Page 97 of Grounded
"Really?" She has doubt in her voice, and I wish I could tell her that her insecurities are for nothing. She's beautiful, resourceful, creative, and sexy. But we don't talk like that, and I can't share that with her now.
"Trust me."
I punch the gas getting onto the freeway, and suddenly, we're going 85mph and Amelia is squealing at the lightning fast acceleration.
The engine is deafening, as loud as a freight train. It's powerful, exhilarating, and a little dangerous.
I weave around slower vehicles, feeling reckless. Old cars don't have power steering, so it takes more strength and muscle to turn the wheel. I feel my body tense at the thrill.
Looks like we won't be as late as I thought.
Despitethehotelofferinga valet service, I don't trust them with the keys to something so valuable to me. I back into a spot in the corner of the dark parking lot and let out a sigh of unease.
Am I going to regret this? Who gives a shit what my peers of ten years ago think of me?I do, apparently.
"You ready?" Amelia asks.
"Ready as I can be. Anything else we need to go over?"
"Nope. We've been dating a couple of months," she begins, recounting the story we concocted in the last five minutes. "Except we'll leave out the fact we each moved back home with our parents. If anyone asks about jobs, you recently returned from volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, which is easy to remember since it's the truth."
"And what do we say if people find it creepy we are dating?"
"We barely knew each other as teenagers, which isn't a lie either. We corresponded through emails while you volunteered, and somewhere along the way, our friendship turned into more. When you came home, we basically fell in love, blah, blah, blah. Do you think people will care?"
"My old friends might. They'll wonder how I went from hating you to dating you in ten years."
"Ten years is a long time," Amelia points out.
"Well, they knew I hated your guts."
"Can you pretend you don't for the next two hours?"
"Yes. Let me get your door."
Running to her side of the car, I open the heavy door and offer a hand.
"Thank you."
I assist her out of the car, and once our bodies are beside each other in the parking lot, I wish she was on her back in the backseat. Fuck, it's going to be so easy pretending with her, faking feelings that are in the background of my mind anyway. This might even be fun. But at the end of the day, I have to remind myself it's not real. It can't be real.
When we approach the hotel's entrance, with its dramatic upside-down-V roofing, I gently put her hand in mine. I can see people mingling above us, and suddenly, I'm nervous.
"This okay?" I whisper.
"You don't need to ask permission. You've put your hands in way more compromising places. You're fine."
We both release a loud breath and smile at each other.
"All right, let's go in."
The hotel is right near the water, and despite the sky already turning colors from all shades of orange and blue, the ocean is the focal point. It's hovering on the horizon like it's within reach.
We approach a table that has the designated person welcoming each guest as they arrive. "Hi there. Name please, so I can confirm payment and give you your nametag and class list."
"Theo Bilson," I say to the woman who has a name tag displaying "Kendra."
"Th–Th–Theo? Bilson?" she confirms.
