AllFreeNovel
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He steps into his house, slips on his sneakers, no socks. Grabbing a set of keys off the hook by his door, he asks, “You ready to go now?”
“Uh huh.”
He closes the door behind him. “Let’s go.”
The second I’m in his car, my nostrils are inundated with all things Connor, and my mind… my mind floods with all the memories of us sitting in his old car, every conversation, every moment of laughter, every touch of his hand on my leg.
Apple caught in his mouth, he brings his hand to the back of my seat as he looks behind him to reverse onto the road.
“When did you get it?” I ask.
He straightens the car, takes the apple out, and says, “Birthday present from Daddy. I know, I’m spoiled.”
My heart skips a beat, and I pout up at him. “It was your birthday?”
He glances over at me, his eyes zoned in on my lips. He licks his own before focusing on the road again. “A few days ago, yeah.”
“Sorry. I didn’t know.”
Connor shrugs. “How could you have?”
True. “Did you do anything for it?”
Another shrug.
“Well, it’s a nice truck.”
He leans against his door and murmurs, “Yeah, you’ve said that.” There’s no humor in his tone, and now that I think about it, he really didn’t seem all that happy to see me. And that realization creates a dull ache in my chest. “Did I interrupt something? Were you busy?”
He keeps his gaze forward. “Nope.”
“Because if you were, I could catch the—”
“I said no, Ava. It’s fine.”
“You just seem like… like you’re mad at me?”
The heaviness of his sigh has me wanting out. Out of this car and out of this entire situation. This was clearly a mistake, and I don’t even know why. He stops at a red, and I’m so tempted to open the door and run. Anywhere but here.
I swallow the knot in my throat and force myself to try again. “Are you ready for school?”
His gaze flicks to mine, his jaw ticking. Then he reaches over, turns on the radio. And my heartache becomes too strong. “Actually, I forgot my wallet,” I tell him, looking out my window. I struggle to speak through the giant lump in my throat. “Can you just take me back home?” He waits for the green and takes off again, but he doesn’t turn around. “Or just drop me off wherever. I can walk.”
“I can afford what you need, Ava.”
But I don’t need anything besides him, and he’s clearly not willing to give me that. “Honestly, it’s fine.”
“We’re almost there.”
“We can just—”
He turns the volume up, shutting me out completely.
I turn my back to him, wipe at my eyes before the first tear falls. I don’t want him to see them. To claim them.
We get to the store, and I grab what I faked coming here for: bread, milk, fruit. He walks with me, but we don’t speak, don’t look at each other. At the checkout, he grabs a bunch of flowers before paying for everything. I don’t ask who the flowers are for because any answer would just ruin me more. “I’ll pay you back,” I tell him, and he shakes his head, looking everywhere but at me.
When we get to his truck, I sit with my back turned to him, my face practically pressed against the window. We don’t say a word to each other until we’re sitting in his driveway, and the engine’s off, and we’re surrounded by silence. He asks, “Hey, do you remember that day at the lake?”
