Page 16 of Impulsive Saint
“Um…” He looked thoughtful, “Canada actually.”
“Canada? What for?”
“There’s a place in BC called Whistler Mountain. Once the winter season is over the trails morph into summer biking trails. It’s a great place for downhill mountain biking.”
“That sounds really…”
“Dangerous?” He grinned again when she trailed off.
She smiled right back at him, “I was going to say fun.”
“Sure you were.” He smirked in that dismissive way that had already started to irritate her because she knew what he was thinking.
He thought she was a princess. A spoiled little girl that had been sheltered all her life. The sheltered part was true but it wasn’t the whole truth. She may have been sheltered but she’d been longing to break free for years. She might not have anything too crazy on her bucket list but that was only because she’d known better than to dream too big.
Hell, maybe he was right. Maybe she was just playing at this getaway, at trying to be free. She hadn’t even put the big dreams, the stuff that she’d known would be all but impossible for her to do, on her list. She’d been censoring herself for so long, she hadn’t realized even her dreams were smaller than she wanted them to be.
“Have you ever heard of the Death Road? It’s in Bolivia.”
Tyler’s gaze had wandered but those blue eyes snapped back to her now, “Of course I know about it. How do you know about that place?”
She gave him a dismissive shrug this time, “So, where’s the bathroom? I could really use that shower now. I’d like to wash off your condescension.”
He barked a laugh, “Okay, princess. I get it. I’ve maybe made some assumptions about you…”
“Some?”
“Brat.” he snorted but there was only amusement in the term. He turned and pointed, “Bathroom is the first door on the right. Towels are in the cabinet above the toilet. Did you buy pajamas on your little shopping spree or do I need to find you something to wear to sleep in?”
“I bought pajamas, but thank you for the offer.”
“Okay.” He swiped at his jaw and looked around his apartment, “I’ll leave you to it then. I’m going to make a sandwich. You want one?”
“Sure.” She nodded when she realized she hadn’t eaten anything all day. “That would be great.”
She grabbed her backpack with all of her new purchases inside and started down the small hallway. From what she could see the apartment was only a one bedroom. The living room and kitchen were up front. The bathroom was in the hallway. Then at the end of the hall there was another door that was open to what appeared to be a dark bedroom.
She couldn’t help but wonder what was tucked away in that dark room. Was that where Tyler had all of his personal items? Was it as barren as the rest of the apartment or would it be decorated with the things that were uniquely him?
“Hey.” His voice called her back and she turned from the bathroom door.
“Yeah?”
“Any special requests for your sandwich?”
She narrowed her eyes at him, “Surprise me.”
Ashtyn turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her to hide another smile. She looked around the small bathroom and her smile dropped. It was nearly as empty as the rest of the apartment had been so far.
What was with this guy?
She dropped her backpack and leaned over to turn on the shower. While she waited for it to heat up, she nosily poked through cabinets. She found a towel and pulled it out. Gray cotton that matched the black and gray shower curtain and gray rugs. It all matched but she had the strangest feeling that Tyler wasn’t the one that had picked them out.
Once the room began to steam, she stripped out of her new clothes and carefully folded them into a stack to put back into her bag. They weren’t dirty just because she’d worn them out of Target and if she was really going to go forward with this plan to fulfill her bucket list items with a road trip on the back of a motorcycle starting tomorrow morning, she would need all of the clothes she’d bought and more.
She glanced at the small toiletry items she’d purchased as well and then left them in the bag for later. There was shower gel and shampoo on a ledge in the tub. She didn’t care if it was Tyler’s stuff. She planned to use it to clean herself up and save the small little luxuries of her feminine lotions and gels until she was stuck in a roadside hotel and really needed them.
Ashtyn stepped under the warm stream of water and sighed with pleasure. The water was hot and the stream from the showerhead massaged muscles in her neck and shoulders she hadn’t even realized were tense. She closed her eyes and tried to let it wash off the doubts that reemerged in the back of her mind. The doubts and the fears and the worries had tried to sneak back in the moment she was alone but she refused to let them.
