Page 110 of Indiscretion

“Mom,” Bailey groaned. “Stop or I’m not going to let you take any pictures.”

I smiled at Mrs. Anderson. “I’ll take good care of her, Mrs. A. I promise.”

She lofted a hefty sigh. “I know you will, sweetheart.”

***

I leaned close to Bailey because the music was so loud in the gym. “You feeling okay?”

“Yeah, just tired.”

“You want to get out of here?”

“You don’t mind? We’ve only been here like an hour.”

“Nah. This is kinda lame anyway.”

“Okay.” She smiled.

I said goodbye to my friends, and Bailey and I walked to the door together. Mom had loaned me her car, so I told Bailey to wait there and I’d pull it around for her. Once we were inside, she leaned her head against the back of the seat. She really did look tired. I pulled out of the parking lot and turned left to go home.

“Would you want to go somewhere for a little while?” Bailey asked.

“You should probably rest.”

“I can rest here in the car. We don’t have to get out. I’m not ready to go home yet.”

I shrugged. “Okay. Anywhere particular you want to go?”

She was quiet for a minute. “What about the old Drive-Inn?”

My eyes flashed to her and back to the road, but Bailey’s eyes were shut as she relaxed into the seat. The old Drive-Inn was a place kids went to fool around in their cars. Though I wasn’t sure if Bailey knew that, considering she’d never had a boyfriend.

“You sure that’s where you want to go?” I asked.

“Yeah. Unless you want to go somewhere else.”

It felt strange to take Bailey there, especially since I’d taken Allie there last weekend and we’d fooled around in this exact car. But it would probably be empty since most kids were at the prom anyway, and this was Bailey, for Christ’s sake—we weren’t going so we could steam the windows. I shrugged again. “The Drive-Inn is good.”

One other car was parked in the lot when we pulled in. Since their windows were fogged, I took a spot as far away as possible.

“You want the air or the windows open?” I asked.

“Whatever you want.”

Normally people left the windows up for obvious reasons, but I was with Bailey, so I pressed the button to roll down the windows and then killed the engine.

It was quiet and dark, and suddenly the moment felt awkward.

“You sure you feel okay?” I asked.

She nodded and stared out her window. “The fresh air feels good.”

Bailey and I sometimes sat next to each other in silence for hours, usually in the doghouse in her yard doing homework or scrolling on our phones. It never felt awkward. But now, I couldn’t think of a damn thing to say to her. It didn’t help that the car I’d made a point of parking far away from had started to rock up and down. Even with the windows fogged up, I could make out a woman gyrating around in the front seat. Bailey noticed too, and we both sat there watching it all go down while the tension grew. I was just about to suggest we go somewhere else when she turned and spoke.

“I don’t want to die without ever having been kissed.”

My eyes jumped to meet hers, and my heart started to race. I was pretty certain what she was suggesting. I mean, she’d asked to comehere, after all. Yet I was still caught off guard.

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