Page 51 of Ride With Me

He lets out a breath and brings his left knee up to the seat, then he rests his temple against the headrest.

“You seem pretty normal.”

“That’s good, right?” I ask with a smile meant to disguise the nerves.

“It is. Yeah, you wear lots of expensive-looking suits, and a watch that I don’t want to know how expensive it was, and you crash at one of your friends’ houses. I just didn’t picture you as the type to love sports cars.”

“Is it weird that I like that I can surprise you?”

He laughs lightly. “I don’t think it’s weird.”

“Good,” I whisper. “Text Hawk that you’re at my place.” He gives me a deadpan look that makes me feel like I’m flying because he’s opening up. He’s comfortable being himself.

“I think he knows.”

“That’s probably true, but still, just text him where you are.”

“Okay,” he says and lets out a burst of air. “I can take care of myself, you know?”

“I don’t doubt it. But having people look out for us is important. I wouldn’t be where I am without the help of my family, for example. But I also have friends and mentors who helped me along the way.”

He stares at me for a long moment, considering, then nods and spends a few seconds on his phone.

“Okay, that’s done. What now?”

“Now, I’m going to try to impress you,” I say teasingly and waggle my eyebrows for good measure.

He sucks in a sharp breath. “No one’s ever tried to impress me,” he murmurs.

“Idiots,” I scoff. He smiles tenderly at me, and I feel the urge to lean in and kiss him, but our next kiss... I want it to be special. More special than last night’s.

“Let me show you around.” I get out of the car and meet him by the passenger door. I don’t hesitate to take his hand and look down when he interlaces his fingers with mine. It’s a perfect fit. “This okay?” I ask quietly and look up at him.

“It’s perfect,” he confirms.

I take him through the garage, into the laundry room, and then the kitchen. He hands me the dessert box, and I raise a questioning eyebrow. “Now or later?”

“I think I’ll be ready for it as soon as the tour is over,” he says with a cheeky smile.

“All right, then. I don’t think it’s going to be too interesting for you, but let me show you my favorite room in the house.”

“Is it your bedroom?” he asks with a laugh in his voice.

“No.” I sputter out a laugh. “It’s boring, actually.” I open the double doors and he gasps. “That’s a better reaction than what I was expecting,” I tell him, truly surprised.

“This is your office?”

The two walls that are floor-to-ceiling bookshelves are lit up by the overhead lamps, but the room is pretty dark otherwise. Especially since the view on the other side of the floor-to-ceiling windows is dark. During the day, the Pacific stretches out before me, but now you can only see a few lights from the houses below and two flickering ones from buoys.

“Yeah, it’s better during the day,” I say, trying to explain why I even brought him here.

“I just bet. That view has to be amazing.”

“It’s the same from the pool. I know it’s chilly but I’ve got a firepit out there I can light up. I can also get the blankets my sister made me buy. We could eat our dessert on the loungers?”I shrug both shoulders when he turns around and looks at me with his mouth slightly parted.

“Yeah, okay.” His soft voice isn’t filled with enthusiasm, but also nothing... negative I guess.

I feel like I somehow fucked up, but I don’t know how. So I raise my hand hesitantly, offering it for him to take. He takes it without hesitation so maybe I didn’t fuck up?

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