Page 36 of Lightning Angel
Tristan had saved her from all of that.
She turned her gaze on him from blankly staring out the windshield. He turned to her. Their gazes locked, and Alexa’s heart took on a new rhythm of beat.
Keeping one eye on the road, Tristan spoke. “There’s a carnival going on in Cedar Hollow; you may have heard of it. Today’s the third day, and they’re closing tomorrow. Would you like to go?”
Alexa stared at him, opening and closing her mouth several times in her attempt to speak and failing.
When she took time to respond, he said, “It’s alright if you don’t want to. I know I’m a stranger to you, but I thought a bright atmosphere will be a good distraction—to keep your mind off things you don’t want to think of, I mean.”
If she wasn’t wrong, there was an almost-hopeful glint in his electric blue eyes. She wanted to sayyesto him, it sounded like a good idea, but she was hesitant. Would he read more into it if she agreed to go? Like, count it as a date?
Alexa was in no mood for a date right now, even if it was with Tristan, the mysterious and enchanting boy she had been looking forward to seeing only a few hours ago.
“Don’t you think the first question you should beasking is if I have a boyfriend?” she asked with a small smile, just a twitch of her lips.
His answering smile was an amused one, though small. “Well, Alexa, do you have a boyfriend?”
Her lips trembled from the effort to hold the smile from growing. “No.”
“I knew so,” he said, and turned his attention back to the road. “Because if you had one, one who held your heart, you wouldn’t have been at the bridge in the first place.”
“I see, you’re a romantic.” Alexa turned to the windshield again.
“Are you not?” His eyes turned on her for a brief moment.
Alexa clasped her hands tightly on her lap. “I’m not exactly sure anymore.”
Her parents had failed to set an example of true love before her, but just because her parents fell apart from a so-called love marriage, she knew it didn’t mean true love didn’t exist. Alexa had seen it in several families, Daphne’s parents being one of them. She had Cassie and Brandon in her own life. But with the revelation of Brandon’s deception, her belief in true love had begun to waver.
True lovedidexist, simply not in her life. Now, the wordlovealone scared Alexa.
The only true love she now knew and believed in was her sister’s love for her.
“You haven’t answered my other question yet.” Tristan’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Would you like to—”
“If you promise this isn’t a date, yes.”
Tristan held her gaze, firm but assuring at the sametime. “This isn’t a date.”
“Thank you,” Alexa said and looked away. Then she remembered the question she had been itching to ask him. “Um… how do you know my name?”
Tristan didn’t take his eyes off the road as he answered, “It’s not hard to learn your name, now is it? You’re the sweetheart singer of your church.”
Not the answer she wanted, but it was evident he wasn’t willing to give her a straightforward answer. She didn’t press him; she had her own secrets she didn’t plan on sharing with him.
“I looked for you at church today, but you weren’t there.” Alexa kept her eyes forward, the tension between them slowly starting to ease. “I even thought I scared you away.”
“And why would I be scared away by you?” he asked, with a light chuckle. “I was a little busy, that’s why I wasn’t there.”
“Such a reasonable excuse for missing out on a Sunday service,” Alexa said, injecting a bit of sarcasm into her words.
“The point is, I’m not a church person. I told you last Sunday, I was lured by a siren’s song, a siren that happened to be you.”
“Then I hope you’re no longer under my influence.” Alexa cast a glance at him and saw the small smile dancing on his lips. “I’d hate it if you weren’t here of your freewill.”
Tristan met her gaze. The headlights of the passing vehicles cast light and shadow on his chiseled face, the contours of his high cheekbones looking sharply defined. “I assure you, I’m here of my free will, and your influenceon me is anything but negative.”
“So much for your claim of no experience with flirting.”