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Her eyes narrowed suspiciously. “What kind of favor?”
“Can you, um…” I drew in a breath, worried she would deny me outright without even giving me a chance to plead my case. “Could you come with me sometime to my parents’ place and help me convince them I’m innocent. They kind of, um, didn’t believe me the first time I called.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Your own parents didn’t believe you? Why the hell would your parents not believe you?” Suddenly, she took a wary step back, the first time she’d ever seemed concerned about her own safety in my presence. Not that I blamed her. If a guy’s own parents could think he was a rapist, he was probably a pretty despicable guy.
I winced, biting back the urge to reassure her I was safe and that she had no reason to be afraid of me, maybe even confess my true motive. But that was more embarrassing than letting her think I was repugnant enough to lose my family’s faith.
I drew in a deep breath, kept my hands firmly in my front hoodie pockets and explained, “They have a good reason. It doesn’t have anything to do with me personally, and it’s complicated, so—”
Bailey waved me quiet. “You know what, just tell me about it on the way. Do you want to take my ride or yours?”
My mouth fell open as I gaped at her. “What?”
“You can tell me about all your family drama on the way to you
r parents’ place,” she enunciated more slowly.
The joy of her agreeing so readily to go with me was eclipsed by my confusion.
“Like what? You want to go right now? Right now, right now?” My heart picked up speed just thinking about seeing my mom and dad that quickly. Was I really ready to face them so soon?
Bailey merely shrugged as if it were no big deal. “Sure. Why not?”
I glanced around at the darkening evening. “It’s almost night.”
Bailey tipped her head to the side as if confused. “Do they not answer their door after sun sets?” Then she lowered her voice in a conspiratorial fashion. “They’re not, like, afraid of werewolves of vampires, are they?”
I shook my head, blinking over such a ridiculous notion. “Umm, no. Of course not. I mean, maybe they are of vacuum cleaner salesmen, but it’s just…they live over an hour away. It’d probably be over a three-hour trip. We might not make it back until after midnight tonight.”
Bailey shrugged. “So?”
I swallowed, growing nervous. What if Mom and Dad still turned me out after I showed up for a face-to-face with them? What would I—?
No, I wasn’t even going to entertain those kinds of thoughts. They’d let me back in. They had to. I was their son. They loved me and had always supported and protected me.
I focused on Bailey and panicked. “Don’t you have to get up early for classes?” I asked, almost praying she said yes and cancelled on me, or at least postponed until I felt more mentally prepared.
A shadow of emotion crossed her face—something filled with pain and heartache—before she coughed into her hand and said, “I was planning on skipping tomorrow. You?”
Me? What about me? When I realized she was asking about my class scheduled, I flushed, immediately uncomfortable. Ducking my head, I kicked at the ground and admitted, “I, uh, I’m not enrolled at Granton anymore. They’ve forbidden from even stepping foot on their campus.”
Her mouth dropped open. “Are you freaking kidding me?” she demanded. When I gave a brief, shame-filled shrug, she sniffed. “Well, that’s just bullshit.”
I looked up fully, surprised she was so affronted on my behalf.
I’m not gonna lie, it felt nice to know someone was on my side. I suddenly wanted to hug her. But then my mind immediately wondered how soft she’d feel in my arms. Her pillowy breasts would be nice mashed against my chest. And I bet her hair would smell sweet if I buried my nose into those funky, fun blonde curls. I straightened and scratched at the back of my neck, trying to dispel such thoughts from my brain.
With a grateful smile, I admitted, “I agree.” It was all total bullshit.
“Well…” Bailey nodded and blew out a breath. “I guess my questions remains. Who’s gonna drive?”
“I-I’ll drive,” I offered, even as I wondered how much gas I had in my tank and cash I had in my wallet. Renting that hotel room the night before had pretty much drained me, and I was positive I wouldn’t make it to Mom and Dad’s house with the amount of gas I currently had in my truck, much less back to Granton again.
But Bailey clasped her hands together and said, “All right then,” as if it were all decided, which I guess it was. “Let’s head out.”
So I pointed out the way and led her from the door I’d never even gotten to knock on. She followed me across the dark street to my truck. I had an older model truck, no electronic key fob, so I walked around to the passenger side first to unlock her door for her. Then, since I was already there, I opened it and held it for her while she climbed in.
She was a petite thing and my truck was lifted, but she had no qualms about gipping the doorframe and hauling herself up into the cab, making it inside on the first try. She seemed fine about getting into a truck alone with me too, which blew my mind. She was probably the only person on the face of the planet who knew without a doubt I wasn’t a rapist. She was the only person in the world who actually seemed to still trust me and have any kind of faith in me.
