“Courage: the ability to do something that frightens one,” he read aloud, tracing the lettering with his thumb. I hoped he wouldn’t notice the goosebumps appearing on my skin.
He arched his brows at me in a silent question.
“A reminder for myself,” I explained.
“I don’t think you need it. You’re already one of the bravest people I know.”
My heart pounded like a hammer in my chest as his eyes flicked back up to meet mine. I saw him open up before me like a tattered book that held the most vivid images inside. He pressed his thumb down lightly on my wrist where my pulse was racing.
Slowly, he placed my arm back down and cleared this throat. “Do you want to go to see your parents?”
The last time I’d seen the graves was a few days before I’d gotten the tattoo. I shook my head. “Molly and I are meant to visit before she leaves, and she’d be upset if she knew I went on my own.”
He didn’t press the issue, and we turned to go back the way we’d come.
We exited the cemetery and then took a different path through the park, passing an old playground with a rusty swing set, a half-empty sandpit, and an old wooden shed.
He stopped to study the area. “This was in much better shape a decade ago.”
I moved past him to get a better look at the shed. It was big enough for a car to park in.
“Now that’s a relic from the past,” he said behind me, his voice laced with something mischievous. Now it was my turn to raise my eyebrows at him.
“Cole and I lost our virginities in that shed to Ainsley Turner,” he admitted.
“Did you plan to do it in the same place?” I joked.
“It was at the same time, so we didn’t have much choice,” he clarified, obviously watching my face for a reaction.
“Your first time was a…threesome?” I stuttered over my words, shocked.
He gave me a nonchalant shrug. “It wasn’t planned. Just kind of happened.”
“How old were you?” I asked, still processing this new bit of information.
“We were both seventeen and had been competing for her affection for months. She was a senior with this bright-red hair that seemed insanely exotic to our teenage minds. One summer evening, she invited us for a walk. We had no expectations, but when we got to the shed it was clear what she intended to do with us. We were happy to oblige, even if we didn’t really know what we were doing at the time.”
My laugh was strained. Ezra’s story was playing out vividly inside my head and making my skin prickle with delicious heat. I wasn’t a stranger to experimenting in bed—back when I still had a sex life—but I’d never done anything likethatbefore. Still, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered it on occasion. Having two guys entirely focused on me? Especially when the guys looked like Ezra and Cole? Jesus. Ainsley Turner was kind of brilliant.
“Of course, we’ve had a lot more practice since,” he added casually, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“You and Cole…together?” I asked, my mouth dry.
He smirked provocatively. “That night definitely kicked off a certain…preference.”
I was more aroused than I’d been in years. How oftenhadthey done it? I wanted to ask so many questions, but I knew that doing so would get us into decidedly dangerous territory. Satisfying my curiosity wasn’t worth complicating my feelings toward them even further.
Tearing my eyes away from Ezra, I tried to think of unsexy things, like the dirt beneath couch pillows, kitchen ants, and bar patrons puking outside of the Crooked Stool.
He closed his hand over my wrist. “I didn’t mean to get you all flustered,” he said in a low voice, and I forced myself to meet his gaze, if only to prove I was not nearly as affected as he thought.
He chuckled at whatever he saw on my face. “Come on. I intend on keeping my promise to get you to work on time.”
11
ADELINE
On Monday,I waited for Silas outside the studio. I had messaged him the previous night and asked to meet an hour before the rest of the band got there. Now that some time had passed since the kiss, I was eager to clarify some things and make sure we could continue working together without any awkwardness.
