Page 7 of Dash to Me
The revelation strikesme like the first unexpected drop of rain from a clear sky. I search his face for the boy who used to share his lunch with me on the school steps, the teenager who cheered the loudest at my academic decathlons.
“I never thought—” I pause, collecting the courage scattered by his words. “I’ve had feelings for you too, for such a long time. But I never imagined you felt the same way.”
The confession, freed from the confines of my guarded heart, seems to echo in the stillness of the meadow.
His hand finds its way to my cheek, thumb brushing against my skin with a touch that spoke of years of hidden yearning. He leans toward me, and when his lips touch mine, every single feeling flows through me. The kiss is a confluence of every unsaid word, every shared a glance that lingers too long, every laugh that held a deeper meaning. It is tender and fierce all at once.
We pull away, but his gaze remains locked on me.
“This changes everything.”
“I know,” he replies. “But I don’t want to go back to pretending. Not when it feels this right.”
I look out across the meadow. “Neither do I.”
As the outskirts of the town materialize, I spot the weathered sign of the mechanic’s shop. “Look, we’re almost there!” We start sprinting with civilization in sight, and enter the shop, where the scent of oil and rubber greets us. The mechanic looks up from beneath the hood of a car.
“Car trouble?” he asks, wiping his hands on a rag.
“Broke down a few miles out. Could you?—”
“Say no more,” the mechanic interrupts, already moving towards a battered tow truck. “Just point me in the right direction.”
As the mechanic walks out of the shop, Atlas turns to me. “Looks like we’re going to make it after all. Who would’ve thought that it would take a breakdown in the middle of nowhere to finally get us here?”
“Here” isn’t just the outskirts of a sleepy town or the end of a daylong ordeal; it is the precipice of something new and thrilling. Once the mechanic has the truck in the bay, it takes him a couple of hours to get it all fixed up, but then it’s too late to make it to the bakery for the cake tonight. Or drive back to Lawson Ridge.
The mechanic points down the road. “There’s an Inn down the road. I’m sure they have a room available for you to get some rest.”
I side-eye Atlas. Telling him how I feel is one thing, sleeping in the same bed as him… that’s too dangerous. It’s been a while since I’ve felt a man’s touch, and the last thing I want to do is ruin things with him before they even get started. “Maybe we should just go home. See if we can find another cake. They’ll understand.”
“Not a chance. You have worked too hard to make this perfect for them. We are getting the damn cake. Are you scared of sleeping in the same room as me?”
It isn’t the first time. When we were younger, he slept over all the time and we would all pass out in the living room. But this is different. “Scared? No.”
He comes closer, taking my hand, his lips right against my ear. “I’m nervous about us, too. But don’t think just because we are in the same room means I’m going to expect anything. I’ve waited decades…”
My whole body trembles… he has thought about us?
ATLAS
Now that she knows,things might be a little awkward, but I never want her to feel like she owes me anything. We are still friends first. And right now, I’m not going back to Lawson Ridge without the cake. “Come on, we’ll go get some sleep. Let’s not make this a bigger deal than it needs to be.”
“You just told me you have feelings for me… how can we not make this a big deal?”
“Okay, maybe I want to be close to you that way, but I’m not a sleazebag. You’ve known me most of my life. Have I ever gave you that impression?” She shakes her head. “Okay, so for all intents and purposes for this stay, I’m just your brother’s best friend, nothing more.”
Listen, I’m not crazy. Being close to her now is all I want to do, but I’m not one to push boundaries. Especially when I’m close to getting a chance with the girl I’ve wanted for over a decade. Slow and steady wins the race. Patience.
We walk over to the Inn. It’s not as rundown as I expected. “We need a room for the night, please. Two beds.”
The woman looks at me and then Eva. “We only have one bed in each room. Mostly couples stop in here.”
Eva looks over at me. Sleeping in the same bed is out of the question. I’m not pushing that on her. “Okay, do you have a cot or anything?”
The receptionist looks at me like I have a second head. “No, sir.”
I run my fingers through my hair, a little peeved. “Okay, I’ll just sleep on the floor. Do you provide extra pillows and blankets at least?”
