Page 58 of Scars of the Sun
My cheeks pulled back to show every one of my teeth, and I even flashed her my upper fangs for good measure. “Yeah, baby? How much?”
Ramona stared at my mouth, and it wasn’t just hunger that flitted across her face. It was something akin to adoration, and my smile softened. “A lot,” she whispered then clamped her mouth shut. Her brown cheeks deepened with a fierce blush, and she glared as if daring me to say something smart.
But I didn’t. I took her chin in hand and kissed her. With no tongue, just soft movement of my lips that she retuned just as sweetly. “I lo—like you a lot, too. Princess, I think I’m gonna have to keep you.”
She gasped, but whether it was because she caught my slip up or because she was surprised by my declaration, I didn’t know. By the widening of her eyes, I was starting to panic that it was the former. “Okay,” she whispered.
I cleared my throat. “I gotta go, but I’ll text you. Wanna come over to mine later?”
Ramona nodded, and I kissed her again before giving one last lick at her temple. With my friends, she’d acted begrudged or resigned with my grooming. But now, when we were alone, she preened and sighed. “All right, baby. Be good.”
It was hard to get my body to cooperate, but I managed to step away and let Ramona slide into the driver’s seat. She didn’t try to hold her eye roll. “Yeah, yeah. See you later.” Once she was buckled in, I closed the door for her and headed to my own truck. I waited for her to back out, turn the car around, and head up the drive. Pantera blasted through the old speakers while I followed her out. She turned to head further out of town, while I went the opposite way with a wave. Ramona smirked and waved back before going in the direction of her brother’s cabin.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I chanted. Now that I was by myself where she couldn’t see, I had the freedom to freak the fuck out. I was so whipped that I’d almost admitted to her that I loved her.
The whole way to Vinny’s, I tried to convince myself that I was still fuck drunk or having a damn heat stroke. But I knew none of that was true as I parked in front of the small pizza place. We were two months into this… thing between us, and if I had any sense, I’d declare it too fast.
I walked into the restaurant and straight back to the manager’s office to drop off my backpack and clock in. Van, the other manager who had opened today, gave me a nod that I absently returned, thoughts still churning. All right, if I loved her, and it was looking a hell of a lot like I did, then I was really going to keep her. Which led me to ruminate on broaching the topic of leaving town with Ramona. I was a sitting duck, but I wasn’t going to go without her.
My mind whirled with… hope. Plans of where we’d go. I could take her to Michoacán, show her the city for a while before letting her pick the next place. We’d have to find temporary jobs to sustain the constant travels, but I also had a hefty nest egg if we wanted to just sight see for a few weeks. Or years.
Years.
Literal butterflies, like the last sketch I’d drawn, fluttered in my belly as I checked the cooler temps and turned the ingredients that needed it. What if—what if she wanted to be my mate, too?
A la mierda. I had to grip the prep counter to calm myself and keep the mating roar from coming out. Now that I’d done it once, my Jaguar didn’t want to stop calling out to her. Again and again and again until she answered. When I’d done it the first time last night, Ifeltthe answering buzz under her skin.
The chime on the front door sounded, and my thoughts were still a haze of animalistic desire as I let go and went to take theorder. Dealing with customers never failed in turning me all the way off.
Unfortunately, as soon as I pushed open the door that led from the kitchen to the register, I knew that I had truly fucked up. I’d thought almost confessing my love for Ramona was bad?
No, this was so, so much worse.
“Oi, maninho,” the tiny female grinned wide at me. I’d been so wrong. My doom was already here.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
RÍO
Ineeded to run. I should run, right?
Mara’s eyes and grin widened, as if she was daring me to do it. Madre de dios, how had I been so fucking stupid? As soon as Ramona had dropped to her knees for me, I should’ve thrown her kicking and screaming on the back of my bike and hightailed us both straight to Mexico.
“So, how you been, Yoyo?” My tiny big sister drummed her fingers on the front counter, and I swept my gaze around and widened my senses. Thank the universe for small mercies, Catalina wasn’t here.
Mara was still smiling, turning my own black eyes back at me, and I had to shove all thoughts of Ramona to the back of my mind. How was I going to protect her from my family if they were already here?
“Fine. What do you want.” Shrugging into my old training, the version of myself that hid all feeling, felt like putting on wet clothes. It molded to me, sticking uncomfortably, but was also familiar.
She pouted and flipped her short, wavy hair. After eight years, she’d chopped it to a bob that ended just below her ears. Her bangs were short enough to show a sliver of her foreheadand thick, black brows. Like the perfect soldier, she wore a sleeveless vest and black slacks to make up her own kind of suit. And—Jesus fucking Christ, she had her katana slung on her back. Was she here to use that on me?
“I missed you,” she kept the pout on her round lips, but her eyes danced with mirth.
I put my hands in my pockets. “You saw me. Say what you really want, or leave me alone.”
Mara tsked, and I already knew more bullshit was coming before she swiped her hand so quickly that a human wouldn’t have been able to track it. The to-go cups, straws, and napkins all set beside the register crashed to the floor.
She didn’t even look down at the mess she made. Just kept watching me. At least the smile was back. If Mara was smiling like that, I’d learned that I was likely to make it out of the exchange unscathed. If she looked angry, a fight was surely going to come. But if she grinned with her eyes faraway and blank, there would be a massacre.