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I didn’t say anything to her, but she was crying in her sleep and even yelled for help a few times. She’s having nightmares. I ran my hand down her hair over and over whispering she was safe. Each time it calmed her enough to get her to stop.
I won’t push her to come up front, but I sure as hell won’t let her stay back there the entire ride. She has that fun, confident girl inside her, I just need to help her stay around. The relationship she had with Vinny, from what I gather was shit. I want her to be comfortable and do things at her own pace.
I’ll do the only thing I believe that will get her to relax...talk. I’m not normally a big talker, but I’ve realized she is. If I can get her talking, she’ll get comfortable again.
I tighten the steering wheel as I sigh. “Are you from Arizona?”
She looks at me through the rearview mirror and a very small smile plays at her full lips. “Yeah, born and raised.”
“Have you ever been to California?”
“No, I always wanted to visit, but never did,” she replies.
She’s not moving, and I tighten the wheel even harder. I fucking hate giving out details about myself. It gives people an advantage, but I know this will work. I grab the back of my neck with one hand and glance at her through the rearview mirror.
“I like coffee, have it every morning. I’m not a picky eater either. The only thing I won’t eat is sushi. I’m definitely a morning person, I like to get as much out of the day as possible. I like going to the gym, it’s therapeutic. You know what I do for a living, although not many people do. I like action movies, but I’ll watch pretty much anything. I’m not really an animal person, they take up a lot of time. I already told you I have a brother. I like going out and unwinding with friends, but I don’t mind being alone either.”
At this point, she is sitting up in the back seat with a huge smile on her face. It’s cute how she craves the connection. She looks out the windows before climbing over the console and plopping into the passenger seat. Once her seatbelt is on, she turns toward me.
“This is you letting me get to know you, huh?”
I glance at her quickly before focusing back on the road. “Yeah.”
She squeezes my arm, saying, "Thank you.” She squeezes a few more times and I raise my eyebrow looking at her. “Holy shit, you’re rock hard.”
I shake my head, fighting a grin. “Thanks.”
She leans back in her seat and kicks her feet up on the dashboard. “You could easily kill someone with your goddamn arms.”
“Leslie, two things.” She keeps her head against the seat but turns it toward me. “I don’t talk about work, ever. I won’t even joke about it. And get your feet off my damn dashboard.”
She laughs but drops her feet. “Sorry, big fella.”
“Big fella?”
She lifts her slender shoulders and looks out her window. “Sounded better in my head.”
For the next few hours, I allow her to pick the music and we drive in comfortable silence. I honestly can’t remember the last time I drove a long distance with someone. With what I do, I’m alone a lot of the time. Even though we aren’t talking, it’s sort of nice to have company.
“I like nicknames.”
I look at her and tilt my head. “What?”
“Earlier, when I called you big fella, it’s because I like nicknames. I think it makes you have a special connection with someone.” She pauses for a minute as she looks out the window before I feel her eyes on me again. “Not that I’m saying we have some special connection but doesn’t mean I won’t toss out a nickname.”
“So, what’s your nickname?” I ask.
“You don’t give yourself a nickname. Someone gives it to you,” she says, laughing.
I shake my head as I run my hand through my beard. “Okay, but no one’s ever given you a nickname?”
“Nope. Do you have any other nicknames besides Cash?”
“Cash isn’t a nickname, it’s my name,” I say.
“No, it’s not. Your name is Hayden. You go by Cash because it’s your last name, so that’s a nickname,” she argues.
I pull my sunglasses off, tossing them into the center console. “Whatever you say, fun size.”
