Page 47 of Reaper Razed

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry… I… I have no idea why I did that… sorry… erm, I’ll—”

“You really like brown sauce, huh?” He laughs at me, and I blush like the fool I am. Jesus, Ray and Steel need to come home soon before I end up dry-humping my babysitter. Mentally facepalming myself, I eat my breakfast with my eyes down, but I can feel Tank watching my every move like he’s trying to suss me out.

Finally, he breaks the tension. “You should go and get ready, and then we can head off to the art supply store if you still want to go?”

“Erm, I should probably wait for Ray… I’ve…” I trail off. I'm such a loser. I’ve got no money, nothing without Ray.

“Don’t worry about money.” He grins like he can read the embarrassment on my face. “I’ve got some stuff I need to pick up. Maybe I could get you something instead of chocolates and flowers?” He smiles at me.

“Really?” I'm sure I'm misreading the signals, but is he flirting back, or are my hormones through the roof, making me think he’s saying things?

Go on, scoot. Get ready.” He wafts me away while he clears the plates.

I grab a quick shower, and four outfits later, I'm finally ready: a pair of skinny jeans tucked into combat boots, which, thank god, the jeans are stretchy, and a t-shirt with a skull on, which I actually think is Ray’s, which I tie to the side to hide my small bump. I’m starting to show, but not much. I'm aware my body’s changing, and it won’t be long before my boobs are busting out of my bra. I throw my damp hair up into a messy bun and let a few messy bits fall around my face.

“You look cute.” Tank smirks as I walk out of my room.

“Cool. Cute. That’s definitely what I'm going for.” I pull my lips into a flat line but can’t force a grin out. Cute is something you say to a kid, a girl in a cute dress with cute pigtails and a cute name like Matilda or Jessica. Sighing, I ask, “Shall we go?”

He looks hurt by my snarky remarks but brushes it off as he grabs Steel’s keys out of the bowl.

Watching the world go past, I can feel him keep glancing over at me, but I don’t say anything. I just take in the view.

As we park in the centre of Ravenswood, I hear a yell across the square. “Skye, Tank, what are you two doing here?” I turn to see Scar walking towards us.

“Hey, we’re shopping for art supplies. What are you doing here?”

“Just finishing off getting the law firm up and running, my dad’s finishing up transferring the day-to-day running to his lawyers he has working for him; they’re gonna run the firm for him, then he’s moving here. I’m trying to get the apartment above it ready. You wanna take a look?”

I turn to Tank. “Can we? Please?”

“Sure, kid, why not?”

My heart sinks, and I’m sure Scar just sees it all over my face when I feel the grimace it causes. Here’s me thinking he was flirting earlier, and he really does just see me as a kid. Scar flings her arm around me. “Come on, I’ll show you around. Tank, you wanna grab some coffee and pastries?”

“Sure.”

I turn to look at him over my shoulder, but he’s already stalking across the parking lot.

“So you’ve got a crush on the big guy, huh?”

“Please don’t say anything. I thought… we were… oh, I don’t know.”

“Come on. You can tell me all about it while he’s grabbing the coffee.”

While Scar’s showing me around the place, which she’s done up lovely, it looks so professional. We talk about the flirting. I thought he was flirting back, but then he called me kid, and I’m so confused, and god, I’ve no idea what’s going on with me. Scar takes pity on me and offers me some advice, which I most definitely will not be taking, but I thank her all the same.

Tank turns back up, so I drink my coffee and stuff two doughnuts in my mouth. Scar and Tank talk about what needs doing. He’s so dreamy, the way his muscles bunch and flex under his tight black t-shirt and the way his dark blue jeans hang on his waist and are tight across his bum and thighs and slack across his calves before they tuck into his biker boots. He’s as big around as he is tall. He’s got the physique of a weightlifter.

“Don’t you think Skye? …Skye?”

“Huh?”

“I was just saying…” he trails off as he steps towards me and wipes the corner of my mouth, staring into my eyes, there must have been jam and sugar there from the doughnuts, and he does the same as I did this morning and sucks his thumb clean then glances down and steps back before looking back at me with a look that says, “What the fuck did I do that for?” He scowls and steps back. “We should get going.” He reaches down, grabs my hand, and drags me out of Scar’s office.

“Bye, thanks for the tour!” I shout over my shoulder as Tank just sticks his arm up in the air and waves. His hand feels red hot, and I can feel my skin scorch under his touch, and little zings of electricity zap along my wrist where his big hands engulf my tiny hand and wrist in his.

He doesn’t stop dragging me till we wander down a little side street away from the centre, and he just stops dead and spins to face me. His head cocks to the side, and he looks confused and surprised. By what, I’m not sure, but after what feels like hours of just staring into each other's gazes, but mustn’t have been more than a minute at most, he turns and grabs my hand again, dragging me along.

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