Page 22 of Just a Little Prick

I smirked, mirroring her posture, but sipping my beer as I shifted. “Asking nicely tends to get people what they want.”

“Does it?” Lora smiled, then, and sat up straighter on her chair. “Well. Let’s see how the night goes, and maybe I’ll ask nicely.” She batted her eyelashes as she said it.

I laughed.

She took a long sip from her beer, watching me from the corner of her eye. I smiled at her, happy just to watch for a minute. I let my eyes roam over her body, taking her in. I couldn’t wait to get back into her bed tonight.

She turned in her seat. Her eyes swept over me, lingering between my legs.

It was so hot when she looked.

“So, I love my tattoo,” she said finally. “It’s perfect.”

“Yeah? Good.” I leaned forward to look at it. “I’m pretty proud of how it turned out. But all that really matters is that you’re happy.”

She nodded. “I am. Really happy. And I already stopped to buy soap and lotion for it. Non-scented, sensitive skin formulas. The good stuff.”

“Good girl.”

Her cheeks went pink.

I grinned.

For a little while, we just chatted. Lora told me about the day at the bakery; I told her about the tattoos I’d done before hers. She listened attentively, patting gently at her tattoo as I spoke. She’d paid attention to more than just my note on the care sheet.

“So do you like this town?” I asked, after we’d had a few beers. “I know you moved across from another state. You like it here?”

She let out a laugh. “It’s amazing. I think I needed a fresh start, you know?”

I nodded. “Sure, yeah. I get that. It’s good that you got to start over.”

Lora nodded. Her smile faded just a little. “I always, you know. Felt like I had to impress people. Behave and be nice and all that. It’s fun to let loose a little. I feel like this is who I really am, you know? The girl who gets tattoos and goes out drinking with cool guys.”

I raised my eyebrows. “There’s a cool guy here?”

Lora laughed again. “Shut up, oh my god. You know what I mean.”

“I do. I gotcha.” I smiled, taking another sip of my beer.

I glanced toward the bartender. She smiled playfully, gestured toward my bottle. I nodded. Definitely needed another, especially if Lora wanted to talk about personal stuff.

“Anyway,” she continued. “I just really like how I feel when we hang out. Like I can be genuine. I wasn’t sure what would happen when Chris and I broke up, but I’m feeling pretty good now.”

Right, her ex. The whole reason I wasn’t supposed to be getting close to her. I took a long drink from my beer.

“And, you know. I’m just here to have fun.” Lora looked at me, smiling again. “And with that in mind, you want to get out of here?”

I knocked back the rest of my beer. “I thought you were going to ask nicely.”

“Oh.” Lora blinked, then smiled. She leaned forward. Her voice was soft, breathy in my ear. “Bradley, would you take me home? Please?”

Like I could resist that.

“Sure. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

* * * * *

She kissed me as soon as the door was shut, her body pressed to mine. I put my hands on her hips, wanting to keep her close.

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