“Pretty much, yeah.”
Rider explains what he wants, and Brady nods and starts sketching. When Brady heads back to his station and tells Rider to follow, I’m wondering if I should join Tank, Knox, Olly, and Trevor on the couch, but Rider tugs me along.
“Aren’t you gonna hold my hand?”
I snort. “Sure. And I’ll give you a lollypop afterward.”
He stops so fast I run into him and whispers in my ear, “We don’t need lollypops. I got something you can suck.”
Looking around to make sure no one heard, I elbow him. “Don’t be a perv. You know we only discuss sucking after hours.”
He barks out a laugh and pulls me into a hug as we amble to Brady’s station.
“You guys are cute. How long have you been dating?” Brady asks as he gets out his supplies.
I look to Rider, unsure how he wants to answer this. Plus, there’s that tiny issue of him never calling me his girlfriend, but this weekend has been so great, I don’t want to cast doubt on what we’re building.
“Technically, just this fall, but we’ve been circling each other for a few years now. She finally wore me down.” He has a teasing twinkle in his eyes.
“You liar.” I laugh and playfully smack him. “I did no such thing.”
He wraps a thick arm around my neck and kisses me again. “Fine. I finally got my head outta my ass and begged her to go out with me. Better?”
“Much. Thank you.” I flush, pleased as a peach that he doesn’t seem to have a problem admitting that we’re an item.
Everything around us stills as we stare at each other. I shiver, remembering how he touched me last night.
“Thanks for coming today,” he says quietly before he drops a featherlight kiss on my lips. “It means a lot to me.”
“Happy birthday, Rider.”
“Thanks, darlin’.”
I beam back a smile, combusting on the inside with messy feelings and hopes for the future. He made me swear not to get him anything for his birthday. He said he just wanted to spend the day together. He doesn’t play fair. How am I supposed tonotfall for him?
Brady clears his throat, and Rider and I turn our attention to the matter at hand. Tank bounds up to us and leans in to Brady. “Are they eye-fucking each other again?”
“Pretty much, yeah.”
“We could see it all the way on the other side of the store.”
“Oh, my God, Tank.” I point to where the others are waiting. “Go away. If you’re good, we’ll get tacos later.”
“Tacos, you say?” He rubs his hands together and strolls back to the guys.
That was embarrassing. I make a point to be less obvious about my feelings. I plop down into a chair, grab a magazine and start flipping, leaving Brady and Rider to discuss the details of the tattoo.
I love that his roommates are getting him this thoughtful gift. I’m a little ashamed I deemed them all meatheads before I really knew them. Sure, they can be rambunctious, but they have really big hearts.
I check in with Bree to make sure Poppy went down for her nap, and then Rider calls me over after Brady transfers the art onto his skin.
“It’s going to be beautiful.” Brady has sketched an incredible abstract that will wrap around Rider’s biceps.
“Not sure beautiful is what I’m going for, babe.”
“It’s a field of poppies for your daughter. How is that not beautiful?”
He grunts, and I hold in a laugh.
