Page 54 of Pocketful of Shame

"You, what happened, Chris, your dad," he admitted with a sigh. "It's still raw for me, you know? I'm still bleeding, Ro." His brows furrowed and he looked away before saying, "I think I know what you want from me, but I don’t know if I can give it to you."

"I just want my best friend back," I lied, feeling my heart crack in my chest.

"If you want friendship then what was that in the bathroom?" he asked, blue eyes scorching me.

"A blip?" I offered lamely, pulse racing violently.

Fire burned in his eyes. "And you want to be friends with me?" he changed the subject by asking, nostrils flaring. "After everything I put you through?"

"I think I can try to forgive you if you can try to forgive me," I replied honestly.

"Yeah." He was quiet for a long time before saying, "I guess we can give it shot."

"Really?" I smiled. "We can be friends?"

"Yeah, we can be friends." Sketch turned back to stare at the bathroom door, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Hey, Ro?"

"Yeah, Sketch?"

"I'm still in love with you, so what happened in the bathroom can't happen again," he said, standing up. "You can't play with me like that, okay? You can't kiss me."

My heart stopped dead in my chest before kick-starting at a thunderous rate. "Wh-what did you say to me?"

"You heard me," he replied, expression guarded, as he moved for the bathroom. "I need to take a shower and get cleaned up before we meet Pres."

Chapter Eighteen

Romi

My mind was in a tailspin the entire way from the motel to the diner. Sketch said he was still in love with me. He said it and he didn’t take it back. Even now, as I sat beside him at a window booth in this really creepy 1950's style diner, I couldn’t concentrate on a single word that was coming out of Presley's mouth. All I could do was replay those words over and over in my head until I practically turned cross-eyed.

My arm was touching his and, unlike every other time we had accidently touched since our breakup, he wasn't recoiling from me. No, he seemed quite content to sit next to me and steal fries off my plate, all while shoveling down his own meal, in between cussing out Pres. It felt too good to be true and that terrified me because I honestly couldn’t take another blow.

"Looking a little flushed there, Romi," Presley announced, dragging my attention off Sketch's beautiful display of arm-porn. Both of his arms were inked to the elbow in a combination of intricate loops and swivels, with his left arm inked all the way to his wrist. I had no idea what any of it meant, he'd gotten it done after we broke up, but it was sexy. Undeniably freaking hot. "In fact, you're looking a little flushed yourself, Sketch."

"I'm fine," I replied, feeling the heat crawl up my neck.

Sketch didn’t bother answering; too busy perfecting his role of a human vacuum.

"Really? That's all I'm gonna get?" Presley arched a brow. "You'refine?"

"What else do you want?" I mumbled, taking a sip from my soda.

"Uh, how 'bout ya'll tell me what you were doing in that bathroom for damn near an hour?" Wagging his brows, he added, "I've heard thevery audibledialogue, but I'd sure love the narrative."

"How 'bout you shut your mouth and stop listening behind closed doors?" Sketch growled between bites of his burger.

"How 'bout you put those lips around some real meat for a change?" Pres shot back with a wink.

Snorting, Sketch flipped him the bird before biting into his burger with relish. "Mmm-mmm."

"Don’t know what you're missing," Presley chuckled.

"Right back atcha," Sketch shot back with a smirk.

"Are ya'll flirting?" I laughed, looking between both boys.

"Are ya'll back together?" Pres countered, grinning mischievously at me.

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