Page 78 of Wild Hit
Or else I’m gonna be in serious trouble.
I walk around the car at a leisurely pace, receiving the keys from the valet driver and getting in without much ceremony.
“Miguel Jose,” Audrey says in a serious voice and armed with the new ammo of my middle name. “I won’t be responsible for you catching a cold.”
When my lips stretch, I know that the trick worked and I’m back to normal. “You do know that I train and play in the rain too, right?”
She ignores me. “Let’s turn down the A/C, at least.”
I let her fuss with it for a moment. We fasten our seatbelts and I pull out of the hotel parking lot like the night has been completely unremarkable. From the corner of my eye, I notice that she’s still fussing—now with the sound system. She stops at a radio station that’s playing some early 2000s classics and leans back.
Right as I’m starting to hum to As Long As You Love Me, Audrey says, “I’m sorry about all that. I shouldn’t have kissed you all of a sudden.”
And just like that, my veneer of normalcy falls off in one swoop.
My hands tighten around the steering wheel. “It’s okay.”
“No, it isn’t,” she whispers. “It’s just, he suspects that we’re not married for love and started throwing accusations, and it was all I could think about to shut him up.”
“I understand,” I say somewhat robotically, even as my chest squeezes uncomfortably. I focus on the road, the wipers working hard to clear the rain.
“I know you do. You’re the most understanding person I’ve ever met.” Audrey lets out a dry chuckle. “That’s what makes mefeel worse about this whole thing. I’m using you, Miguel, plain and simple.”
I have no problem with that, I nearly spew out, but even when I’m still turned on like a torch I know better than to say that. Just because I don’t mind being her cover with kisses worth of a telenovela, it doesn’t mean it will lead to something real.
However, she’s wrong about something. “You’re not using me when I’m collaborating, you know?”
“Even then.” Sighing, she turns toward the window as we roll to a stop at a red light. “I… I?—”
She gets interrupted by a streak of light in the sky. An explosion-like thunder booms all around us, the kind that makes every hair in your body stand up. And then it’s not raining anymore—rather, buckets of water are pouring over the whole area and it’s near impossible to see.
“Er, is it okay if I park somewhere to wait this out?”
“I—yes, of course,” she responds.
I’d never been more thankful for franchises being so uniform across the board, because even with the diminished visibility I know that what I’m pulling into is a McDonald’s parking lot. I find an empty corner and park us there to wait out the worst of the storm. I turn the A/C vents toward her and lean back on my seat.
“What now?” Audrey asks.
I rest my hands across my stomach. “There are a few options. We can just listen to the radio or a playlist. We can chat about everything and nothing, or even take a nap. If you’re hungry, we can actually use the drive through to get something. Up to you.”
“Up to me, huh?” she repeats, humming a little bit from her throat.
Glad that she can’t see how that little sound makes me break into goosebumps. Ironically, You Belong With Me starts playingand I have to just sit here, quiet and normal, unable to do pull ups or burpees to trick my body out of this state.
Rustling, and then Audrey’s voice is clearer. I turn to find her facing me. “Or we could do something else.”
My brain whirs. What else would she want to do while trapped in the rain in a McDonald’s parking lot?
“Dance in the rain?” I ask, my face scrunching in thought. “I think these seats are real leather, though. I’d rather that Logan doesn’t kill us.”
“Not that.” She waves a hand. “It’s just, I was thinking…”
I blink. Surprisingly, I’m unable to read her mind. “About what?”
“The kiss.”
I swallow hard.
