Page 22 of Love Me Again

"Yes, it's our thing. It's like Karaoke but in the car. I'll show you." I glance over at her while she scrolls through her song list and grins at me when a song starts thundering through the speakers.

"Chicago? Seriously?"

"If you leave me now..." She starts to sing to me with the goofiest grin on her face, and I laugh despite my best effort to keep a straight face.

This girl is crazy.

"You're crazy. You knowthat?"

"What?!" She shouts over the music, grinning.

"You're crazy!" I laugh while she giggles and forces me to sing along to the song with her.

"Where are you taking me?" She questions once the song was over.

"You're about to find out," I grin, making a turn, and she sits back in her seat and gasps, her eyes wide and vibrant.

"No way!" She chirps, turning her elated gaze to me. "Oh, Cole, you brought me to a drive-in cinema?" Igapeat her worriedly when shegetsall emotional.

"Did I do good? I'm confused. Youseemupset?" I say in a flurry as I pull up in a bay, and she laughs a little.

"Are you kidding? I love it." She answers excitedly, placing her hand on her chest, her face glowing beautifully. "What are we watch—The Notebook?" She truly is easy to please.

I nod and take my seatbelt off, looking at her. "What? Why are you looking at me likethat?" I ask warily when she stares at me wide-eyed

"The Notebook is my favourite film." She tells me, and I frown a little, watching her.

"Isn't it like every girl's favourite film?" I state, and she blinks a couple of times and sinks back in her seat, a little deflated. Oh, did she think I remembered and brought her because ofthatreason? Did I remember? I don't think I did.

"Yeah, it probably is." She forces a smile and jumps when a scrawny boy pokes his head through her window, asking for the tickets. I chuckle and hand them over to him, and he smiles sheepishly.

"I'll be back with your pre-ordered snacks," He tells us before he scurries away. Shayla takes her seatbelt off and scans her surroundings.

"I've always wanted to go to a drive-in cinema. It was actually on the list of things I wanted us to do while we were living together before." She tells me, and when Igive her aconfused glance, she smiles a little and scratches her temple. "Right, you don't remember."

"What was this list?"

"Uh, well, we made a promisethatfor the duration of our agreement, we do something the other person enjoys every weekend. You took me for a ride on Casper, and I took you tothatplace by the river. We went golfing, wine tasting..." She explains and laughs a little. "We went to fright night, which was pretty hilarious, actually."

"Fright night?" I intone, and she nods slowly.

"Yeah, it happens in October for Halloween. You go to the theme park at night and ride roller coasters and drink beer, go through haunted houses. There are these actorsthatwould jump out and scare you." I watch her with a smile as she enthusiastically explainsthatwe got so drunk on beer we both threw up. "Thatwas such a fun night."

"It sounds like it," I reply and briefly wonder how this girl got me to do these things I would never dream of doing ever—riding roller coasters while drunk? Haunted houses? I would never be caught dead doing any of these things, so why did I do it with her?

"All right, here you go." Shayla smiles warmly at the boy who hands us our speaker and the snacks we've ordered. "Enjoy the film."

"Thank you." Shayla grins and takes a sip of her diet coke. "I'm so excited." She gushes, handing me the big bucket of popcorn and a mixture of sweets. "Got a little over-excited with the food, huh?" She teases me, and I laugh, eating the popcorn.

"I love my food," I defend, looking at the screen as the lights dim and the film begins

"Oh, I know." Shayla chuckles, chewing on some lacy sweet. We watch the film while enjoying our snacks until Shayla got too full up, and we couldn't stomach it any more. I glance over at Shayla throughout the film, watching the screen, her eyes all big and bright while watching Noah and Allie kissing. I'd love to know what she was thinking atthatmoment. Suddenly, her gaze turns to me, catching me in my stare, and she flushes a little. "What?" She utters with a smile, and I shake my head.

"Nothing, you werejustso engrossed in the film. I was wondering what you were thinking about."

Shayla heaves a deep sigh, "I was thinkingthatwe were a lot like Noah and Allie. Our love, our passion. We hadthatgreat love." She explains quietly, looking at the screen again. I reach over and brush my fingers through her hair, and she turns to look at me. I stare into her eyes, my fingers tangled in her hair. "I’m dying to kiss you," I whisper, gazing longingly at her lips, which she parts as mine inch closer to hers. "Let me taste you, sweetheart." I breathe, feathering my lips over hers lightly.

"Ok--" I don'tevenwait for her to finish. I press my lips to hers and kiss her. Shayla moans softly when our tongues glide over each other teasingly before I draw her mouth closer and deepen the kiss.

It felt so weird, a good weird, not like a first kiss at all. It's like my mouth was acting on its own as if it knew its way around her mouth. And fuck, she's a sensational kisser--the typethatmakes you eager for more the longer you kiss.

The film was long forgotten. We spent the rest of the duration heatedly kissing until the windows in the car steamed up completely, and we were utterly lost in one another.

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