Page 69 of Finding Fate
“Better not forget, fucker. I know where you live.”
With nothing but a chuckle, I switch over to her call. “Hey, where are you?”
“Look in the rearview mirror. Do you see me?”
I glance up, quickly picking out the blonde with a small body coming toward my truck in a pair of skintight black shorts, tennis shoes, and a tee shirt like she’s dressed for a night run. My heart suddenly beats like I took a hit of speed. “Yes. I see you.”
“Good, just wanted to be sure it was you.” Then she disconnects the call and speeds up her pace, opening the passenger door a few seconds later to hop in. The overhead light comes on as soon as she does, giving me a better view. I can barely breathe. Her bright blonde hair is hanging long and straight, framing her made-up face, and suddenly her scent is consuming the cab of my truck and waking up all of my senses.
She looks over at me as the door shuts with the same dark eyes that have lingered in my mind since the second I saw them, the brown so dark the two colors run together. With the cab light being on a timer, I have a few more seconds to stare at her before it returns to a dark space only lit up by the dash lights.
The few photos she’s sent over text don’t do her justice, even though I’ve saved every one. I’d forgotten exactly how beautiful she is in person. I’ve never seen anything like her. I want more of her and we haven’t known each other long. She smiles at me. “Miss me, did ya?”
I smile back instantly, unable to help it. There isn’t a shy bone in her body. It’s something I like about her. Usually when I talk to girls or flirt, they’re awkward and clam up with pink cheeks. You have to come up with every topic to have a conversation, and it always feels one-sided. Not her. She owns the room wherever she is. From the second I spoke to her I felt like I’d known her forever. “Maybe . . . Did you have trouble getting out?”
“Nope! Daddy-O is out of town this weekend. Some work thing. I just didn’t want our neighbors to see you pull in the driveway and ask him who it was.”
“And your mom?”
Her smile drops off her face, making my chest tighten. “Don’t have one anymore,” she says.
Shit.“I’m sorr—”
“Don’t be. If she didn’t wanna stick around I don’t want her here.” A smirk returns in place of the previous smile, relieving me. “Just means I have less to worry about and more fun to have. What do you want to do?”
Excitement courses through my blood. She’s finally here, with me, in my truck. A girl riding shotgun never fit so perfectly. She belongs there. My smile is back full force. “That depends. What time do I need to have you home?”
“Sunday before sunrise? The staff has been sent home for the weekend. My dad expects me to be at my best friend’s house, which is where I always stay when he’s away or I get bored. I just didn’t tell her I was for sure coming. Otherwise, just whenever you have to be home is fine. You can always drop me off on the way.”
I look around me to ensure no one is outside that I can see, and then put my truck into drive and start inching forward before turning my headlights back on. It’s hard to keep the smile off my face. Best idea I’ve ever had was asking her to sneak out. “My parents are at our camp on the Jourdan River this weekend. I have the house to myself until Sunday night.”
Within twenty minutes I pull into my driveway and kill the engine. It’s a neighborhood on the outskirts of town. One of those that have enough space and trees between each house that it seems more private than it is. And based off my physical address you’d think I’d attend the school in the next town over since they match, but it’s one of those school district things that puts me in the bigger school of the two.
I park in front of the freestanding garage that my parents let me convert into a place for our band and shut off my truck. They never used it for parking anyway. It quickly became a storage unit until my dad bought the camp and remodeled it. Then they went through it and either took half of it out there or got rid of it and then organized what was left. A lot of unused space remained after the boat and jet ski were gone. Since my brother is grown and out of the house, they let me have it. It gives us our own space to come together and hang out or practice. Landon’s grandparents were in the process of upgrading their kitchen and living room at the time and gave us their old refrigerator and couches. My dad and his dad had some spare plywood for us to build a stage. Riggan’s mom bought a newer laptop and gave him her old one. We’re in the process of soundproofing it with our extra money from working.
“You don’t live all that far from me,” she says, already hopping down out of my truck. I pull my keys out of the ignition and open the door to my old Ford F-150 that was handed down by Dad just as she rounds the truck.
I get out and lock the doors, grinning at her as we walk side by side down the sidewalk toward the front porch. “Small world.”
Our hands graze as we climb the steps and make our way to the front door. I wonder what she would do if I took hold of it, or what it would feel like. Instead of finding out, I unlock the door and open it for her to walk inside first. She looks around, and I’m not sure what she’s thinking since her house is double the size or more. Our house isn’t small, and it’s two story, but she basically lives in a mini mansion. “I like your house. It feels . . . homey. Mine is too . . . designer. It comes off as more of a showroom than a home.”
I walk over the threshold and shut the door. “Never heard a girl complain about that before.” It makes me like her even more.
She turns around with a grin on her face. “Didn’t anyone tell you?”
My brows draw in. “Tell me what?”
“Not all girls are the same.” She pokes her tongue out for effect, making my heart beat through my ears.
I walk closer to her until our fronts lightly touch, towering over her and looking down. “You’re definitely not like the girls I’m used to. You’re better.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and kisses me wildly, pulling an automatic groan out of me the second she slips her tongue in my mouth. I’m already hard. That didn’t take long. I pull away when she lowers her arms to go for my jeans. “We don’t have to do that, Gabby. I don’t want you to think that’s why I wanted to see you. It’s not.”
She steps back before I can close my arms around her waist, a mischievous smirk on her face. “Looks like I’m the one trying to undress you. If I was expecting a date I wouldn’t have snuck out in the middle of the night.” Then she removes her shirt, forcing my eyes down to her black bra. She has a smaller rack than Courtney, like it hasn’t been all that long since she started really filling out, but there is something about the missing overflow of cleavage I like. Innocence maybe. I don’t know. This is a foreign like for me. Since I hit puberty it’s been all tits and ass like most of the guys my age, which is essentially the same thing as the bigger the better. My eyes finally rise to meet hers. “If you want it, come and get it.”
Then she takes off running up the stairs, the sound of her footsteps hitting against the steps echoing as I watch her disappear onto the second floor. My lips curl when she runs into the right room—my room—as if she’s been here thousands of times.
Games.