Page 25 of Between Us

“No shit,” I mutter under my breath.

He chuckles easily and sticks his hands in his pockets. “Is your dad on his way?” I shake my head. “Your mom?” I roll my eyes and shake my head again. His features grow worried and a little frustrated—something I’ve never seen before. “What are you going to do?”

“I was just about to call a tow truck.” Pulling out my phone again, I watch from the corner of my eye as he timidly leans forward on his toes and looks around.

“I’ll take you home.”

I snort, but there’s more and more butterflies taking flight, by the second, in my stomach. “No, thanks.”

He snatches my phone and holds it away from me. Not far enough that I couldn’t reach it if I tried, nonetheless it gets my attention as he wanted. “You’renotgoing to pay a hundred bucks just to get a ride home. It’s like ten minutes, I’m sure.”

Just about everything is within twenty-five minutes, at most, if it’s within Amada Beach’s limits.

“Your car will be fine overnight,” he pushes on.

“I’ll call an Uber then.” It’s nothing personal against him. I have a hard time accepting help from people, especially ones I barely know.

He lets out an exasperated sigh that finally brings my gaze to his. He’s shaking his head at me, but it looks more helpless than anything else. He takes a small—almost minuscule—step toward me. It somehow feels like everything and not enough.

“You’ll have dinner with me, but you can’t let me help you?”

I have to fight my expression from cracking open. “I’m just… not having a good day, Adrian.” I twirl the chili lollipop between my fingers. “You don’t want to spend time with me right now.”

With two strides, he closes a foot of space between us. It’s close enough that he reaches forward and gently tilts my chin up, but not enough that we’re touching anywhere else.

“I get to decide how I want to spend my time. And if you’d just pay attention, you’d know I want to spend more of it with you, Storm Cloud.” I’m surprised by the nickname. He’s never called me anything other than my name before. But before I can comment on it, he adds, “Your feelings don’t scare me.”

I roll my lips between my teeth, feeling closer and closer to breaking down by the second in Adrian’s presence. And the scariest part is I kind of want to.

I shut my car door without saying anything. It’s a silent answer, and he smiles in understanding and victory. “Are the doors locked?” he nods toward my old black Jetta.

I click the key fob and hold out my hand. “Can I have my phone?”

He hands it over and waves me toward his green Durango. It looks a bit older but still in good condition. We don’t say anything as we walk toward his vehicle, and I don’t know if I could talk even if I tried.

Underneath those emotions I’m a little scared. There’s a tension between us that I’ve never felt before. It isn’t uncomfortable but it’s… new—electrifying even—and feels a hell of a lot more than just a lift home.

He holds the door open for me then walks to the driver’s side. I watch from my seat and try to steady my breathing.

Glancing at him as I buckle myself, his gaze is focused as he rounds the hood, a satisfied tug playing on his lips. The way his muscles move when he opens the door doesn’t help my heart rate.

He’s still quiet as he starts the car and shuffles through his Spotify. The music is set to a low volume, and he doesn’t push me to talk, so I don’t either. It’s not what I expected but I appreciate it. It grants me a moment to gather my bearings, and in a way, I guess it does feel something like what I assume companionship would.

Chapter Thirteen

Adrian

Timhasmentionedtheneighborhood he lives in a couple of times, so I drive in silence until I’m at the light to turn into it. “I’ll need directions from here,” I glance over at Blake.

She’s doing that anxious thing where she taps her fingers to her thumb, and this isn’t the first time I’ve noticed it today. The few days we’re both scheduled, we almost always end up working the same shifts. So, I’ve seen her a few times since we got dinner about a week and a half ago. Unfortunately I can’t say I’ve made as much progress as I would’ve hoped.

But today was different. Blake wasn’t her usual guarded, aloof self or her normally awkward, quirky one. It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Blake truly have abadday. I assume it started before we got to work, and from what I saw, it only progressively got worse as the day went on.

“It’s the eighth right,” her quiet voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “Apricot Lane.”

I haven’t wanted to test my luck. It feels like that’s all I do with this girl—push for more without pushing fortoo much.

Plus, I’m not someone who is uncomfortable with silence.

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