Page 46 of Quietly Falling
“But you want to go? Are you sure? We can just stay here.”
“We’re here to see your family—your cousin. Kinda defeats the purpose if we stay here the whole time, doesn’t it?”
“And you’redefinitelynot lying to me about wanting to go, right?” I ask, widening my eyes and fluttering my lashes.
Swiping a hand over his mouth, he tries to hide his smile before heaving out a weary sigh. “Yeah.” I do a little dance, making his lips twitch and some of the unease melt away. “Let’s go before I change my mind.”
“Aww, it’s gonna be fun. I promise!” I tell him, linking my arm with his as we walk down the porch.
“That remains to be seen,” he murmurs as he holds my door open for me, and all I want to do is fist my hand in his shirt and pull his body against mine, then kiss away whatever is bothering him. “Get in the car, Ella.”
He doesn’t say the words unkindly, and after a beat longer, I do, sliding in and waiting as he rounds the back of the car and climbs into the other side.
“What kinda music do you like, Bodhi?” Roman asks, flipping through all the stations as he pulls the car around and heads back toward the main road.
“Pretty much anything, usually rock though.”
I gasp, spinning so fast in my seat that the seatbelt locks and I squeak before leaning back and trying again.
“What do you meanyou like rock?Bodhi Maxwell, you didnottell me that and Iasked.Repeatedly.”
Roman chuckles as Bodhi rolls his lips inward, the motion doing nothing to help suppress his smile.
“What?” he says like I didn’t beg him to give meanythingto go on. “It worked out all right.”
“You’re in big trouble,” I huff, making Eden laugh in the front seat, but seriously, the man had basically given me an ulcer trying to find some kind of common ground.
To make him feel more at ease.
And here he is all, “I like rock music.”
His warm palm lands on my thigh followed by a gentle squeeze. “I liked listening to you.” He says it so low I would have missed it if I hadn’t been staring at him. My lips part as a little zing of electricity courses through my veins. He pulls his hand back before I’ve even had time to process what just happened.
And now all I want is to snatch his hand back and demand he keep it there for the rest of the ride. But he’s already looking out the window, the landscape passing by in a dark blur as we wind our way through Trappers Ridge.
“It’s really pretty during the day,” I say, suddenly finding my voice. “I’ll take you around when it’s light out—show you around and tell you some stories.”
“Only the good ones,” Roman interjects from the front seat, leaning up to meet my eyes in the mirror.
“Like the streaking incident?” I tease, and he blanches for a second before recovering quickly.
“Only if you tell him about the time you thought you were applying for a waitressing job and only later realized Boots was actually a strip club.”
“Youpromised!” I hiss, blushing furiously as Eden dissolves into a fit of laughter in the front.
“Youpromised,” he barks back andoh my God. I can’t even look at Bodhi because there aren’t words for my current level of embarrassment as I plot Roman’s untimely demise.
“Looks like you’re full of surprises, Miss Crane ,” Bodhi murmurs and I groan, covering my face with my hands becauseplease, God, make it stop.
“Oh look, we’re here,” Eden chirps. I’ve never been so happy for a distraction in my life, and right now the Hoot & Holler feels a whole lot like heaven.
And I need a drink.
Stat.
23
BODHI
