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He smiles and God, the sight is enough to make me quietly gasp. He was already handsome, but the smile transforms his face. Raising his cheekbones, making the green of his eyes come to life.
But he stays quiet, smile slowly falling away as his eyes drift back to the window. Words are bouncing around inside of me, wanting to come out, needing to be heard, but I stare at the rain alongside him. Until we’re interrupted by the rest of the people coming out of the gym and braving the rain to get to their cars.
I cringe as I watch them, hair quickly becoming wet messes, clothes sticking to their bodies before they make it to the safety of their cars. One person takes off his jacket and holds it over his head to dash through the rain. I don’t have that option. I wore a sweatshirt, but thanks to me running late, there’s nothing under it but my bra, and I don’t think anyone needs to see that. The stranger beside me begins bringing the zipper down on his hoodie and then removes it.
“I think we can both fit under it.” He offers.
I grin at him. “Thank you. Where’s your car?”
“All the way at the back. I thought having the extra walk would make me miss more of the group.”
“Smart. I’ll drive you to your car. Then we’re even.”
“Deal. Ready?”
I nod and step closer to him. He brings his hoodie over our heads, and I grab the other end as his smell consumes me. I shamelessly inhale in. Woodsy and fresh, I know that I’ll be remembering it for days. Much like the rest of him. His hand goes to the door, and I put my distracting thoughts aside to prepare to run.
As soon as the doors open, the rain comes in. The stranger takes off, and I hurry to keep up with his long strides. We dash across the street, and I hope he checked for cars because I damn sure didn’t, and then we’re in the parking lot. I point towards my black car, and we turn left to it. Might have been a good idea to get my keys out of my jeans pocket before we came outside. Because now, we’re standing here, rain soaking the bottom of my jeans and my shoes as I fish them out of my pocket. I press the unlock button and this handsome, tall, smelling good stranger opens my door for me in the pouring rain. Okay, he’s something else.
I get in and he closes my door before running around to the passenger side and all but falling into the seat. The car is full of our heaving breaths as the rain pounds against my windshield and windows. The bottom half of me is soaked, but my sweatshirt and hair are okay.
“Thank you.” I pant. “I might have drowned without you.”
He gives me a small smile. “I think you would’ve survived. But hey, I’ll play the savior.”
Something about his own words hurts him. I can see it in the way his smile quickly becomes a frown. The way his eyes dim before he closes them and takes a deep breath. I know that breath well. The breath of trying to push a memory away, trying not to let that memory drag you back to a place you don’t want, can’t afford, to be. I have to take that breath more than a few times a day.
And something about seeing his sadness makes me want to make him smile again. Wasn’t that always my problem? Wanting to make people smile when they didn’t want to? Now, I need to take my own breath as my sister’s face flashes through my mind. No, not right now.
“Do you wanna eat lunch?” I blurt out.
His eyes spring open, coming to meet mine. “Wh- what?”
“Lunch? Do you wanna grab some lunch with me? I mean, it’s either that or you just go home and have to run through the rain again to get to your front door.”
“Lunch,” he says the word like he’s testing it out. “Sure.”
“Good. Now I was always taught not to ride in the car with strangers, so I’m gonna need to know your name before we leave.”
That smile comes back, even if it’s smaller than before, barely a quirk of his lips. “Elijah.”
Elijah. Of course. Even his name is sexy.
“I’m Jolie. Now, let’s go eat.”
I pull away from the school, windshield wipers and headlights on, and a silent Elijah beside me. We’re just going a few miles for some food. But why does it feel like something so much more than that is happening right now?
