"I know." I cut him off by shaking my head "It was just a joke."

A rough, ragged breath left him as he relaxed back against the sofa.

I felt the need to change the topic of conversation, so I asked, "Did Brennan get into trouble a lot?"

"Not as much as me." Stone answered, not meeting my eye once again "I usually took the blame for him when he did something wrong."

I could understand that. Brennan and Stone were as close as blood brothers. They were raised together. I had a similar feeling about Lana who was not even my sister. I would take the blame for something she did.

I thought about Stone said he considered Brennan's parents his own. I wondered what they thought about him getting expelled.

"I bet your parents were not too happy about you fighting and getting kicked out of school."

"No. They were not." He affirmed with a single chuckle "Brennan's mom Kelly was mad but not as mad as she was when I got my first tattoo."

I let my gaze drift across the lines of ink on his exposed muscular arms and then I rested my attention on the large skull-covered hand.

"You have quite a few." I mentioned before asking "How often do you get them done?"

"I go every few months."

"I noticed on the beach that you don't have your back tattooed." I spoke up, my words sheepish "Are you going to get that tatted up too?"

I let my head fall back further on the armrest so that I could see him better.

Stone nodded.

Curiosity took the better of me and I asked another question "So what is going to be your next tattoo?"

The corner of his lip hiked upwards, and his jawbone stuck out as he throatily uttered “I have an idea for one."

Over the next two hours, I found it hard to follow along with the movie. The small discreet touches and the stolen glances made it hard to think about anything else other than him.

The thick muscly arms rested on my legs. He would let his vein-struck hands traverse up to my thighs. He even went as far as touching my stomach for a second.

It happened too often to be an accident.

I had moved further and further down the sofa throughout the movie. My head was on the cushioned part of the sofa and the bottom of my bum was perched on the side of his leg.

It was almost the climax of the film when my phone rang.

Tearing my eyes off the television screen, I fetched my phone and read the caller id before I answered.

"Hi Lana." I spoke into the phone while I eyed Stone in my peripheral vision.

"We haven't spoken all day." She mentioned with a sigh "What have you been up to?"

"Not that much."