Page 68 of Single Girl in the City
Abi felt her face heat and her head go light. “Wait. I have to tell you something.”
“Now?”
“Right now.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “You know how I kind of make a mess of things? Well, when I was seventeen, I used my sister’s ID to buy wine coolers and I got caught.”
Owen started laughing. “Babe, I thought you were going to tell me you were married or had a secret fetish for cowboys in just chaps. If so, I can order a pair right now.”
“It’s not funny, it was awful and scary and I made a selfish decision and a lot of people got into trouble. Good people,” she whispered. “The cops roped me into being a snitch on liquor stores who looked the other way on fake IDs.”
He rested his forehead to hers. “Hold up. You didn’t do anything the rest of us didn’t do. You just got caught. Shit happens.”
She closed her eyes. “Even if Stout was one of the places I snitched on?”
He held a beat, a long beat where her heart rolled over waiting for the arrow. Instead he cupped her face, ever so gently. “You weren’t the only one Brody sold beer to.”
Her eyes tingled. “I wasn’t?”
“No.” He ran a finger down her jaw. “Brody made his decision, that’s on him. As for you, you were a minor.”
Her eyes glistened and a watery smile curved at her lips. “So you don’t hate me?”
“I don’t hate you.” He kissed her nose. “I could never hate you.”
“What about your mom?” she asked. “Your family?”
“I’ll handle them,” he said quietly, letting her know that they were in this together.
Elation and relief battled for dominance inside her chest. This whole time she’d been carrying around a secret that she thought would tear them apart when, in fact, coming clean had brought them closer.
“You want to hear about the time I got arrested for stealing panties?”
She snorted and it felt good to release some of the pent-up anxiety and fear. “Desperately.”
“I came up with this brilliant idea to break into the girls’ locker room and raid their lockers. The mission was to make a flag out of panties, only we set off a silent alarm. The cops came in right as I was breaking into Sarah Clark’s locker.”
“Who was Sarah Clark?”
“The better question is who is her dad. The chief of police.”
Abi covered her mouth. “Did you get arrested?”
“No, but I did get a ride home in the back of a patrol car and my mom had to vouch for me. Which she refused to do unless I was given community service. And that was how I spent all summer break volunteering at a nursing home where I saw my fair share of granny panties.”
“Did it break your silk and lace fetish?”
His gaze roamed over her body. “If I say no, will you help me overcome it with a fashion show of you in every single thong you own?”
“How about we do a game of you show me yours, I show you mine?”
“Hell yes.”
When he didn’t move confusion and uncertainty snuck in. “Are we stopping?”
“Angel, I’m six-four which is more than the space of my cab can handle especially if I’m going to show you my best moves.”
She kissed his jaw, his neck. “How about you show me your good moves now and then we can get to the best moves later?”
Shifting her to one arm, he brushed back the wet hair from her cheek. “With you they’re all going to be my best moves.” He kissed her gently and slow. “I don’t want this to be some flip decision.”
