by Clark, Bekah
For a long time they just stared at one another. Nothing else mattered except learning about this strange girl. She was beautiful. No, more than that she was completely hot. But, that wasn’t what was so attractive about her. There was fire in her eyes, which she tried to hide behind a cold exterior. He wanted that fire. He wanted to see her light up like the sun in the morning sky.
“Forty-two.”
He gently traced a finger over her brow.
“Forty-two! Hey Forty-two!”
Suddenly, he started. She looked away and the spell was broken. “I guess I’d better go get our pizza. I’ll be right back.”
When he came back, he could see the barrier was up again. He was disappointed, but such a thing was to be expected. She worked hard to keep people out and he had gotten his foot in the door. Everything in him wanted to try to break the door down. Instead, he smiled and sat across from her. She dove into the pizza and ate as if she hadn’t eaten in a while.
Smiling, he started in as well and they ate in silence. It didn’t feel awkward, however. It felt natural. As if they had eaten alone together a thousand times before. When her eyes met his, she stilled for a moment. Then she smiled and grabbed another slice of pizza.
“When do I find out where we are going?”
“When we get there, Miss Nosy.”
Grinning, she grabbed the last slice of pizza and devoured it. Her eyes were on him and there was a gleam of amusement in them. Damn, he just liked her. Even when she was acting like a smartass know it all in class. He found her lack of caring about what people thought about her hot too.
He paid their bill as they headed out of the pizza place. Once in the car, he headed on to their final destination for the day. He managed to keep it a secret. That is, he kept it a secret until she saw a sign.
“New Hampshire Motor Speedway?”
Kyle grinned, “Sorry it isn’t NASCAR today. It’s all vintage car…”
She screamed before he could even finish the word cars. Grinning from ear to ear, she leaned over and hugged him as he drove. He knew she liked fast cars. He had a feeling she liked racing in general by the way she had pulled out of the driveway. Kyle glowed in his success.
“This is almost as good! I love vintage car racing just as much! Thank you! This is going to be so much fun!”
They parked and even though she was in heels, Lyssa practically ran towards the speedway. Her excitement was contagious and the event that he thought would be sort of fun became extremely exciting. They got to their seats and she stood, looking through a pair of binoculars he brought. She grinned and commented on each car she saw, made a choice and sat down. Her legs were bouncing and she was beaming in delight.
When the cars started, she jumped up and let out a loud scream, calling out for some car or another. He honestly wasn’t paying attention to much beyond how much she had lit up in front of him. It was a new side of her. Once the cars were off, she was bouncing in place until they were far from view and then she sat down. Looking over to him, she took his hand and squeezed it as she grinned.
“How did you know?”
“The first day I saw you, the way you pulled out of the parking lot. It wasn’t the last time you sped somewhere and you seem… I don’t know. You just seemed like the type of person who wanted to race. Every day after school, you speed out. But you handle the car well.”
Lyssa blushed and turned her gaze back to the track, “I’m not that great. I just really like speeding.”
There was a gleam in her eyes as she looked at the track. Shaking his head he replied, “Yeah right, you totally want to be a racer!”
Blushing, she turned away, but her hand stayed in his. The two were quiet again as she sat there embarrassed. But, her continuing to hold his hand was progress. Of course, as soon as the cars closed in again, she was up on her feet and screaming and acting like a kid at a carnival. And that is how the afternoon went.
“Hey, do you want anything?”
“Soda and popcorn please?” She grinned up at him so cutely.
“What about vanilla ice cream?”
“If they have that, then yes!”
Laughing he headed out and got the required ice cream, popcorn and soda. They had soft serve so he got it chocolate dipped. He was sure she’d like the hard chocolate shell. When he returned, he just stopped and watched her. She was sitting there, eyes closed. Suddenly, she smiled and opened her eyes, rose and let out a yell as the cars rode by. Some of the other people in the area were obviously laughing at her, but either she didn’t notice or didn’t care. She was screaming her heart out and enjoying every moment of it.
When she sat, he finished making his way to her and handed her the ice cream, which she started to devour. Looking at him, she tilted her head, “What, no pistachio?”
Laughing, he leaned over and took a bite of her ice cream. Her eyes went wide, “Hey! Thief!” After she laughed, she said, “I love chocolate dipped.”
He grinned, “I kind of figured you would.”
She giggled and started eating her ice cream again. Over the next hour, she ate the ice cream, popcorn and drank all the soda. He would say he had no idea where she put it all away, except the amount of energy she threw into screaming and bouncing had to have eaten up most of that. When the racing for the day was done, she looked heartbroken. He laughed and put an arm around her, which she accepted. More progress.
“Hey, I’ll try to get us tickets to NASCAR next time.”
She yawned and leaned into his side, unguarded in her tired state. He didn’t press, afraid to scare her off and lose this moment with her. They made their way slowly to the car.
“That would be expensive. I’m sure this date was costly enough. If we go to NASCAR we go Dutch.”
With a grin, Kyle asked, “So there will be a next time?”
“Don’t be a jerk. You get a date number two. I could revoke dating privileges at any time. So don’t get too cocky.”
“Too cocky, huh?” Kyle said slyly.
Lyssa rolled her eyes and blushed at the same time. Laughing, he opened up her car door and stared down at her for a moment. Their gazes locked and he knew he could kiss her. She’d let him. But, it wasn’t time yet. He wanted her to do more than just let him kiss her. He wanted her to crave his kiss. He wanted their first kiss to be so explosive she’d want to continue dating him for a long time. He caressed her cheek a moment and then leaned back.
“We should get going. It’s late and we don’t want your family thinking I kidnapped you.”
Her gaze widened in surprise and she looked away. Maybe a little hurt. That wasn’t what he wanted either. She got in the car and held onto her bag with the tee shirt he bought her. When he got in, she was silent.
Softly he asked, “Next Saturday, can I have date number two?”
“You still want to do that?” She asked, looking away from him out the window.
“More than ever.”
She turned to him quickly and studied his face. The hurt erased and she smiled, “Sure. What time?”
Chapter 7
As Lyssa stumbled down the stairs on Sunday for her morning cup of coffee, she had a little smile on her face. He didn’t kiss her, but he wanted a second date. Part of her screamed that getting involved with a human boy was a bad idea. She was currently ignoring that part. Last night when she had gotten home, Lexx and Lyssa had talked about the date the whole night. Lexa’s opinion was that it was good that Kyle hadn’t kissed her. He was waiting for a more appropriate time. Lyssa was worried that she wasn’t kiss worthy. It was a strange thing for her. She wasn’t arrogant about her looks but she knew she was attractive. Now, she was worried she wasn’t attractive enough for Kyle to kiss her.
However, there had been so many times that he seemed really into her. The way he’d touch her hair or how he had stared into her eyes. All of those things had made her think he had wanted her. But, he hadn’t kissed her! Lyssa sighed.
As she poured her coffee, s
he was grateful that every time she had looked ahead for Lexa, there had been no trouble. Even when he had gone for popcorn, she had taken a good long look and there had been nothing. Lyssa had been nervous when they went so far away from home. She had been tempted to look ahead on their date before they left. Now she was glad she hadn’t. It would have ruined Kyle’s well thought-out surprise.
Lyssa frowned and shook the carton of cream. Was it empty? “Lexa?”
She was answered with silence. With a huff, Lyssa called out even louder, “Lexa!”
With her eyes down cast and a sheepish smile, Lexa walked in from the front porch, “Yes?”
“Are we out of cream? We just went to the store a few days ago!”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just had been so excited the girls were coming over I didn’t even think about the fact that we needed cream.”
Lyssa did most of the cleaning, but Lexa was in charge of the kitchen. And that meant making sure the two of them picked up any needed foodstuffs. Lyssa hated cooking and Lexa loved it so that was her responsibility. Other than the occasional times Lyssa made pancakes. For a moment, Lyssa stared, hands on her hips and then she sighed. Grabbing her keys, she headed for the door.
“You’re not going like that are you?”
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing? I’ve seen human girls out in just this outfit.”
“Not with the berries!”
Rolling her eyes, Lyssa headed out calling, “I’m just going to the convenience store at the gas station.”
Deciding to fill her tank while she was at it, Lyssa parked at the fuel station closest to the store and hopped out. Her bone straight hair was in a messy ponytail but she didn’t care. She sung to herself and swayed her hips a bit while she filled her tank with premium and reveled in the somewhat cool morning. It wasn’t too cool or she would have been freezing in the clothing she had on. Well, if she had been human she would have and that would have made her standout.
Making sure her gas tank cap was on tight, she jogged over to the store to get some cream. She was smiling for no reason. Her mood was the best it had been in four years. Or more. However, what she should have been was cautious. She should have listened to Lexa.
“That is some outfit.”
At the sound of the eerily familiar voice, Lyssa could feel her skin go several shades of red. Why hadn’t she gotten real clothes on? Instead, she was mortified. Lyssa always slept in a sports bra, panties and that was it. In the morning, before she’d join Lexa, she’d put on some sort of pajamas. Today, she had simply put on a pale pink tank top that was super tight. That was only a little embarrassing. What was worse was the flannels she’d chosen for the morning. They were baby blue with strawberries, blueberries and raspberries all of them with leaves and vines. And her hair. Her hair was in a sloppy ponytail. She hadn’t even brushed it yet.
“You going to turn around?”
Lyssa had washed her face before bed, so it was bare of all makeup. But that wasn’t what bothered her. It was that she’d not washed it yet for the day. Why of all people did she have to run into him looking like this?
“So, um, this is where you work?”
Grinning down at her were chocolate eyes, the flecks of gold in them seemed to sparkle with amusement. Kyle slowly ran his gaze from top to bottom of her. Now her skin was in blush overdrive. Could she literally die of embarrassment?
“This is where I work. You dressed up for a hot date?”
Lyssa looked away, unsure how to even handle being teased, “We’re out of cream.”
“And fuel, huh?”
She blinked up at him as realization hit her, “You… you were watching me out there?”
With a sexy rich laugh, he leaned onto the counter, “Oh yes. You were so cute, bouncing around out there, singing to yourself. What song was that by the way?”
She looked away, “Cherry Bomb.”
Kyle laughed and Lyssa walked a little closer, “Hey. Don’t laugh! It’s a great song.”
“It is. It’s just that everything with you is old. Old books, old movies, old TV shows. And now old music. The only thing not old about you is the car.”
“So sue me.”
“No. I like that about you.”
Lyssa raised her eyes to his and smiled. He was staring down at her as if she was the sunset. And he seemed to really like the sunset. For a long moment, they just stared at one another. Then the bell rang as someone else entered the little store and she hurried off to find some cream.
Once the older man finished paying cash for his gas and walked out, she made her way over the counter with the cream. She couldn’t help it, when she saw a chocolate bar she grabbed that too. Her eyes kept roving the store, she was too nervous to even look at him while he rang her up.
“You know, I don’t know which I like more. That tank top that looks like it belongs on your sister and not you or the flannels which are cute as hell.”
She turned her gray-blue gaze up at him, “Don’t tease.”
“Why not? You’re easy to tease. You don’t know how to handle it and I find it cute. And fun. Let’s not forget about fun.”
“Ha. Ha,” she said in monotone. However, her cheeks were burning and she couldn’t hide that she was mortified at him seeing her like this. He searched her face and suddenly she felt like ice cream. His ice cream. Which really made her blush. What the hell was wrong with her? And why was she suddenly thinking such pervy things?
Shaking her head, she left the counter, “Um. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“I’ll be waiting. Maybe you should wear that top to school.”
“Oh yeah, coz I really need a trip to the principal’s office.”
His rich laugh followed her out the door. It took everything not to run to her car. Instead, she made her way slowly to it. She slid into the driver’s seat deliberately and drove off slowly. Once she was on the road, she returned to her usual speed. But the blush didn’t leave her.
Parking out in front of her house, she jumped out of the car and headed up the front steps. She didn’t get very far when Lexa asked, “What happened?”
“Kyle works at that gas station convenience store.”
Lexa’s laugh followed her into the house.
The back room had been converted into a training area. The room was large, with two picture windows that looked into the backyard. They didn’t worry about neighbors looking in because of the trees, which surrounded their property line. Lyssa would often force Lexa to train with her some. That was always an argument. But not today. Today, Lyssa and her punching bag were bosom buddies.
Windows open, music on and Lyssa still in her pajamas as she danced around the bag and struck at random intervals. Today Lyssa was working on not being rhythmic, not being predictable. She struck the bag with random hits and it rocked under each one. Lexa was in the corner of the room, trying to do her homework that was due tomorrow. Every so often, Lexa would ask a question and Lyssa would counter with a question to help her look at the problem another way. This way was much better than tutoring Lexa. Lyssa knew that her sister was smart, but Lexa didn’t seem to realize Lyssa knew this. It didn’t help that sometimes Lexa just seemed to want Lyssa to do the work for her. Which was why this little routine was the best way to help her. Lyssa was far too busy focusing on practice than whether or not Lexa got the questions right.
This went on for an hour and then Lyssa stopped and started to stretch. Lexa turned off the radio and watched her sister. Though she didn’t want to push, Lyssa felt Lexa needed to work out more and practice. What if Lyssa wasn’t there to protect her? Nevertheless, she had to be careful how she broached the subject. If she did it wrong, they’d end up in a fight like the one they had last week.
Lyssa devoted two early morning hours to working out in the morning and an hour and a half before bed each night during the week. On the weekends, she’d vary depending on her schedule or desires. On the other hand, Lexa would practice three times a we
ek maybe. She’d always complain how she wasn’t as strong as Lyssa. But Lyssa knew there were things she could do to defend herself.
“You should get some practice in.”
“I did.” Lexa replied, looking out the window.
“When?”
“Yesterday while you were gone.”
Lyssa rolled her eyes, but what could she say? If she said anything, they’d end up in a fight and that was the last thing she wanted. Instead, she left the room and headed upstairs for a shower. While in the shower, she thought she heard the doorbell ring, but Lexa never called up. Nor did Lyssa sense any danger. So instead, she took her time drying her hair and getting ready. She had promised Lexx earlier in the day she’d take her to a movie. She just knew she was going to hate it.
