I shrugged and laughed. “You’d be right.”
A few seconds later, Malachi headed back our way with a hat pulled down over his head.
“Where are you going?” Jesse called out from the table he was sitting at with Olivia.
“I need to pick up a few things at the store, so I’m hitching a ride with Jasper,” Malachi shouted back.
“Have fun.” Savannah winked and walked away.
“Do you want to drive?” I asked, holding up the keys.
Since I preferred using public transportation over driving, I would always pick being a passenger instead of driving.
“Sure.” He took the keys from my hand.
We got into the SUV, and I typed the address into the GPS. As soon as we were on the road, he laced his fingers with mine and rested our joined hands on my thigh.
“Did you really need to get something at the store, or was that an excuse to come with me?”
He glanced my way and arched a brow. “What do you think?”
“Too bad we can’t go shopping every day.”
He squeezed my hand. “Yeah, but I was thinking, when we’re in LA, maybe we can come up with a plan for you to spend the night at my place.”
We would be back in LA in a little more than a week, and I could feel myself getting hard just thinking about all the trouble we could get up to for an entire night without worrying about getting caught.
“I’d like that.”
“Good.” He rubbed the backside of my thumb with his.
When we got to the store, we made sure to keep our distance. Even though Malachi was wearing a hat, he wasn’t invisible. It was likely some of the customers were aware Surrender was in town and might easily recognize him.
Once I had a cart full of groceries, I headed to the checkout. “You should probably grab a few things while we’re here, so Jesse doesn’t realize you were full of shit,” I teased.
“You’re right. I’ll meet you out at the car in a few minutes.” He handed me the keys.
I had loaded the last bag into the trunk when he came out. He tossed his stuff inside and we climbed in to take off. Just as he had before, he reached over and grabbed my hand.
“It sucks not being able to touch you when we’re in public,” he grumbled.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be able to touch me all you want in your hotel room after the show.” I waggled my eyebrows.
“I don’t think I can wait that long.”
“It’s not like we have any other choice?—”
“Yeah, but I’m still worked up from our sexting earlier.” Before I knew what was happening, he pulled into the parking lot for a park that overlooked the bay and found a secluded corner. “Let’s go.”
“Go? Where?”
He opened the door and moved to the back of the SUV. When I joined him, he was pushing the groceries to one side and folding down the seats. “Get in.” I did as he said, and he crawled in behind me. After he closed the liftgate, he rummaged through one of the bags and pulled out a bottle of lube. “Now take off your pants.”
18
MALACHI
One thingI loved about California was the weather; most of the time, it was perfect. Rina knew what she was doing when she scheduled us to have our shows in LA in mid-May.