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“I’m just surprised. Other than park curfew, you don’t seem like the rule-breaking type. Perfect house. Perfect parents. Perfect clothes,” he said, eying her. “Have you ever skipped school before?”
Her smile fell. “Well, no, but there’s a first time for everything. Right? And I think now is that time.”
Without waiting for his response, she took a sudden U-turn at the traffic light. The tires squealed, and several cars honked behind her; Kaden gripped the dashboard in front of him like they might crash at any moment.
Maybe she couldn’t share with him everything that had happened since GG died, but she could take him along for the ride as she went to dig up the safety deposit box key.
“Your driving skills leave little to be desired.”
Abby stuck her tongue out at him, feeling giddy with excitement for the first time in days.
“I’m guessing since you turned around already, I don’t get a say in this. Funny, I tell you how my dad is controlling and wants me to focus on school, and your response is to skip it altogether? Makes total sense.”
Abby’s stomach dropped. “Oh. Crap. That was dumb of me. Do you want to go back?”
Kaden scoffed. “Of course not. I was just messing with you.”
Abby gasped and punched him in the arm.
“Ow!” Kaden gripped his bicep. “I notice you have violent tendencies. Maybe we should talk about it.”
She said nothing, choosing instead to continue staring at the road ahead, lips pursed.
“Why would I want to go to school when I can spend more one-on-one time with the mysterious Abby Bridges.” He shifted in his s
eat, turned toward her, and placed the side of his head in his hand and stared.
Abby glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“That.” She waved a hand at him. “Staring like that.”
She squirmed under his gaze as he said nothing, his grin his only reply. His eyes stayed on her until she couldn’t take it anymore. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to pull over and kick you out of my car.”
“Where does all this aggression come from? First, you hit me with your car, then you pinch me, punch me in the arm, and now you’re talking about kicking.” He shook his head, but his gaze never left her as he continued. “And all I’m doing is observing.”
Abby’s eyes widened. “Observing?”
He nodded. “Trying to figure out what’s going on in that head of yours. You keep everything locked up so tight.”
Abby rolled her eyes, trying to play it off like his words had no effect. Like he was wrong when he was completely right.
She gripped the steering wheel tighter with her sweat-dampened palms and tried for a mirthless laugh, but it fell flat. “I hardly know you. Why should I share personal things with you?”
“I wouldn’t say you hardly know me. I mean, what do you know about me? I have a little sister...”
“Who’s every bit as frustrating as you,” Abby interjected.
“I prefer tenacious.” He turned back to the road—finally—then held his fingers out as he counted off his fingers. “You know I sneak odd jobs because I’m not allowed to have one. One is the trash at the park, and the other is delivering medicine to old folks. You know where I live, my age, my grade, and school.”
“That’s nothing.”
“You know my father is overprotective and that my mom died when I was young. You also know a bit more history behind that—why they got married and when. You know I don’t have many friends and can probably assume because of that I’ve never had a girlfriend. You know just by hearing me talk about these things that they frustrate the crap out of me, but I care about my dad too much to fight him on it. I have no cell phone, no internet. I’m somewhat of a loner, but I’m a master at calculus. And most importantly, you know how unnaturally good looking I am and how I drive you wild with desire in my presence. Am I right?”
“Unnatural is right,” she muttered.
“So, I’m an open book,” he said, ignoring her comment. “While you’re sealed up tight. You could ask me anything, and I’d answer.”
