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“I don’t see any other cars, do you?”
Another crack of thunder reverberated in the sky, fat drops of rain falling.
“Shit,” she muttered, glancing at me and back to the sidewalk.
“Last chance,” I said.
“Fine… fine!” Peyton stormed over to the truck and yanked open the door, climbing inside.
“If I keep rescuing you like this, you’re going to get used to it.”
Her eyes slid to mine, narrowed with suspicion. “Did you just make a joke?”
“I wouldn’t call it a joke per se.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean. You seem… different.”
“Don’t read too much into it,” I grumbled, taking the turn for Rixon cemetery.
“Uh, the Ford’s live in the other direction.”
“I know.”
“Okay then. Guess we can add kidnapping to your list of flaws.” Peyton let out a resigned sigh, and I peeked over at her. She’d been crying if her swollen eyes were anything to go on. But she still took my breath away. She was so fucking beautiful.
“I have a list?” The playful edge to my voice surprised me. But she looked so sad, so broken… in that moment, I would do anything to make her smile.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said quietly.
Too fucking quietly, as if she had no fight left inside her, and I refused to believe that for a second.
“Go on, try me…”
“Well, you’re arrogant, for starters.” She finally looked at me. “And brooding and you’re grumpy, so freaking grumpy.”
“Say how you really feel.” I smirked, glancing at her.
“You say one thing but do another, and you give me all these mixed signals. It’s confusing.” Her voice turned small again. “You’re confusing.”
“I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough but it was all I had right now.
The air in the truck turned thick again, the silence almost too much to bear. But I didn’t know what to say to fix things, and she wasn’t wrong. I was all those things and more. Peyton saw me. She saw me in ways nobody ever had, and it scared the shit out of me.
“Where are we going anyway?”
“You’ll see,” I said, taking the turn for the cemetery. It was on the edge of town, bordering the dense woods leading down to the lake. I came here twice a year no matter what. Always had, always would.
But I’d never brought anyone here before.
“The cemetery… you brought me to the cemetery. Well, this isn’t creepy at all.” Peyton wiped her hand through the condensation on the window. The rain was pelting down, bouncing off the hood of my truck.
I pulled into the small dirt parking lot. There was a pavilion, so I grabbed my rain jacket from the back and climbed out, shielding myself with it while I ran around to open Peyton’s door.
“Have you lost your mind? It’s torrential—”
“Scared of a little rain?” My lips pressed together as I fought a smile.
Her eyes narrowed. “Who are you and what have you done to the Xander Chase I know and—” She stopped herself, swallowing whatever she’d been about to say.
