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“Staff car park?” I asked casually as I followed behind him like I was a dog on a leash, with no clue where we were headed to.
Turning his head over his shoulder, he told me. “Our cars are always parked up here.”
“Of course.Anythinggoes for the legacy kings,” I mocked, laughter clear as day rang in my tone.
Preston turned around, walking backwards with his arms open, chuckling at my response before stating in a serious tone. “You’re one of us, baby girl.”
He was insinuating my legacy status, but I felt like there was a double meaning in there. He spun back round to dismiss my response as I went to open my mouth in retaliation, but I forced the words back down. We didn’t need a heavy conversation right now; I was getting the vibe that he just wanted to hang out with me, and I couldn’t deny that, knowing I’d enjoy our time together.
We found ourselves in front of a bright blood red car which had clearly had body work added professionally and money lovingly devoted to its cause. I stroked the hood of the car gently, sensing eyes watching me, wondering what I was doing. I loved cars, and not just the expensive rich person’s car that my family could afford for me.
I loved the bad boy type of car, the tinted windows that hid your identity, leaving people guessing who would own such a beauty. I longed for my own. It was something I wanted to hash out now I’d returned. Being driven around contributed to the fact I hadn’t even got my driver’s licence yet, which was embarrassing for my age and made me feel like a fifty shades of Kardashian sister.
“Stunning,” I murmured.
Preston came to stand next to me, appreciating his car, staring at it like he was trying to see it for the first time again through my eyes. “Paid for this all by myself, worked my ass off to save for it. Worth every cent it took me to own,” he revealed, making my eyebrows rise in surprise instinctively before I could clamp down on the instant reaction. He came from money; he had access to his family’s wealth.
He answered the question plastered across my face which I’d decided to ignore and sweep under the rug. He grunted, “Nope.”
One harsh word.And now that he’d brought it up in that tone, I wanted to know.
Putting my hands in the air in mock innocence. “Not to sound like a nosey rich bitch who doesn’t value money, but… why didn’t you just use your family’s wealth? It’s not like there’s none there.”
It was common knowledge how much money his dad and family’s net worth was. Just like the rest of us legacies, money was a major topic and was bragged about, disgustingly so.
“Don’t give a fuck about them.”Alrighty then. I always got the feeling he distanced himself by choice from his dad and brother, and he just confirmed it.
“How come?” I ran my mouth before thinking, cursing myself mentally for asking.
Stepping back to look at me, he crossed his arms over his chest like he’s holding me at a distance. “Why did you run off two years ago?”
I darted my eyes away from the piercing gaze aimed at me, dragging my hand through my hair to distract myself before I blurted out the truth without thought, holding strong to my silence.
“Thought so,” he taunted darkly, shaking his head and knowing full well I wasn’t going to answer. Just like he wouldn’t answer my questions. Fair. Within seconds, his body seemed to lose its strained posture, the taut expression on his face smoothed out into a grin.I swear, he’s a mixture of many personalities.
He opened the passenger door for me, pushing me gently to get me moving and I snickered lightly. Throwing my bag to the floor and making sure the doors closed before belting up, I turned to Preston as I watched him sort himself out starting the car and swiping through music options. He hit The Weeknd playlist as the lyrics and beat of Blinding Lights streamed through the speakers loud enough that we could hear, but quiet enough to converse if we wanted. He pulled out, heading away from campus, singing along with the music freely.
I turned to the window, hiding the sad smile that’d overtaken my face. I needed a moment to get it under control.Lock it down, Milla.
Truth was, I’d missed him, and it hurt being this close to him. We were so close in distance I could reach out and touch, but mentally we were both standing on opposite sides of a bridge; both of us not wanting to cross to the other side or meet evenly in the middle. And I got it. We each had our own reasons to hold our cards close to us.
My heart pounded, and I swear it became loud enough to be heard over the music. Our hearts were monsters, that was why our ribs were cages to keep them locked in tightly.
* * *
An afternoon spent pushing responsibilities to the side, laughing together as we played stupid arcade games with loose coins was much needed. We’d ditched our lectures in favour of just being, and having fun, and living in the moment.
Preston seemingly needed it as much as me and it made me wonder what went on behind the scenes in his life for him to need this as badly as I did. We never spoke about anything deep, just catching up on surface level gossip we’d missed by not being in contact over the last few years.
We stood side by side competing on the basketball machines as the balls rolled out and the timer counted down. Preston’s score notched up way too quickly as I scrambled to even sink mine in. I stilled for a moment, not caring about the game as I watched his go in with incredible accuracy.
“How the hell do you do that?” I questioned.
“I’ve got good aim and precision,” he commented offhandedly. I stored that little titbit of information in my curious mind as I tried—and failed—to sink more balls.
Shortly after, we hogged the air hockey table, gathering a small group of pre-teens who laughed as my score crept up, sneaking past Preston’s defences and sinking the puck. I pushed the striker away as the game flashed over.
“Hell yeah!” I stuck my tongue out at Preston, leaving the striker on the table as we stepped away to allow someone else to have a turn.
