The Tattooed Flower

13. Liar Liar Pants On Fire

Quinn-

"You know, I'm actually not the biggest fan of Italian." I say peeking up at Caleb, who is devouring his saucy red dish. His eyebrows scrunch together as if to say are you insane. I smile at him and continue to eat my food.
He's got sauce hiding in the corner of his mouth and I dab it off with a napkin.

"Thank you." He murmurs. We barely received our plates five mintutes ago, yet he's already cleared away half of his plate.
"So, I have a question." I say, sliding noodles across my plate with my fork.

"Hmm?" He says, stuffing more food in his mouth.

I laugh. I can't help laughing with Caleb. Every part of me just smiles when I'm with him.
He swallows and looks at me with an expression edging on seriousness, but is too happy to get there all the way.

"So... I know that this is all public knowledge and... " No. "I'm just..." No. "Like, was I?... " Bingo. "Was I a bad kisser? I mean, is that why you ran away?" He looks shocked at first then he just smiles. He runs a hand through his hair and he wipes the corners of his mouth with his napkin.

Oh God, I must be awful...

He turns to me and I can feel the panic in my expression, but when his eyes meet mine their soft and full of desire.

"You are the furthest thing from a bad kisser. His hand is on my thigh. Too high to be purely innocent, he's showing me, telling me something. He wants me.

I can feel shivers cast through my body from where his hand rests on my thigh. He opens his lips to speak again, his face suddenly very serious. "You have no idea, the things I want to do to you." His hand slides further up my leg, touching the hem of my dress. The things I want you to do to me...

He squeezes my thigh, and all I can think is fire. This is what it feels like to burn. All I know is that I would do anything to jump into that fire and be burned up by love.

***

When we get back to the room its late and I swear I can still feel Caleb's hand on my thigh. I don't think there's ever been a moment in my life when I thought, Well, gee, am I glad people aren't mind readers. But I was definitely thinking that while we were in that damn booth.

Before tonight I could have gone on convincing myself that I couldn't be with Caleb because he couldn't possibly want to be with me. Now I can't say that. And this week is going to be so much harder.

***

Wednesday

I watched Revolutionary Road today. It made me cry... A. LOT.

Caleb is out gambling somewhere and now I'm alone and sad and hungry. I call room service and order bubble soap for a bath in the montrous jacuzzi that inhabits the bathroom and and two pints of cookiedough ice cream. Once I have the necessities of mopeing according to every movie about teenage girls ever I run myself a bath and slide myself into a pool of bubbles. There's a radio built into the wall of the bathroom that I was messing with before I went in. Soaking in the tub, listening to Hold Back the River, and eating Ben and Jerry's ice cream is probably the best way I've ever wasted time. I let my tense muscles unwind in the hot water and massage shampoo and conditioner though my hair. For a fleeting moment I let myself sleep into a dreamland, one where I didn't kill my father, where I don't have a history. A world where its just Caleb and I.

He's holding me tightly, his grip against my bare skin is deliciously welcome. We're swimming in the ocean, it's late and the sky is full of stars. His hands are on my shoulders, gently pushing the straps of my bathing suit away.
"I want you." I murmur, looking up into his eyes through wet lashes.