"Yeah," he said, studying my face. "To be honest, I already knew."
"You did?"
A nod.
"Then why not tell me? Why did you make me wait?" I asked.
"Just trying to level the playing field," he said.
"Which means...?"
"Waiting is my thing, Kent."
"What?"
Tolliver shook his head and spoke close to my ear, "You really don't know."
His breath caressed my sensitive skin, causing my eyes to drift shut.
"Let's go out," he said. "That's what I want."
"We are on Saturday," I said. "Sabrina's 16th, remember?"
"This would be real."
"Why?" I asked softly.
"Because it'll be fun," Tolliver said. "Because I want to make your summer a little brighter, and you feel bad for making fun of my huge head."
I bit back a laugh as he leaned away, far enough so I could meet his eyes.
Light blue stared straight into my soul.
"And because you want to," he said.
There was only one thing I could say.
Yeshad never fallen so easily from my lips.
Tolliver's smile could've lit up an entire city block.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"This isn't exactly what I meant," Tolliver said.
"What? You said I could choose where we go," I said.
"Currently questioning that decision."
As Tolliver glanced around, taking in the full shelves of snacks, the refrigerators filled with drinks lining the back wall, the hotdogs rotating in the corner next to the doughnuts, and, of course, the Slurpee machine, he shook his head.
"Kent, this is a gas station," he said as if I wasn't aware.
"That's where you're wrong," I said. "It's so much more than that."
Tolliver picked up a keychain, holding it between two fingers as if it might be radioactive. I didn't laugh, but it was a near thing.
"This is the best gas station in the world."
