Page 46 of Give Me What I Want

“Why?” she cocked her head and licked her lips. She looked a hot mess.Fuck.Maybe I shouldn’t have stopped the car after all.

Fuck it. Too late now.

“Get out, and show me how you’d get those sleazy strip club regulars to make it rain.” I pointed to the grass in front of the car.

She stared at the spot I was pointing at, then grabbed her phone, restarted the song, and climbed out of the car. “You’re gonna regret this,baby. You’re gonna see that you guys robbed me of an incredible career, and you’ll feel like absolute shit.”

“I’m sure I will.” I smirked, then held an arm out, allowing her to pass me.

Except, she didn’t go to the place I had been pointing to. Instead, she climbed onto the hood of the car, bare feet leaving sweaty marks on the red body, and started to sway her hips. She toyed with her tee, then pushed her hands into her hair before she started to gyrate, then flung her head around, spinning her hair in fast circles then ran her hands up and down her body. I tried so hard not to laugh, but it bubbled out as she turned, bent over, and wiggled her ass, flipping her tee up to show off the distressed hem of her shorts.

“Like what you see?”

“Damn right I do.” I was still laughing as I started to clap to the beat of the music. She continued to dance, so sosobadly. It was very clear why she never bothered to fully choreograph our sets, mostly dancing like a wild thing as she sang. Bea was not sexy when she danced. Yet… she was the most mesmerising, beautiful, awe-inspiring woman I had ever met.

Watching her, listening to her sing along, being witness to this side of this delicate, dramatic, pain-in-the-arse woman, I realised something that knocked the wind right out of me.

I was in love.

With her.

With the woman I had built my life with.

The woman who had stood by my side no matter what. I had seen her as family for so long, it was only now that I was seeing her with fresh eyes, eyes that had been closed for too long, that I saw more. These eyes saw with something deep under the surface. Something inside me that had never looked out into the world before.

My heart beat too fucking fast, and it beat for her.

“You’re incredible, Bumblebee,” I whispered, and she stilled.

Holding my breath, I waited for her to explode. She didn’t argue though. She didn’t scowl or grind her teeth. She didn’t tense, not a single muscle. Unexpectedly, the corner of her mouth tipped up, and she slowly climbed down off of the hood of the car.

“So are you,” she whispered back, gazing up at me with that hint of a smile still on her lips.

“Are you being gentle with me because I’m sad?” I asked, my voice shaking, needing to know if she had let me call her that nickname out of pity.

“Maybe a little. Or maybe it’s because it’s you, and well, feelings and shit.” She rolled her eyes, and I cupped her face, huge hands resting carefully on either cheek.

“You’re so articulate,” I said with a small laugh.

“I try.” She shrugged, smiling properly now. “It’s not pity though, Mav.”

She had read my thoughts, or I hadn’t been subtle enough, either way, I was happy. And she had confessed something in that moment. She had said more than she needed to without saying much of anything at all. I was allowed to call her Bumblebee, and she had feelings for me, even if she didn’t want to go into what they were.

A huge part of me wanted to scream how I felt in her face. An excited, childlike part of me that had never really felt it for anyone. But I wouldn’t, because I might be privileged, but I wasn’t stupid. She wasn’t ready to hear it.

I wasn’t sure I was even ready to actually say it. Not calmly anyway.

So I clamped my mouth shut and pressed it to hers. Telling her as much as I felt I could with a long, deep kiss.

“My stripper song would bePoison,” I said as I pulled away, directing things back to light and fun.

Bea’s eyes lit up and I could feel the excitement in her body as it all but vibrated. She scurried back into the car, skipped songs, and finally landed on the classic by Alice Cooper.

“Dance for me, hot stuff,” she commanded, clapping her hands and wiggling on the spot.

“I didn’t say I’d actually dance though,” I protested.

“But you will, because it’s only fair.” She batted her long, dark lashes, and I groaned loudly.

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