Josephine

"This song is awful." I mute the radio. He turns it back on.

"I like it."

"My ears!" I cover my ears as the Justin Bieber song blares loudly in Leo's truck.

"Come on," he increases the volume. "I know you love this song."

"I do not!" I yell and keep my hands over my ears.

"Sing with me." He says before singing along with JB. "Love me, love me. Say that you love me."

His voice is decent. He looks at me expectantly, not minding the street as it's a long, empty road.

I roll my eyes and start mumbling the lyrics. "Fool me, fool me, oh how you do me..."

At the next part, he squeezes my thigh and angles his face to me. "Kiss me, kiss me..."

I laugh and leave a kiss on his lips.

When we pull back, we're both wearing the brightest grins.

This moment, in the car with Leo, singing a trashy Justin Bieber song, I'm the happiest I've ever been.

•••

"Are you sure it's the right place?" I look around us.

We're basically in a desert with one sign a little ahead of us saying, 'Motel ahead.'

His cousin, Nicole, told us to meet her here, and it's been fifteen minutes and she still hasn't shown up.

"Yes. Nicole is always late, so don't worry." He glances at me, a corner of his lips lifting. "Don't be afraid, Josephine. I'll protect you if a wolf comes."

I love the way my name rolls off his tongue. He's the only person who calls me by my full name and I really, really like that fact.

"Who said I'd be afraid?" I quirk an eyebrow.

His eyes dip down to my chest, then to my thighs revealed by my jeans shorts.

He circles his big palm over my leg and pulls me to him across the seat. "Come here."

I purposefully wore my Daisy Dukes hoping for this kind of reaction and it definitely paid off.

He faces me and holds my jaw with his other hand.

We both inch forward at the same time and connect our lips. I sigh into his mouth and his hands tighten their grip on me.

My heart beats erratically against my rib cage as I extend my arms so that they can circle around his neck. Our position and his arms come in the way of that, so I pull back.

He grumbles in protest.

"Let me get more comfortable." I say and sit on my knees. His teasing smile is blinding, and I love the way his lips are more swollen from our kiss. I wonder what they'd look like after a more intense kiss.

"Wait," he tells me before I can kiss him. "Let me get more comfortable."

"Hurry, then." I make the universal sign that means 'chop chop.'

He laughs as he turns his entire body sideways in my direction. His hands land on my hips and he pulls me closer to his parted legs.

"Better." He muses, his rough palms running over the back of my legs.

"Great." I wrap my arms around his neck.

"Fantastic." He whispers as his hands clutch my waist.

His breath fans across my face as we both tease each other, daring the other one to succumb and fuse our lips.

We both inch nearer at the same time, and the last thing I see before we kiss is his smirk.

We kiss harder and deeper than before. My hands clutch his hair as he squeezes my waist and pulls me flush to him.

It seems like with every kiss; we get bolder. There are new things we discover. We yearn for more.

This time, when his tongue enters my mouth, I'm not as shocked. Instead, I mirror his movements. I let my body's instinct take over as my tongue explores every crevice of his mouth.

His taste is extraordinary. He tastes like the peppermint he had earlier and something so clearly Leo.

I take my time letting my hands trail over his chest and various abdomen muscles before framing his face; the stubble teasing the sensitive skin of my palm.

He groans against my lips, and a noise escapes me as well.

It almost shocks me how a kiss can get such a reaction out of me.

I feel like I need to go in deeper. I'm not sure what that means exactly, just that I can't get enough.

I raise on my knees for a better angle and he holds the back of my head for a second before his fingers glide to my hips. He pulls me to him, our chests flush to each other.

My entire body feels like it's on fire. But I can't stop.

I hum against his lips as my mind clears and my body takes control.

I can feel his hands going lower. His hands touch my butt and he squeezes before setting his hands on my hips again.

"Get a room."

We abruptly break apart and I quickly work on wiping my lips from any evidence.

Nicole is leaning on the driver's side window sill and is grinning at us.

"Nicole." Leo clears his throat and faces her, keeping one hand on my waist. "What took you so long?"

"They were playing strip poker. I had to say yes." She tells him.

Is she joking or being serious?

Leo's chuckle tells me it's not a joke.

"Get in." He tells her as he sits straight. The coldness that replaces his hand is very chilling.

"Don't stop on my account." She shakes her head as she backs away a step. "Car sex can be amazing. I can give you guys fifteen minutes."

She takes one more step back before leaning forward and putting her hand against the side of her mouth, as if wanting to say a secret.

"Unless you need help with filming yourselves." She winks.

My face is beat red. I can't see it, but I can definitely feel it being scorching hot.

She did not just say what I think she said.

"Shut up." Leo grumbles and faces me. "Ignore her. She has this disease called 'not having a filter.'"

"It's more of a personality trait, really." She shrugs.

"Oh my gosh." I hide my face as she lets out a laugh.

"You either stop talking for the entire ride back home or you stay here." Leo says in a firm tone. "Your choice."

I peek through my fingers to see Nicole making an impressed face. She mimes zipping her mouth as she rounds the car to the passenger side.

She easily climbs up and waves at me before pointing at her lips, meaning she can't talk.

I do an awkward wave back before facing the front again.

I'm sitting in the middle. Right between Leo and Nicole.

In my peripheral, I see Leo's hand going south, towards his groin. I keep my eyes planted forward.

Leo starts the car up after he buckles up and glances at me with raised eyebrows, asking me if I'm alright.

I give him a smile, because even though what Nicole said made me want to curl up in a ball, I'm still happy I got to kiss Leo. Again.

And Leo doesn't seem rattled by her comments, so why should I?

He shifts gear as he pulls out, then rests his hand on my thigh. I put my palm on top of his.

"How did you end up stranded here?" Leo asks her after a while, baffled.

She mumbles something as she points at her mouth.

"Just answer the damn question." Leo chuckles.

"Fine." She inhaled a deep breath, as if she couldn't breathe this entire time her lips were 'zipped.'

I stifle a giggle.

"Well, one of my weed dealers told me there'll be a house party here." My eyes bulge at how easily she's telling this story. Including the weed dealer. "I thought I was gonna be high the entire time, have tons of sex, then go back home after the weekend. But there were only men there. Old men. And I have standards, okay? I only smoked the weed before I called you."

"Wow..." Leo murmurs, though his face remains impassive. Either he's used to his cousin or he's just that good at controlling his face muscles. "Tell me at least the weed was good?"

He gives her a smile, and she laughs.

"What do you take me for?" She scoffs. "Of course it was."

"But I'm glad you called me." His brows are furrowed when he looks at her this time. A look an older brother would give his younger sister. A look my own brothers give me.

The look Leo's giving her now differs from the ones he gives me.

When he looks at me, his eyes are relaxed, dark, and heated. But now, his eyes are filled with worry and a warning.

"Yeah," she waves him off as if what she did wasn't at all dangerous. "So, when did this happen?"

She gestures between us.

"You can zip your lips again." Leo answers back easily.

I giggle and briefly meet Leo's eyes when he glances at me. His hand on my leg trails higher and gives me a squeeze.

• ••• •

A/N:

It's getting hot in here... 🥵