“What did you call me?”
I propped my elbow on the open window frame and pointed to her with a grin. “Stars and Stripes, like your shirt.”
I thought she might crack a smile, but she didn’t. Instead, she continued staring at me with a slightly confused expression. Maybe she hit her head when she fell, though I hadn’t noticed.
“Do you remember me from earlier? The devastatingly handsome guy who helped you pick up your books? I notice you have a backpack now which could have helped you earlier,” I winked.
The book she was holding closed with a soft thud. “Yes, I remember you. Thank you. But what are you doing?”
There was the million-dollar question. WhatwasI doing?
“Apparently I live next door to you, so I guess it’s your lucky day,” I replied before I could think any more into this. I mean, it was just a ride.
“Oh yeah?” she popped her hip slightly and her head tilted. “How so?”
“Hop in. I’m giving you a ride.”
“Why?”
“Told you, it’s your lucky day,” I grinned again, while also wondering why she wasn’t already in the passenger seat next to me. “It’s a service I offer to new girls. I’m Jupiter.”
Her green eyes narrowed. “I know who you are, everyone knows who you are. And I’m not new.”
Huh. My brow creased slightly, then a lot when she began walking again. I eased a little on the gas and moved forward next to her, unsure about what was happening.
“Okay, but you do live next door to me so I’m still saving you from a walk. And given how hard you fell this morning, your knees have got to be bruised.”
She stopped again, and this time her face told me I was getting somewhere. She really was cute. Her thick, dark brown hair was now tied up in a messy bun, but there were enough loose strands falling around her face that made it clear she didn’t really care what it looked like. I could imagine her sitting in the library, her head down as she studied, fingers mindlessly running through it.
And yes, I’ve been in the library… to make out.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
I wasn’t about to say I’d been wondering what it would feel like to run my own fingers through her hair… whether it was as soft as it looked; whether her lips were as soft as they looked.
Whether I was right about her tits being a perfect handful for me.
I cleared my throat. “I’m waiting for you to get in.”
“And if I don’t?”
“Then I guess we’re going to cause traffic, because I’ll be rolling alongside you as you walk.” I smirked. “Do you really want to cause a traffic jam, Stars and Stripes?”
She pursed her lips at me. “My name is Marnie.”
I snapped my fingers. Yes! Marnie! That was it! “Well,Marnie,you don’t want to cause traffic to back up, do you?”
She sighed in defeat and crossed in front of the car. I leaned over to push the door open and waited for her to get in. The scent of sherbet I’d smelled earlier filled the air when she hopped up, dropped her backpack at her feet, then pulled the door shut.
I put the car into drive and turned to her as she clicked her seatbelt into place. “Ready?”
“Yes. Ready.”
“So, what are you reading?” I asked after thirty seconds of silence, because it was clear that Marnie wasn’t the chatty Cathy – as my mom liked to say – that my earlier passengers had been.
She smoothed her hands over the book resting in her lap. “The Fundamentals of Astrodynamics,” she replied.
I blinked. It was starting to become apparent that I was way out of my depth with this girl, and I couldn’t ever imagine her having a fight with someone about stealing a boyfriend or whatever – or trying to steal one.
