Page 38 of Pucking Good Girl

For a second, neither of us moves. Our breaths come in quick, short bursts as the rain keeps falling around us with unprecedented violence.

CHAPTER 11

PUCKING GOOD GIRL

Becks

Idon’t care where we are, but we can’t stay here forever.

“I’ll put you down now, ok? Hold onto me, pretty girl.” I eventually say.

“I’m ok, Becks.”

Once Talia’s feet are back on solid ground, the rest of the world begins to come back into focus. “It’s a fucking hurricane out there.”

All we can see is rain and very little else. Even the dim eco-lights that dot this part of the old marina barely put a dent in the darkness of this stormy fall night.

Talia shivers again and I pull her against my side, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

“You’re so warm.” She squeezes herself closer to me.

“I’m the worst date ever,” I sigh. “I didn’t think it could get cooler and I didn’t bring a jacket. And I let us get caught in the rain half a mile away from my car.”

Talia turns to face me. “Are you always so hard on yourself? None of this is your fault. I didn’t bring a jacket or an umbrella either, and I grew up here. I should know that fall in Star Cove means warm days and often cooler nights. And my sisters mentioned that the forecast was for rain right before I left the house. I could have gone back to grab at least an umbrella, but I didn’t. I was too excited to see you and I didn’t care about anything else.”

I can’t help but smile. “Really? Were you excited to go out with me?”

“Duh,” she chuckles. “Just so you know, I’ve never had sex under a bridge on the first date. So that should tell you something.”

My smile widens. “This was a first for me too, just in case you were wondering.”

Another thunder falls so close that the noise is too loud for comfort. “I’m sorry, Becks,” Talia groans with another shudder. “This is all my fault. If I hadn’t been such an idiot about splitting the check, we would be home right now. In your bed, dry and warm rather than under this bridge.”

“Nah,” I brush my lips over hers. “I was more than happy to go on a walk with you. So this is on me, too.”

What I don’t say is that without that small disagreement about the check, I wouldn’t have taken her back home.

I would have stuck with my plan to kiss her goodnight and gone home alone.

Not just because I wanted to be a gentleman. But because Mack is home tonight and I wouldn’t have brought Talia there just in case he decided to crash our date.

“Do you think it’s going to stop raining soon?” I ask after another thunder lights up her pretty face. “We could wait it out here and then walk back to the car when it stops raining.”

“I have no idea. These storms can last for an hour or all night long.”

Shit. Talia isn’t complaining, but she’s getting colder with every passing second. “The way I see it, we have two choices. You can wait for me here while I run back to the restaurant and bring the car here. Or we can make a run for it together.”

Truth be told, I don’t like either option. I don’t want to leave Talia by herself at night in a storm, but I also don’t want her to get drenched if I can help it.

“I vote for going together.” She decides. “We’ll get wet, but it’s only water. At my three, we run.”

Forty-five minutes later, I put the car in park in front of the Zeta House.

It’s still raining cats and dogs, and even with the heating turned on in my car, Talia shivers every now and then.

We’re drenched to the bone. “Come on, pretty girl. Let me walk you to the door, so you can get out of those wet clothes.”

Her lips curl up in a flirty smile. “Can I get one kiss for the road first? I believe you promised me a goodnight kiss on my doorstep, but since it’s raining, I don’t want you to forget and run back to the car.