Page 47 of Calling a Cease-Fire

“You would what?”

“Be with you. If I knew there would be no consequences.”

I swallowed and turned back to the road. I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing the truth in her eyes.

“I know,” I whispered as the light turned green.

We were both quiet, the meaning behind our words lingering around us as I picked up speed.

The sound of raindrops pinging against the metal of the Jeep broke through the moment. Her head slowly swung toward me and her eyes narrowed.

A smile broke out on my face, which probably made her even more mad. “It’s like dancing in the rain, but instead, we’re driving. Romantic, huh?”

She continued to glare at me until slowly her lips morphed into a smile, and she shook her head with a chuckle. “It’s never boring with you, is it?”

“Apparently not.”

I caught a slight shiver tear through her and she rubbed her arms. It wasn’t cold out, but the sun had officially set, and with the rain picking up, it was starting to feel a bit chilly. She was wearing a short-sleeved, mostly white T-shirt, which, under different circumstances, might be fun to see soaking wet. Thankfully it wasn’t pouring yet, just a light drizzle.

She reached in the back seat and handed me my shirt back, then wrapped her arms around herself.

Nope, that definitely wouldn’t do.

I pulled the car to the shoulder, threw the shirt over my head, and climbed out. “I have a sweatshirt in the back you can use.” I returned a moment later, jumped back in my seat, and froze as I turned to her.

The damp white T-shirt came up and over her head, revealing a dark red bra that looked more like a tiny version of a sexy tank top. I stared at her gorgeous breasts like I was fourteen again, seeing boobies for the first time.

“Are you going to give me the sweatshirt, or continue to drool over my tits?”

I blinked and trailed my gaze up to her face, still not making any move to hand her the garment to cover herself. “I’m still thinking about it.” I was also thinking about all the million dirty things I wanted to do to her now.

“As much as I enjoy you staring at me like you want to bury your face between my breasts, I’m actually pretty cold.”

Welp, I was officially an asshole. I thrust the sweatshirt out to her and mumbled an apology before pulling the Jeep back into traffic.

“Don’t be sorry.” She pulled the sweatshirt over her head, then lifted the neck of it to her face. “This smells like you.”

I chuckled. “Huh. Super weird.” Even though I was teasing her, I couldn’t deny how much I enjoyed the fact that she recognized my scent. And, more than that, seemed to like it.

She rolled her eyes, sitting back against the seat with a smile and softly singing to Adele playing through the speakers. I could easily spend hours listening to her sing.

My mind whirled, replaying parts of the last couple of hours. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but it felt like her walls weren’t so impenetrable now.

Did I stand any chance of showing her we could be good together? Or would she always be guarded and waiting for the chance to walk away?

Chapter Eighteen

MIA

I let out a long sigh as I ended the call with my mother. I loved her, but man, she was exhausting sometimes. Still holding out hope the douchebag boyfriend who stole her car had a good explanation. I couldn’t roll my eyes any harder. I knew part of it was her need to see the best in everyone all the time. But, damn. Why couldn’t she see the innate shittiness too?

I shut down my computer and stood, gathering my stuff to leave for the day. My phone chimed letting me know a text had come in. I smiled as I looked down, seeing it was Zack. It had been four days since our little road trip, and we’d somehow fallen into a routine of constant texting.

Zack: *herding cats GIF*

I had no clue what he was trying to say. I glanced at the texts we’d sent before, still not seeing the connection. But was that really surprising? Half the time I had no idea what he was trying to say. But after the day I’d just had, I knew I really wanted to see him.

There were mumblings and rumors surfacing again. Suspicions that the arsonist might be back. As far as Dylan knew, neither the Taylor boy nor his godfather were back in town. But someone reported spotting a guy in a green hoodie lurking around Adam’s apartment again. Hopefully it was just a coincidence.