AN:Wow, lots of support for this story! Thanks to all, especially Amose who had a very good point about fiction.

Disclaimer: Hush, Hush is Becca Fitzpatrick's. Lucky.

When I clicked my phone shut and turned around Patch was already standing behind me. I draped my hands over his shoulders, disappointed to find him back in a t-shirt. "You didn't need to put your shirt back on."

"I think Vee doesn't need any more images to add to her overly stimulated mind. She'd get too many ideas." He snaked one hand onto my hip, pushing his fingers up and under my shirt until they stopped at my waist.

"Since when do you care about what Vee thinks?"

"Since it bothers you. I see how it upsets you." His other hand made its way onto my lower back.

I pursed my lips. "It doesn't bother me. I just think she gets worked up very fast over nothing."

Patch chuckled darkly. "If you insist."

"I do."

His eyes flickered to my lips, then back up to my eyes. "I think I want to collect now."

He brought his lips down onto mine and all thoughts I had disappeared from my mind. All I could think about was his mouth on mine; moving together with such a heat that my heart rate tripled and my pulse began to pound. My fingers twined in his hair, pulling his face closer to mine, crushing our lips together.

Patch moved closer to me, bringing our chests flush against each other, leaving no space between us. His hand moved from my waist to the middle of my back, rubbing up and down in a slow, lazy fashion. I sighed at the sensation, breaking apart for much needed air.

While I was catching my breath, Patch kept his lips on me, sucking on the spot just below my ear hard enough that I was sure there would be a mark later tonight.

My mind started to backtrack to before Patch had started to kiss me and I remembered Vee. I brought Patch's face back to mine and kissed him one more time. "I have to get ready. Vee will be here really soon."

Reluctantly, he let me go. My skin felt overly heated where his hands disappeared from my skin and I turned away from him to hide the evident flush on my face. I cursed myself for getting so worked up over such a small kiss.

I wouldn't call it a small kiss, Patch argued.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes and dug through my drawer of clothes. All I really needed was a pair of shorts and maybe a comb through my hair. Better yet, I could just pull it up.

Patch turned his back when I changed out of my sweats and into my shorts. I put a hand on his shoulder to let him know when I was done and walked out of my room in search of an elastic in the bathroom. My nose crinkled at the very apparent smell of paint lingering in the hallway. As happy as I was to help my mom out, I really couldn't stand the smell of fresh paint.

Once my hair was pulled back into a tidy ponytail I popped two iron pills into my mouth and swallowed them down with a glass of water. It was better that I took them now, before I went through the rest of the afternoon with Vee. Patch followed me downstairs, very quiet, and waited in the living room while I hunted down my purse.

I couldn't really feel guilty about leaving Patch to hang out with Vee—I hadn't seen her in a few weeks. She was always busy when I called her, and when I did get into a conversation with her over the phone she more than often suddenly had to go and would hang up on me. It should have irritated me, but it was Vee. We worked this way very well. Besides, I had been very wrapped up with Patch all summer.

I finally found it in the closet as a honk from outside let us know Vee had finally arrived. I went over and opened the door. She was waiting in the Neon for me.

I looked up at Patch. He was smiling. "Something funny?" I couldn't help but ask.

"I'm just looking forward to seeing your purchases later." He tucked a fifty dollar bill into my front pocket. "Buy something for me too." He winked at me and then proceeded to kiss me. Something in the air changed in that moment as his hand brushed my upper arm softly. The heat from the afternoon disappeared, as if I had been plunged into a freezer. Goosebumps erupted across my skin. Patch froze, sensing the difference too. "Your skin is cold."

It took a moment for me to understand what he said. "What?" I finally asked when I found my voice.

"Your skin," he said warily, "it's—"

"Nooora!" Vee's voice carried from her car. "It's blistering hot out here and I don't have air conditioning. Quit the PDA before I come over there and drag you away. I'm deathly serious."

I looked over at Patch, his face completely unreadable. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but something in his stance told me not to. Vee honked her horn again and Patch turned around to look at her. Without a good-bye, or second glance, Patch was down the driveway and on his motorcycle. He revved the engine and spun out onto the road in a matter of seconds.

Once I was sitting in Vee's car, she put the car into reverse and sped backwards onto the street. "Yeesh," she said once we were speeding down the road. "That boy did not look happy when he left. Were you fighting?" She may have gotten over the idea that Patch had been the one to attack her, but I knew she still didn't fully trust him. It would take a lot of time, I suspected.

I shook my head. "Something just came up, that's all." Like he said my skin was cold. He had never commented on my skin temperature before. He had never known before. My mind tried to contemplate the information that I was presented with. It was just too much to understand. Maybe I had just misunderstood what he said. He could have seen my goosebumps and simply commented on them.

I wiped the back of my hand against my forehead, and was surprised to find it damp. Moments ago I had been cold. There was no reason for my head to be sweaty, even if it was the summer.

I was vaguely aware that Vee was still jabbering on about our shopping trip and realised a beat too late that she had stopped to wait for my reply. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said," she paused to shift the car into fifth, "that I think you should go with a leopard print theme. You know, like rawr." She clawed the air with her right hand to emphasize her point. "You've actually got quite the tan there girly. You need to flaunt it."

I tried to imagine myself in any kind of animal print, but my mind wasn't letting me think of anything but what had just happened between Patch and me.