Page 56 of One Killer Night
I wasn’t before, but why am I suddenly now? My heart beats funny, almost like it skips a beat, as I peer down my nose at her, thinking about my future. We’re lying on my living room couch, whatever we were watching long forgotten as the rain beats down outside.
It’s a perfect day. Me and my girl, doing nothing.
From where she’s lying on her stomach, Goldie reaches over me for another marker. They’re strewn out over the coffee table.
I smirk as she uncaps it with her teeth.
“Not really,” I finally answer. “Should I be?”
“Yeah,” she says excitedly. “What if they love your work so much, they’re like, ‘We have to steal him away to design shoes for us.’ That’s your dream.”
“Sneakers,” I correct playfully. “And that’s not happening. But I like your imagination.”
She rolls her eyes and tilts her head, hyperfocused on what she’s doing—which is coloring in my tattoos.
It’s her favorite thing to do ... get me shirtless and decorate me even more. Currently, she’s bringing the skull on my rib cage to life. I squirm as the swipe tickles.
“Imagination is sustenance for dreamersandfools,” she whispers before looking up at me. “Which one we are depends on our choice.”
I smile as she gently blows on her artwork.
“Who said that?”
“Me.”
I grin, clasping my hands behind my head as I stare at the ceiling. “Then I suppose today I’m a dreamer.”
She bites her bottom lip, but instead of kissing her I keep talking.
“You know, you’re really good with words. Have you ever thought about—”
“Shussha ya mouth,” she teases, interrupting me. “I’ll have you know I wrote something.” It’s my turn to look surprised, but she ignores me, coloring while she speaks. “A piece for that magazine I told you about a few months ago.”
I sit up quickly, forcing her back onto her haunches as she groans because she’s colored outside the lines.
“Noah . . .” she gripes.
But I push. “Can I read it?”
She shakes her head, then puts the lid back on the marker before tossing it back on the table.
“No. No way. I can’t ...”
Her eyes won’t meet mine, and I hate it.
“Hey ...” She looks off to the side, so I use my fingers to guide her chin back. “Come on. Why not? The whole world will get to once they publish it. This is huge.”
Goldie’s eyes squeeze shut. “Ifthey publish it.” When she reopens them, they look greener and more nervous as she shrugs. “It’s just easier to get rejected when nobody else knows.”
“I’m not nobody,” I complain as charmingly as I can before I take her face in my hands, feeling her lean into them. “To quote this mad hottie I love, ‘dreamer or fool’?”
She scrunches her nose, pretending she’s miserable, but I know better. Even Princess knows better because she jumps up, purring and rubbing her face all over Goldie.
I close the distance and kiss my girl gently, brushing her hair away.
“I love you, killer. Let me do this with you. You don’t have to do this stuff alone. Plus, I’ve never known anyone that could make me feel half the things I’ve felt with only a few words.”
She groans but keeps her eyes on mine. “You’re biased.”
