Page 9 of I Love You, So What?

Pressingthebuttononmy key fob, I hear the door of my white Honda Civic unlock right before Lexy’s voice cuts through the cool night air.

“Wait, is this what you drive?”

“Umm, yes?” I chuckle and pair it with a look of confusion in her direction.

“Oh, I thought you had a bike.”

“I do,” I say with hesitation. “I left it in Oregon with my buddy Cooper.”

“Why?”

“I couldn’t drive both down here at the same time, and I thought a car would be more practical.” I open my door as Lexy’s swings open, and we slide onto my black leather seats simultaneously.

“Oh, ok, that makes sense.” She sounds almost… disappointed.

I start the engine and shift into reverse. Before I switch to drive, I hand her my phone.

“You want to put your address in?”

She takes it from me, the navigation screen of my car showing the directions a few seconds later. I reach back over for my phone, but when it doesn’t land in my hand, I glance her way. She’s scrolling through it. I’m about to ask her what she’s doing–more out of curiosity than actually caring–when my favoriteEvery Avenue song comes blaring through my speakers. Whoops, I probably should have turned my stereo down, but it’s never loud enough for me.

Lexy seems unaffected by the volume as she continues scrolling through my Spotify. I can see her clicking to add songs to the queue out of the corner of my eye. I stay silent, drumming my finger on the steering wheel, curious to see which song she plays next.

It’s Fall Out Boy. Circa 2005.

I won’t deny this girl is hot, even more so because of her taste in music and the look on her face when she wished I had my motorcycle with me. I have missed my bike but not as much as I do right now. I’ve always known it could easily be a chick magnet, but I’ve never cared about that before. Again, desperation isn’t a good look on anyone.

Lexy doesn’t seem to possess that emotion. She wasn’t kidding when she said she just takes what she wants. The way she took control of the music and the way she’s turning the heater up right now without even bothering to ask… Some might consider it rude, but something tells me she doesn’t mean it that way. I get the impression she’s always had to look out for herself to get by, like she’s had no other choice but to take what she wants or she’ll never get anything. But what do I know about her or what she wants?

Like that kiss. For a second I thought maybe she actually wanted to kissme, but I’m sure it was all part of her game. It’s a game I understand well, especially after these last few months in California. It’s not that hard to figure out what kind of person you need to be to make someone interested. I wouldn’t consider myself a player, like Nolan. If you base it on how many hookups I’ve had in the past year, you might think so, but unlike my best friend, I’m always upfront about what it is. I would never mislead anyone, not after what happened with Emily. Maci back in college was the exception to that, but I was so fucked up. It’s not an excuse though, and I still feel bad about it.

Would Lexy even consider hooking up with me since I slept with her best friend? Does that break some kind of girl code? I know for sure Nolan wouldn’t give a fuck, and this is a totally different situation than Emily, especially since Maci and I didn’t even date. Why am I even thinking about this? Fine, my dick practically sprung to life when I turned around, struck by that sweet but spicy voice singing the chorus of “Islands in the Stream.” Fun and flirty emanated out of her. One of her hands was curled inside her sweatshirt sleeve, the end of it balled in her fist while the other held the microphone. Her beach wavy, blonde hair was tied in a loose ponytail with her sunglasses woven through the strands to keep them on her head. The smile on her face made it evident she was having a blast. It was cute as hell. And her legs in those cutoff jean shorts... I adjust my jeans after turning my blinker on and making a left turn, hoping the darkness of the night keeps her from noticing.

What the fuck. Hopefully I’ll shake it off by tomorrow. Sex was in the air tonight, so surely Lexy’s allure was simply a product of that. Maybe I’ll text Lauren. She’s been wanting to hang out and she knows what’s up. I probably just need to get laid to get these thoughts out of my system.

We don’t talk the entire drive to her apartment. It’s not that I would mind a conversation with her, but this is how I prefer to drive, with nothing but the right music. The playlist she created cycles through mostly Escape the Fate, A Day to Remember and Taking Back Sunday. As we pull into her apartment complex a Straylight Run song plays, and I catch her silently singing along even though she’s leaning against the car window with the hood of her red sweatshirt pulled up. How does she even know this song?

I park in a space in front of her building but leave the car running. She reaches my phone out to me. “Thanks for the ride.” She half smiles before opening the car door, the interior lights illuminating her pretty face.

“Thanks for the kiss.” It comes out before I think about it.

She steps out of my car, but I catch the edge of a smirk.

“Hey.” I get her attention, and she sticks her head back inside my car. “Where do you work?”

“Shot in the Dark.” Her bright blue eyes hesitate on mine. “See ya, Troy.” She closes the door and takes off in the direction of her apartment.

I follow her movement until she safely disappears to the other side of the door, wondering what it is about this girl that blurs my ability to read a situation.

CHAPTER EIGHT

LEXY

ThankGodI’mnothungover. By the time Troy dropped me off last night, it was only 1:30, which is early for me considering my bar doesn’t close until 1 or 2 a.m. I could have stayed out longer. Driving around listening to music is one of my favorite simple pleasures. I had a used car for a few years when I turned 18. I saved all my money from makeup gigs as a teenager so I could stop taking public transportation. That sucked.

About a year ago, my car finally crapped out on me, but luckily I had already moved into a new apartment close to work. Mack has always let me use his Jeep when he’s out of town, and Maci left her car with me when she went to Costa Rica a couple months ago. Damn, I have good friends. LA would be unbearable without them. I don’t even know what I did before Mack. Partied a lot. Drank a lot. It wasn’t great, not that I could admit that to myself at the time. No matter how much I hated the people I was hanging around, I kept going out with them.

I have a feeling if Mack and Maci get back together, they will move back to Oregon. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do when that happens. As much as I don’t think I’m as happy as I could be in California, I’ve never truly considered leaving. Since Maci started suggesting it frequently, it crosses my mind on occasion, but making such a big shift would be terrifying. It would change every aspect of my life I do enjoy–a good paying job I’m great at, a city I know my way around, a gym and restaurants I love, easy access to the beach. Plus, I’ve never even been to Oregon. Hell, I’ve never been outside of Southern California except for that one trip to Vegas.

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