Effortless (Thoughtless #2)(19)
Author: S.C. Stephens

Smiling, I leaned in and kissed him. "Did they happen to mention how they saw your tattoo?"

Rolling his eyes as he held the door open, he shook his head. "Tina saw me working out in the park near here. I got hot, I was shirtless."

Biting my lip, I glanced down his body. Yes, he was certainly hot. I supposed that explained the story. I watched his face for a minute, gauging the truth I saw in his eyes as he held my gaze steadfastly. I saw no deception there and smiled wider. Raising a corner of his lip, he indicated outside. "Are you gonna head out there, cuz this door’s getting heavy."

Laughing, I kissed him lightly and then sucked in a quick breath, preparing to make a run for it. Halfway down the steps, I felt like a waterlogged rat. Groaning, I dashed for the parking lot and wished I’d brought an umbrella.

Coming up behind me, Kellan smacked my bottom. "Hurry up, pokey, you’re getting soaked." Laughing, he ran his fingers back through his hair. The mess slicked back in a way that reminded me of a less pleasant moment in the rain with Kellan. I pushed aside the memory and focused on his body twisting away from me and running hard.

Adjusting my bag, I yelled out, "No fair! You’re not carrying anything."

He only looked back at me and chuckled. By the time I got to the lot, he was already in his car, feet propped up on my side of the seat and leaning his back against the driver’s side door with his eyes closed, like he’d fallen asleep waiting for me. I batted his shoes as I stood in the rain, but he ignored it, and continued to take up my spot. Cursing that I was still getting soaked, I crawled over his legs to lie on top of him. That got his attention.

His eyes opened with a wide smile. Twisting my body to shut the door, I unhooked my book bag and tossed it into the back seat. His arms came out for me, pulling my soaked body into his soaked body. Scooting down the seat, he laid his back against the cushion. He adjusted my legs so my h*ps were straddling his.

"There, that’s better," he muttered, lifting his head up to kiss me.

Assaulted by more wet memories of him, I pulled back. His eyes were lustful as he stared at me, his breath heavier, and not just from the exertion of running all the way out here. My wet hair hung down around my face, the long strands dripping onto his clothes. The scent of him beneath me mixed with the smell of clean water, both of them stirring something within me.

Cupping his cheek, I stroked his rain-softened skin with my thumb. Looking over his midnight blue eyes, the specks of water glistening in his hair, the full, partly opened lips, the strong jaw, I sighed. "You’re so attractive," I whispered, my words oddly in tune to the pounding rain in the background. "You’re the sexiest man I’ve ever seen."

Feeling completely alone with him in here, even though it was the middle of the afternoon, I leaned down to kiss him. His soft lips melded with mine, tasting, searching. After a brief moment, he frowned and shook his head. "I may not always be." Shrugging, one hand clenching and unclenching my hip while the other indicated his face, he added, "This could vanish overnight, you know. I could be mauled by a bear while walking down the street tomorrow." He lifted an eyebrow. "Would you still want me then?"

Smiling at his comment, I tilted my head. "Of course. Your face isn’t the only thing that makes you attractive, Kellan. Your looks aren’t why I love you." He smiled, his hands running up my back, urging me down to him. Before our lips met again, I gave him a pointed glance. "A bear? Really?"

Chuckling, he pulled me all of the way down to him. As our h*ps met, rocking lightly against the other’s, the windshield quickly fogged up. I felt bodies hurriedly walking past the car, but with the noise of the rain and the windows tinted with moisture, I felt like we were the only two people around. As our breaths and kiss heated, Kellan murmured, "God, now I’m going to have to do something I never thought I would."

Moving up to kiss his cheek, I dug my h*ps into his. "What?" I breathed, the tip of my tongue lining the edge of his ear.

He sucked in a quick breath, his h*ps under me rising off the seat. "I’m going to have to take you in this car," he murmured back, his voice low and husky.

He was suddenly moving underneath me, trying to twist us around so he was on top. I quickly sat up before he was successful. While I felt alone out here, I knew we weren’t, and I wasn’t about to advertise what we were doing by rocking the car. He sat up on his elbows, breathless. Splaying out his hands, he frowned. "Why did you stop?"

Biting my lip and carefully moving away from his hips, I pushed his feet off the seat so I could sit comfortably. Pointing at him as menacingly as I could, I sternly said, "Because you have a rehearsal to get to, and if you blow it off again, Matt is going to kick you out of the band."

Sitting up, he wrapped his arms around me. "It’s my band, they can’t kick me out."

He started kissing my neck and I tried not to lean into it, tried not to start panting with desire and clawing at his clothes. Pushing him back, I dug my finger into his chest. "I’m not hav**g s*x with you in the parking lot of my school."

He glanced around, his eyes playful. "No one will notice." Looking back at me, he raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever had sex in a car?"

Blushing horribly, I tucked my hair behind my ears. "Yes, Denny and I…"

I didn’t finish that and Kellan’s playful grin faded. Releasing me, he scooted over to his side of the seat and nodded. "Oh, yeah…your road trip." Sighing, he dug his hand in his pocket and took out his keys.

I tilted my head to see his face better, to see if he was upset or not, but I couldn’t tell from the angle. "Hey, you alright?"

Smiling, he looked back at me as the car roared to life. "Yeah." He shrugged, then grinning mischievously, he smirked. "I was just hoping to give you another first experience." I watched his smile falter as he turned away from me. "I guess I missed my shot, though."

Placing my hand on his thigh, I whispered, "There will be other firsts that you can give me, Kellan."

Looking back at me as he put the car in reverse, he shook his head. "I know, Kiera."

Wishing I could rewind time and not bring up an intimate moment with my ex to my current, I looked out the passenger’s side window as we drove to Kellan’s rehearsal. The guys generally met once a day to create new stuff or work out kinks in older stuff. Since it was how they made their living, they were all surprisingly dedicated to it. Well, except lately. Lately, Kellan had been blowing off rehearsals to spend some more time with me. Matt had been in a snit about it. Even though technically Kellan was right, and it was his band since he’d created it, Matt was the one that led it. He lined up the shows, he worked on marketing, he arranged rehearsals, and he demanded professionalism from the quartet of easily distracted twenty-somethings. The band was Matt’s baby.

Heading over the bridge connecting the U-District to the heart of Seattle, I watched the towering Space Needle fill my window. It was beautiful, iconic, and held a soft spot for me. Kellan had poured his heart out to me inside it. He’d opened up in ways he’d never opened up to anyone, ever. It made me incredibly sad that Kellan’s life could have been so different, if he’d just told someone about the abuse as a child. He could have been taken away, put in a loving foster home. Anything would have been preferable to his nightmare.

Looking back at him, I put my hand over his knee. He smiled at the contact, quickly glancing at me before shifting his eyes back to the road. A small, dark part of me wondered if Kellan had only been attracted to me, stayed with me, fell in love with me, because his messed up psyche craved the pain I’d given him. Maybe he had a masochistic streak. If so, I’d certainly stoked it…over and over again. It truly was a miracle he’d ever taken me back.

Sighing, I leaned over and put my head on his shoulder. He relaxed his head against mine, his hand coming out to rest on my thigh. As the Needle left my vision-tall skyscrapers holding thousands of businessmen and women trailing along after it-we approached the industrial district. This is where Evan had his loft. It made a perfect spot to play, since he didn’t live in a residential area like Kellan and the others. The very few neighbors that he did have, didn’t seem to mind the noise, so long as the guys didn’t play too late into the evening.

Driving past the two sports stadiums, Kellan came upon Evan’s place. Kellan shut off the car and opened his door. He grabbed his guitar out of the back seat as I got out and waited for him near the front of the vehicle. Thankfully the earlier squall had passed, and only the normal, light drops splashed onto our still damp bodies. When Kellan stepped beside me, his hair still attractively slicked back from the rain, he smiled and nodded over to the stairs that led up to the loft.

Evan lived above an auto body shop. The mechanics all loved it when the boys practiced during their shift. Sometimes they even asked the guys to leave the door open, so the sound would come down clearer. And if the guys were getting together early enough in the afternoon, sometimes they would. One of the shop employees had told me once that listening to the band through the walls made going to work feel like going to a rock concert. I understood the sentiment; they constantly made my job feel that way.

One of the garage doors was open as we walked by. A man was helping to guide another person, who was backing a car out of the door, so the driver didn’t accidentally back over the massive hole in the ground where the mechanics checked out the underside of the cars. Once the car was free, the man smiled and waved at Kellan.

"Where you been, man? Matt’s gonna evict you."

Kellan rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Yeah, that’s what I hear."

The man laughed while a grease-smeared woman got out of the car she’d just parked alongside the curb. She walked up to Kellan and bumped his shoulder with her fist. "Knock ’em dead on tour, Kell." She sighed dramatically while I glanced up at the rain falling on us. Maybe the woman could flirt with my man inside…where it was dryer. Shaking her shaggy crop of dark hair, she frowned. "We’re gonna miss you around here. It just won’t be the same with Evan’s place empty."

Kellan smiled back at her and I mentally frowned at the warmth I saw on his face. I knew Kellan had female friends, Jenny was one of them, but I instantly wondered how friendly this mechanic-girl had been with my boyfriend. I squeezed his hand tighter, subconsciously leaning into his side as he said, "I doubt that, Rox. You’ll probably not even know we’re gone." Raising an eyebrow, Kellan leaned over to her. "Besides, it will finally be quiet enough around here for you to work on that book."

She laughed, her face brightening and I hated even more that not only were they friendly, but they knew things about each other. They even shortened the other’s names. The familiarity bothered me and a rush of jealousy threatened to sweep me away. I was already struggling to not push the woman back and step in front of Kellan, growling possessively. I wouldn’t ever actually do that…but I was thinking it.

Finally, someone inside whistled for the two mechanics chatting with us to get back to work. They did so reluctantly, and Kellan waved goodbye. Rox, Roxie or Roxanne, whatever her full name was, looked back at Kellan before disappearing. She had an interested expression that I’d seen way too often. And she hadn’t even looked at me, like I was inconsequential. I wanted to sneer at her retreating form, maybe stick my tongue out and say, "neiner-neiner," but I wouldn’t stoop to five-year-old behavior. Yet.