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I nodded and sniffed, feeling some of the stress roll off my back. He was good at that. “I should get her home. The sooner the better. Then I can decide what to do.”
But as I took the keys out of my pocket, my hands were shaking so badly I nearly dropped them. Jayden’s steady hands cupped mine as he gently took the keys.
“You can’t drive like this. Let me take you guys home.”
“But what about your car?” I protested, looking up at him. He didn’t need to put himself out for us.
“I hitched a ride here with one of the guys tonight. And it’ll only take fifteen minutes to walk home from your place. I’m driving and that’s settled. Get in the van, Mandy.” His voice softened. “Please.”
My gaze met his and I realized that I didn’t stand a chance arguing against him. Not when I was this close to a total meltdown. So I walked around to the other side and hopped in the passenger seat.
On any other day, it would’ve been hilarious to see Rock Valley High’s varsity catcher climbing behind the wheel of a soccer-mom’s van, complete with the honor student bumper sticker on the back—if it hadn’t been for my little sister sitting plastered in the back seat.
He didn’t need directions to my place. He knew the way. I sat in grateful silence, leaning my head against the headrest as he drove us toward home.
“Mandy?” Charlotte’s high-pitched whine didn’t let me rest for long. “Does this mean I’m grounded?”
I clenched my fists in my lap, fighting so hard against the desire to ream her with a list of every selfish thing she’d ever done in her life, including tonight’s display. Still, I took a calming breath and maintained my composure.
“It means you need to find some better friends,” I said, turning to look at her. “Friends that don’t do shots and get drunk on school nights. And friends that don’t abandon their sick friend without caring what could happen to her.”
Charlotte crossed her arms and pouted, leaning back in her seat. The sight of her sitting like that instantly made me miss Audrey and Trina. I’d always known how lucky I was to have them, but I hadn’t realized exactly how much until I’d seen my sister so lonely and broken.
And as my gaze drifted over to the side of Jayden’s solemn face, I realized once again how lucky I was. He didn’t have to babysit Charlotte. He didn’t have to guard her from leaving and then call me. But he had. He was still surprising me.
I’d never realized guys like him existed in the world.
Or that, in two weeks, my heart could do a complete one-eighty on the guy I’d sworn to never fall for...
Chapter Sixteen
It was a good thing my parents both slept like rocks after their shifts, because getting my sister into the house without waking anyone up wasn’t an easy feat. Luckily, Jayden helped. We tucked Charlotte into my bed so I could keep an eye on her the whole night. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of leaving her again. The minute her head hit the pillow, it was like a switch went off. She was asleep and snoring so quickly that even I was impressed.
I walked Jayden back outside onto our front porch, desperate for a gulp of cool air to chase away the last of the adrenaline coursing through my veins. It felt like I’d aged a decade in less than an hour. How did people manage to raise teenagers without pulling out all of their hair?
“I really don’t know how to thank you enough,” I said, stuffing my hands into my hoodie pocket as I glanced over at Jayden. The sky was cloudy and the only light came from a streetlamp down the block. The rest of my quaint little suburban neighborhood was tucked up in bed and bathed in darkness. “You saved my bacon tonight.”
He smirked at me, the semi-light casting shadows across his face. “It was no problem. Really. I’m just glad I was in the right place at the right time.”
Leaning against the porch railing, I watched him take the steps down to the sidewalk. It felt so wrong, letting him leave like this. He’d been the hero of the day. He deserved a medal, a parade, or maybe even a town key. My thanks didn’t seem good enough. Not when Jayden had kept my little sister safe.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?” I asked suddenly.
He froze on the bottom step and turned toward me. “Sure.”
“Why weren’t you inside having a good time when Charlotte tried to leave?” My curiosity was getting the better of me. “There were probably a lot of baseball guys in there celebrating last night’s win. But you weren’t.”
His jaw hardened and he kept his gaze glued to the whitewashed boards of the porch floor. “I don’t drink, and honestly, the party tonight was kind of lame. I was ready to leave an hour before I ran into your sister.”
“It was a good thing you stuck around.” I rested my head against a pole. It was interesting to hear Jayden didn’t drink. I was sure there was a story there. “Can I ask, why don’t you like to drink?”
He exhaled loudly and shuffled his feet before looking up at me. “I don’t really like to talk about it much...”
Shoot—I’d gone too far. Just because we’d had some kind of heated moment today at the mall didn’t mean he owed me his life story. My cheeks heated and I put up my hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“No, it’s okay.” He took a step up and paused. “I don’t usually like talking about it with people. They can get all judgy. But you’re different. I can trust you.”
A warm sensation flooded my body and I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. It felt strangely nice to have Jayden say he trusted me. I wanted to be sure to keep that trust as best as I could.
