Page 32 of Busted Dreams

“Nothing.” Except I never thought he’d be that far away. But I was still happy for him.

At least, I was trying to be, but something about knowing there was a very real chance I would lose one of my first real friends hurt. Michigan wasn’t even on my radar where college was concerned.

“Your eyes say something different. What’s wrong? Are you a diehard Dallas fan?” The corner of his lip twitched just a fraction to belie his amusement.

“No, really, that’s great. Maybe we can take a road trip when you go.” He started to light up. “You know, us and the guys.” And then his light extinguished from one blink to the next.

“A road trip sounds like fun.” He measured out his words like he at least didn’t hate the idea.

“Good!” I chirped.

A knock came at the door, and that was my cue to go.

“See you at school?” he asked as he went back to the coffee machine.

“Of course, like I would be anywhere else. I still wanted to get out of this town, and skipping is not conducive to that goal.” I tossed my banana peel in the trash and headed toward the door. “Bye!” I yelled over my shoulder.

When I opened the door, Beck was illuminated with a shaft of brilliant sunlight behind him, blocking out most of his features. The glow gave him an ethereal look, until he pulled me out of the house, linking hands with me as he pulled me toward his prized cherry Mustang.

He pushed me up against the door instead of opening it, delving strong, firm hands into my hair with no hesitation as he kissed me. I gasped, then moaned a little at the contact. The things this man could do to me.

Tilting my head back even further, he peppered kisses over my lips, cheek, and chin before breathing me in with half-closed eyes. This was the feeling I’d been missing all my life. The feeling of being wanted, the feeling of being alive and actually experiencing the world. I hadn’t spoken to my dad in over a week, and this exuberance reminded me of what the parentals had deprived me of.

“Good morning.” Little gold flecks shone in his brown eyes, his buzzed hair more blond in the early morning sun.

“Good morning,” I barely whispered.

“Let’s get you to school.” Before I knew it, he had me in the seat with my seat belt fastened.

It took a moment for the fog in my brain to evaporate, but when it did, I whipped around to face him. “Wait! Pull over.”

Beck veered so sharply to the shoulder, an old Buick behind us honked and swerved to miss clipping our tail end. I should have been scared at the recklessness I’d caused in Beck, but I wasn’t.

All yesterday, I had wanted to check the video to see how many views it received, if it was trending, or if it flat out flopped. But I didn’t. I forced myself to turn off my notifications, saving some of my sanity. Otherwise, I would have checked the video every two minutes for an update. And I wanted to wait until I was with Beck to look for the first time. It was a big step, something he wasn’t too hot on trying out, so I wanted him to be just excited as I was.

“What the hell, Astrid!” he yelled, flipping off the Buick as he simultaneously threw his car in park.

The cracked and weed riddled side of the road wasn’t exactly the memorable location I wanted for this. Actually, maybe this was the exact kind of location I wanted to start this journey with Beck. His past was ugly and broken, and the road to his dreams would be imperfect. This was just a reminder that where he started wouldn’t be where he ended. And I wanted that for him.

“Sorry, sorry. I haven’t checked the video I uploaded of you yesterday, and I wanted us to do it together. I’ve been dying to check it.” A slight tremor of excitement slid through me as I cupped my phone to my chest and stared at him with imploring eyes.

His expression went from enraged and worried to confused. Then when he exhaled a long breath, it was like he released his anger, leaving only resignation and perhaps a bit of indulgence behind.

“I’d forgotten about that. You didn’t have to wait for me. It probably didn’t get that many views since it was the first video you posted.” He swiped a veined hand over his head as he checked the side and rear-view mirror for oncoming cars. My sweet rock star, checking to make sure we were safe. I was sure if he thought we weren’t, he wouldn’t stay on the shoulder.

“Well, this is a big deal to me. Nothing you say will make me want to do this without you involved every step of the way. This is only the start of my plans for you to reach your dreams.” I nodded firmly. “And you’re right. Maybe it didn’t get a lot of views. Maybe it did. No matter what, I want this to be something we do together.”

Little dust particles floated in the air between us as I waited for his response. He didn’t make me wait long.

“Okay, pretty girl. Open it up, let’s see if anyone liked it.” He twirled his hand in the direction of my phone.

Beaming, I opened the app, and before I could even comprehend what I was looking at, my stomach dropped and my heart fluttered in my chest like a million butterflies had been let loose.

“That bad, huh?” Beck sounded disappointed. I wasn’t sure if that was for him or me.

I scrolled through the notifications, reading the comments and seeing who liked it and who followed, not quite ready to accept what had happened.

“Astrid? Are you there? I’m about to hijack your phone if you don’t answer me,” he threatened. That snapped me out of my sudden bout of shock. My phone was an extension of me, of my art, and nobody was allowed to take it.

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