Page 79 of Sweet Caroline
Maybe he’s right; Maybe Iama brat.
He almost groans, but doesn’t kiss me. “Can we get outta here? I suddenly couldn’t give two shits about Skee-Ball.”
16
MILES
“Are you snooping?” Caroline stands in the doorway of her ensuite bathroom, arms loosely crossed.
“Damn right I’m snooping!” I lean in to inspect a framed photo of her and Adrian on the wall next to her bed; they’re pulling faces outside what looks like one of the monorail stations in Seattle. I scan around her room, my gaze landing on the huge picture window above her bed. “You’ve got a nice place, fancy girl.”
The nickname is particularly apt now that I’m seeing where she lives. Her grandpa’s house is spacious and clean, decorated like something out of one of those magazines at the dentist’s office. All luxurious and shit—well, compared to my crappy apartment, anyway.
“Thanks,” she says, sheepishly shifting on her feet. She’s beautiful; she’s almost glowing in the orangey-yellow light of her bedside lamp. Reminding myself not to stare, I keep poking around.
It hadn’t been hard to ditch Jude and Olena at the arcade; they’d been weirdly fine with cutting our double dateshort. I try not to think about why—not that it’s been difficult, what with Caroline dropping flirty innuendos and smuggling me into her bedroom like contraband. She said it was to avoid waking her grandpa, but I’m pretty sure she just wants to jump my bones. I’m not complaining.
“Well?” Caroline asks. “Have you uncovered all my secrets?”
“I dunno.” Skirting the foot of the bed, I meander over to her dresser and peer into a few little trinket boxes arranged in a neat row. “Nothing too juicy just yet. I mean, a girl like you having fancy lotions and 300-billion-thread-count sheets isn’t exactly a surpri?—”
I stop short when a box tucked into a corner catches my eye, the partially obscured writing on the side revealing only the words “an ocean of pleasure”. I walk over and pull it out, my jaw dropping when I see what’s inside.
“Oh my God!” Caroline’s voice has a shrill edge as she rushes toward me. “No, that’s?—”
“Whoa-ho-ho!” I laugh, spinning the box to face her. “What’s this now?”
She drops her face into her hands a moment before risking another look at me, her cheeks a deeper red than I’ve seen them yet. “It was an impulse buy. How did you even—?” She stares at me in wonder, probably trying to work out how I could’ve zeroed in onthis, of all things.
I spin the package back around for a closer inspection. It’s like a gift set but, instead of hot chocolate or bath bombs, it’s silicone sex toys, all ocean themed: a seahorse vibrator, a tentacle-shaped dildo, a vibrating seashell butt plug, and a pair of little starfish things that might be nipple suckers.
This is an interesting development.
“These are…” I blow out an exhale.
“I had just broken up with Fletcher,” she scrambles to explain. “Maybe I was on the single-girl side of the internet or something?”
I lift my gaze, unable to hide my amusement. “It’s fine. You don’t have to?—”
“This woman was raving about this set, and I guess I got, I dunno,influenced?” She does air quotes around the last word, rolling her eyes. “It’s ridiculous, I know. But I haven’t used them.”
“It’s not ridiculous,” I say, the corner of my mouth twitching despite myself. “It’s cute.”
With a scoff, she snatches it out of my grasp and moves to tuck the box back in the corner.
“Don’t put them away,” I say, catching her arm. “Toys were on your list, right?”
“Yeah, butthesetoys? They look like they belong in one of those Japanese vending machines.”
“Well,” I say slowly as I take the box back to toss it on the bed, then slip my hands to her waist, thumbing the silky material of her shirt. “I’ve always wanted to go to Japan.”
“Really?”
“Mm-hmm.” I lean close, pressing a gentle kiss to her cheek. “And I mean, who am I to judge if you wanna get fucked by a glittery tentacle dildo?”
She gives me a playful shove.
“Wha—? Hey!” I feign innocence, clutching my chest. “I’m just trying to give the people what they want here!”
