the phone.
I grinned. He was annoyed that we'd been interrupted. Gray grabbed my hand and we left the elevator. I let him pull me along. Normally, I was all for being in charge. But tonight had worn me to the bone. He could take over for a minute.
We stumbled down the hall to our room while he muttered into the phone. He hung up and then swiped a keycard to unlock it. Unlike a normal couple, we didn't admire the champagne on ice or the rose petals the staff had rushed upstairs to scatter across the golden comforter. Instead, we both snagged water bottles from the mini fridge and stripped off our clothes, not sexily—methodically—laying them carefully over the bedspread.
"You sure these body double hires are legit?" I asked Gray, once I was down to my panties and bra.
"Oh, I doubt she'll be nearly as hot," Gray replied as I downed some water and it splashed down my chin onto my chest. His eyes roamed appreciatively over me before he used a finger to swipe it up and over my breasts, drawing a little pattern on my skin.
I just smacked his arm and laughed. "That’s not even hot right now,” I lied, “I’m covered in nasty sweat still.” But a tiny thrill raced down my stomach anyway.
Gray’s gaze grew hooded. “We could …power up,if you wanted.”
My nipples pebbled and I was tempted … so tempted. Gray had never even hinted at anything like that with me before. His eyes on me almost had me pulling down my bra straps, because I wanted to see what those thick lips of his could do. Only reality held me back. “But … Andros.” He was still enchanted. Could I really just forget about him and lose myself right now? What kind of person would that make me? “And I haven’t heard back from Mom.” My voice cracked.
Physically, he had me riled up. Emotionally, I just wasn’t there.
Gray pulled me into a sweaty hug and his woody cologne scent surrounded me. “Shit. I’m sorry. That was dickheaded of me. Literally.” He gave me a wry smile. “I would have had to call them back and tell them to slow their roll if you wanted that anyway. We’re already tight on time.” He pulled away and checked his phone again. “I'd tell you to shower, but they’ll be here any second."
He was telling the truth. Two seconds later, a knock sounded at our door. Gray opened it in his boxers and ushered in a black guy wearing a leather jacket with a skull on it. Next to him was a petite girl who was fingering a dark-haired wig that was slightly askew. She was definitely more fine-boned than me, but if the two of them checked out quickly tomorrow morning, I doubted anyone would notice.
Neither of Gray’s people even did a double take at the fact that we were walking around in our underwear, which I thought was pretty damn professional of them (even though a secret part of me was halfway insulted that the guy didn’t sneak a peek).
The dude tossed a duffel our way and said, "Ok, we stay the night. Check outta here in the morning after shift change. I'll ballcap it and be nice and hungover."
Gray nodded and unzipped the bag. He tossed me a tight leather skirt and a zebra-striped tube top that forced me to shed my bra and glare at him because I’d been stupid enough to let him be in charge of the costume choices for this part of the evening; they’d hardly registered on my radar as important back when we were planning, a fact I regretted.
Gray remained unaffected since he was busy donning his own stuff to get out of here. I smirked a second at just how fucking well I'd done choosing him to recruit. His damn gang had come in so handy as drivers, now body doubles. Somehow, the members of Crush had this undying sense of loyalty. Any of the 'brothers' he'd called on had been more than eager to help. They'd been fucking thrilled.
