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I wrap my arms around her and she comfortably fits against me.
“Excuse us, we are going to wail at the moon.”
“Wow, Alaska, I didn’t know you could make a man do that without causing pain.” Rush makes the joke, and I wink over at her.
“I don’t know I haven’t made him howl yet. Maybe you will have to give me some pointers, Rush.” Aly fits right in with me; it doesn’t matter what anyone else suggests.
“See you guys in the morning.” I bring Aly to the passenger side, open her door, turn on the heat and seat warmer.
She sits there watching me as with curious, suspicious eyes.
“What?” Adjusting her seatbelt around her waist, making sure it is secure. I grab my hoodie from the backseat and pull it over her head.
“You like taking care of me, don’t you?” Aly twists the remaining water out of her hair before putting it into a bun on top of her head.
I don’t say anything as I close her door and head to my side.
“When are you going to tell them we aren’t hooking up?” Aly smirks at her comment.
“Why would I do that? It gives me street cred.” I squeeze her leg until she squirms.
“And you need more of that?” Pushing away my hand, so I put the truck in drive and we move.
“Anything to help my confidence, baby.” The energy is different between us, and I want our world to revolve in the carefree love growing between us.
Love?Shit, I shake my head.
“And we had to drive to Phoenix to do so?” Aly doesn’t know the lengths I would go to get one more of her smiles; it is a debt I can never repay. But somehow I pray things will be okay if one day she finds out and could possibly understands.
Aly and I have been in a comfortable rhythm of flirting and her not destroying my ego on a daily basis. It’s every other day, currently.
It’s been two weeks since our boating excursion. She wasn’t in class this morning and I don’t think much of it until I am driving down the road to get lunch and see her walking on the sidewalk.
The worst comes to mind and the primal instinct to protect her comes out. I pull over, shut off the truck, and jog over to her.
“Aly! Hey, Aly!” The heat is coming in waves, but right now, the afternoon is starting early.
“What do you want, Lad?” Aly grips her backpack but won’t look at me. Her back is to me, and I try to get in front of her, but she keeps facing the other way.
“Hey, what happened?” I stop and wait; patience is something I have become good at, especially when dealing with Alyeska. Can’t push her to do anything, you have to wait and give her a second to breathe before she comes to you.
“Do you want to grab lunch?” Her forehead is cast down. I look around at the cars passing by, but she still isn’t speaking. I bite the inside of my cheek and lean back on my heels, trying to figure out what to do next.
“I wore this shirt yesterday.” I see her chipped fingernails stretch the fabric away from her stomach.
“So?” I don’t grasp why it is a tragedy. But apparently, it is because Alyeska flips her head up and scowls at me.
“So, pretty boy, I missed my bus last night. I had to walk home and was too exhausted to shower. I crashed and slept through my alarm, missed my bus, and the next bus had a few unfriendly patrons. Then I decided to walk, but as you can tell, it isn’t going good either.”
“Well, I can give you a lift. I’m headed back to campus after lunch.” I reach for her, but she steps back. Her eyes are spinning with tears, a whirlpool of an emotion I haven’t been able to classify.
“Don’t touch me, Lad.” Alyeska shifts her view to a bench, goes to sit down, and puts her head down on her legs. I follow her, giving her enough space on the bench to feel comfortable, but I want her to know I am here. “Go away.”
“This is my favorite bench, has my face on it and everything.” It does, actually have my face, me shirtless promoting the swim team for our university.
“Fuck, you’re everywhere, can’t ever escape you.” But there is no fire in my fire breathing dragon and I want to know why. I need to know how to make it better.
“That is the plan, baby.” I lean back onto the bench and look up to the sky. The traffic is loud and I don’t mind being here if it means I can be with her.
