Page 5 of Drive Me Wild
“I’m going to be renting the apartment above the garage.”
Heat rushes from my neck to my chest. “So you’re going to be living here.”
I have the strangest thought— that I’m not ready for her. Not yet. I need more time to become the kind of man who deserves a woman like her. As soon as the thought enters my mind, I push it away.
The first time our paths crossed, I had already had a few drinks and couldn’t help myself. I trotted out my routine moves—the ones that usually get me laid while other guys are too busy trying to prove their mastery with a pool cue—as if that ever worked.
I’ve been kicking myself ever since that night, wishing I’d had enough self-control to treat her the way I know a woman like her deserves to be treated. And I guess that’s why I know she’s too good for me. Because even though I’m sure she’d been warned against me, the look on her face, when I had her pressed against the wall of Fat Joe’s Bar, had me choking on my words. She looked at me like I was good. Like I was something.
“Um, yeah.”
“You two doing okay in here?” Avery steps into the kitchen, looking at us both carefully. “That looked like a painful collision.”
Zoe nods and gives Avery a strangled smile. My mind starts spinning, imagining what they were talking about when I was heading toward them.
I know what everyone says about me—hell, most of it is true. And for a long time, it was easy to go along with it—I didn’t care. But meeting Zoe last spring made me question for the first time if that is how I want to keep living.
“Maybe you should sit down again.” Avery smiles at me, grabs Zoe by the arm, and leads her out of the house.
A couple of cars pull down the driveway and park on the other side of my truck. Serena—the town mayor and pain in my twinbrother Cody’s ass—climbs out of one. Trevor’s wife Brittney steps out of the other.
I put the ice pack down and walk out to help Trevor carry food and lawn chairs while everyone gets settled. As I’m setting up more chairs around the fire pit, I catch a glimpse of Zoe chatting with Avery and Renée, and I can’t help but wonder if she’s relieved not to be talking to me.
I wonder if she has started to believe the stories about me. The ones that I want to change because ofher.
Chapter Three: Zoe
The weight of moving out this morning and beginning this phase of my life is waning as I chat with people and learn about this newfound family of Renée’s.
It’s funny because I’ve been to parties in Downsville and never felt this kind of closeness or community with people, even though I’d been in that town my whole life. This is something I’ve craved but didn’t know how to define. Now that I’m immersed in it, my extroverted half wants more.
The late summer afternoon air is warm and heavy as I sink back into my chair between Renée and Avery with my first plate of food. They’re chatting like old pals with a woman who arrived when I was in the kitchen with Caleb.
“Hey Zoe, sorry I haven’t introduced you yet. This is Serena. She’s our town mayor and has her hand in everything. If you want to know something or someone, just ask her. Serena, this is my best friend in the whole world, Zoe.”
I bump shoulders with Renée—one of the ways we say ‘I love you.’
“I hear you’ll be staying in Owl Creek for a while. If you need anything, my office is right by the library. After my regular job at the town mercantile, I’m there for a couple hours every weekday. If I’m not there, I leave a note on the door so citizens can find me.”
“That’s very cool of you. I don’t think I’ve ever met a politician before.”
“Yikes. Please don’t call me a politician. It sounds like a dirty word.” She winks.
“Sorry.”
“No, no. I know, technically, Iama politician. Still, I prefer people to think of me as another community member instead of someone they can’t talk to. So, call me one of your neighbors. And if you stick around, maybe we’ll be friends soon.”
Serena smiles at me and pulls from her beer. As her head is tipped back, I watch her eyes grow to twice their size, and I turn to see what she’s looking at.
If I didn’t know better, I would think there was a bear in people’s clothes heading down the driveway. But after a few seconds of staring, I realize I’m looking at Caleb’s twin brother, Cody.
“Holy shit. Look what the skunk dragged in.”
Cody grunts and then hugs their stepdad, Buzz. I turn back to Serena and see she’s as pale as a ghost.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, I uh, I think, maybe I shouldn’t be drinking. I’m feeling a bit dizzy.”
