by Heller, JB
He chuckles. “Sounds about right.”
Oh my … I’ve never heard him laugh before. It sounds so good. But that’s when I notice a mottled yellow-brown bruise around his eye. “What’s with the bruise? Did the rocks object to being relocated?”
He grimaces then clears his throat. “Something like that.”
Okay, he doesn’t want to talk about the bruise. I change the subject. “Nice spot, huh?” I say, looking around at the moss-covered boulders and the crystal-clear water lapping at my ankles.
“Yeah, I take pictures here sometimes.”
I’m shocked he gave me that much of an answer. I open my mouth to respond, but he cuts me off.
“I, uh, I gotta go.”
My shoulders sag with disappointment. I’ve wanted to talk to him for ages. But he’s not exactly approachable.
“Oh, okay. It was nice to see you, Hux,” I say as he begins walking away from me.
He looks back at me over his shoulder. “Yeah, you too.”
Then, he disappears into the trees.
Thankfully, Dad had passed out by the time I got home last night, so I didn’t have to put up with his shit. Then, when I came out this morning, he’d already left. My father is a functioning alcoholic, so he goes to work every day—he just gets wasted every night when he gets home.
I’m still riding the high from seeing Eliza last night at the stream when I walk down the hall to my first class of the day. I catch a glimpse of her dropping the extra lunch bags beside Jason’s backpack as she walks by and smile to myself.
I’ve always known she wasn’t like the chicks she calls her friends. And I didn’t mean to treat her like one of them yesterday. She’d just startled me. I hadn’t expected to see anyone at the stream, let alone her.
Our eyes lock for the briefest of moments as I lean against the wall outside my class, waiting for the teacher to arrive, and she waves. I look around, thinking one of her crew must be close by, but none of her friends are here. I look back at her, and she’s grinning. At me.
I frown. Why is she smiling like that?
She doesn’t linger, though, and keeps on walking by as if she didn’t just bestow one of her smiles on me.
My lips quirk against my will.
Classes go by quickly today. I’ve already completed my assignments way ahead of time, so while the other students are working on theirs, I lean back in my seat, looking out the window.
Eliza is walking from one block of classes to another with Wayne on her heels. He’s talking to her, and she’s smiling politely at whatever he’s saying. I shift forward on my chair and lean my elbow on the desk as I watch their exchange.
Eventually, Eliza stops and turns to face him. He looks hopeful, but the look on her face tells me she’s about to shut down whatever he’s hoping for. And that makes me stupidly happy.
Later that afternoon, I’m walking home from work when a gunmetal-gray Land Rover Discovery pulls along the curb beside me. I glance at it from the corner of my eye and do a double take. The bombshell behind the wheel is none other than Eliza. She winds down the passenger-side window and grins.
I stop and face her fully.
She beams at me. “Hey, dirty boy, wanna ride?” she asks with a waggle of her brows.
I can’t hold in my snort of amusement. “Uh, I wouldn’t want to get you dirty.”
Her eyes light up. “I might like it.” Then, she winks.
My response gets lodged in my throat when her gaze fills with heat. What the fuck? “Have I missed something?” I eventually ask, and she frowns.
“No, why? What do you mean?”
I lick my lips. I don’t want to offend her again, but I don’t want there to be any miscommunication here either. “Why are you offering me a ride?”
She huffs out an annoyed breath. “Just get in, Hux. I was going to get some ice cream and saw you walking along the side of the road—which I’ve seen you do before but never had the lady balls to pull over and offer you a lift.” She shrugs. “But after yesterday, I figured, why not? It couldn’t possibly be that awkward again, right?”
Scratching my temple, I look down at my dirty clothes then the pristine cream leather interior of her car. “In all seriousness, I really don’t want to get you or your crazy-expensive car dirty.”
Eliza holds up a finger, instructing me to wait while she unfastens her seat belt and twists herself around to reach into the backseat. The move makes her sundress ride up her thighs so high I can nearly see her black underwear. I swallow and avert my gaze before she catches me staring.
“Here we go,” she chirps, throwing a beach towel over the front passenger seat for me.
Opening the door, I pause. “Where are your friends?”
“Don’t worry, I’m flying solo. Get in already,” she demands.
“Pushy,” I tease as I slide into the seat then drop my bag on the floor between my feet.
She laughs and pulls away from the curb. “So, what kind of ice cream do you like?”
“I’m not really an ice cream aficionado.”
Eliza slams on the brakes, and I jerk forward against the seatbelt and slam my palms against the dash. She gapes at me, her eyes full of alarm. “You don’t like ice cream? I don’t think we can be friends.”
I look behind us and thank God there are no other vehicles on the street at this very moment. “Are you crazy? What if there was a car behind you?”
She snorts. “I looked in my rearview first,” she says with a roll of her eyes then pins me with those incredible irises. “Now, back to the subject at hand, you don’t like ice cream?”
“I don’t know. Haven’t really had it much,” I lie. I don’t think I’ve ever had it. It’s a luxury I can’t afford, and God knows my dad has never bought me any.
Her soft palm lands on my thigh, and I jolt at her touch. She looks sad.
“What’s wrong?” I ask and wrack my brain for anything I could have said to upset her.
“You poor, deprived soul. If I knew things were this bad for you, I would have grown a pair of lady balls a long time ago and taken you under my wing.”
Now, I’m offended. “Excuse me?” I shift in my seat so my back is against the door, and I level her with a hard glare.
She doesn’t back down. “How have you survived this long without the smooth, creamy, cold goodness of ice cream being a prominent part of your life?”
I blink and tilt my head. “You feel sorry for me because I don’t eat ice cream?”
Her hand is still on my thigh, and she gives it a little squeeze. “Of course I do. What kind of heartless cow do you think I am?”
“You’re really strange, you know that?”
She shrugs, turns her focus back to the road, and returns her hand to the wheel. “Yeah, but don’t tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain.”
“Your secret’s safe with me. Who am I going to tell anyway?”
“I don’t know, your imaginary friend, maybe. They’re gossipy little bitches.”
“Who?” I ask because she’s completely lost me.
“Imaginary friends. You tell yours, then he’ll tell someone else’s, and next thing you know, it’s spread like wildfire.” She grins at me for a split second as she slows for a roundabout.
She’s nuts. And I think I like it.
When she pulls up in front of The Ice Cream Shack, she slips out of the car then turns, leveling me with an expectant look. I gesture to my filthy clothes. “I don’t think I should go inside. You go get yours, and I’ll wait out here.”
“Alright. I’ll be back in a sec,” she says. Then, she practically skips through the entrance.
I’ve never seen this side of her before. She’s always been a nice girl, but I never picked up on the crazy vibe until today. Well, maybe a little yesterday too. But in general, she comes across as an average seventeen-year-old.
I like this quirky side she’s showing me, though. It’s fucking weird, and I dig it.
A couple of minutes later, she
slides in behind the wheel, holding one small tub and a rectangular box the size of a box of chocolates.
“I couldn’t live knowing you didn’t know what your favorite flavor was, so I got you a sample pack. I picked all my favorites, so you’re sure to find your flavor in there,” she says, handing me the box.
I accept it but have no idea what to say. It was sweet of her, but totally unnecessary. “Uh, you didn’t have to.”
“Just say thank you, Hux,” she sighs.
“Thank you,” I say, and she rewards me with one of those amazing smiles.
She reverses out of the parking spot and pauses before turning back onto the road. “Where to?”
I give her directions back to my house, and we drive in mostly companionable silence for the few minutes it takes to get to my street.
“Okay, what number?” she asks as we get nearer.
I don’t want her to know where I live. She’d probably turn up unannounced one day, and I can’t let that happen. “You can just stop here, thanks,” I tell her.
She side-eyes me as she slows the car and pulls to the curb. “Okaaay,” she drawls. “Still working the Mr. Mysterious angle I see. But that’s cool. I’ll crack through that hard exterior of yours soon enough.”
I smirk. “Good luck with that,” I tell her, slipping from the passenger seat then closing the door and giving her a curt wave.
She lowers the window and shoots me a flirty wink. “I won’t need it. I mean, look at us, we’re practically best friends already.”
Arching a brow, I shake my head. “Sure we are, El.”
Despite my best efforts, I smile as I walk the half block home.
Chapter Three
As soon as I walk in the door, I put the ice cream Eliza bought me in the freezer and make a start on dinner. Dad’s in his room, and I don’t want to give him an excuse to berate me today. I’m loving this high that comes from hanging out with Eliza, and I’m not ready for it to end yet.
I pull out a couple of cheap steaks and some potatoes that I quickly chop up to chuck in the fryer while the steaks are cooking, then I cut some tomatoes, cucumber, and peppers to go on the side. It doesn’t take me long to throw it all together. As soon as I’m done, I plate it up and take mine to my room, knocking on Dad’s door on the way past to let him know his dinner is on the counter.
He grunts back his acknowledgement, and that’s the extent of our interaction for the day.
The next morning, I’m walking down the block, eating my breakfast banana, and see a familiar gunmetal-gray Land Rover at the end of my street.
As I approach, I can see a shadowy figure inside the tinted cab. It looks like she’s dancing. I tap on the driver’s side window, and she winds it down, a huge smile on her face.
“Good morning,” she chirps. She is still holding a hairbrush in her hand, and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” is playing loudly on the sound system. She blushes and turns the volume down. “Sorry, I have a habit of performing impromptu concerts in my car—sometimes in the shower, too.”
“I see.” Scratching my temple, I ask her, “What are you doing here?”
She raises her eyebrows and widens her eyes. “Picking you up. What’s it look like?”
“Yeah, I see that, but why?”
“Because you’re my new secret friend. And I have to know … which ice cream did you end up choosing as your favorite?”
Chewing on my bottom lip to keep my smile from showing, I finally answer her. “They were all pretty much the same—cold,” I say with a small shrug.
Her jaw drops, and her pretty pink lips form a perfect O. “You’re kidding me, right?”
I shake my head. “Nope. What can I say? I’m not a fan.”
She drops her head to the steering wheel and rocks it back and forth slowly. “Oh, Hux, what am I going to do with you?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I tell her, “Looks like we can’t be friends. Sorry, you’re a cool chick, El.”
Her head stops shaking, and she lifts it to stare at me. “I could bend the rules, just this once,” she says softly.
“Why would you want to do that?”
Her intense gaze makes me nervous. “Because I’ve been more myself in the last two days with you than I have been in the last seventeen years.”
I swallow past the lump that forms in my throat at her admission. I don’t like the idea of her feeling like she can’t be herself. “Why would you hide who you are?”
A sad smile pulls her lips to the side. “They wouldn’t understand. Not everyone can handle all this awesome.”
This is such a bad idea, but I walk around the hood of her car and get in the passenger seat anyway. “We’re going to be really early, you know that, right?” I start walking an hour before school so I can take my time and snap a few pictures if I feel like it.
“It’s okay. We can sit in the car and, I don’t know, talk? You know, like normal people getting to know each other,” she suggests.
I scratch my temple. Getting to know her is an even worse idea than accepting the ride. Fuck. I run my hand through my hair and shake my head at myself. Soo fucking stupid, Hux. I fasten my seatbelt then glance at her. “Fine. But I’ll bounce before people start showing. Don’t want to ruin my mysterious reputation.”
She rolls her eyes and pulls away from the curb.
When she parks at the back of the student lot, we kick back, talking about music and other random shit, until another car pulls in three spaces away. It’s a pimped-out black Escalade with super-tinted windows and a personalized gold number plate that says KING. I roll my eyes as the king of douchebags, Wayne, steps around the hood.
“And on that note, I’m out. Thanks for the ride,” I tell Eliza as I slide out of the passenger side and head into the trees surrounding the lot before Wayne notices me.
* * *
A whole week passes the same way, with Eliza showing up at the end of my street each morning to give me a ride to school. It’s weird, and I think about asking her why again, but after she told me she could be herself around me, I’m inclined to believe her.
She does act a little crazy when we’re together, but she’s always contained and the model student around school and her friends. I like her the way she is with me—carefree and filter-less. She’s actually really funny and kind of cool.
This morning is the beginning of a new week, and I think she might be over it, but she’s waiting at the end of the street when I exit my house.
I jog down to her and tap on her window. She’s singing into her hairbrush again. Winding down her window, she keeps singing along to—oh God, no. It’s Bieber. I close my eyes and shake my head.
Eliza bellows into her hairbrush while looking me in the eyes. “Love yourself!”
Walking around to my side of the car, I get in and buckle up. She’s grinning, and I can’t help but return it. It’s contagious. When she smiles at you, you have to smile back. It’s an involuntary reaction.
She pulls onto the road then says, “So, I was thinking we could go somewhere else and chill this morning, if you want?”
“Like where?”
A coy smile lifts her lips, and she says, “I know a place.”
I’m intrigued by her secrecy. “So, where is this place?”
“It’s a surprise,” she says then turns up the stereo and starts singing along with Selena Gomez about keeping her hands to herself.
I eye her suspiciously. “Are you taking me somewhere to take advantage of me? ’Cause I should tell you, I’m not that kind of guy.”
“Right, I’m sure you’re not,” she smarts.
“I’m not. I swear, I’m pure as snow,” I lie through my teeth, and she knows it.
“Yeah, pure as Jon Snow when he got back to Castle Black after rockin’ it with Ygritte and the Wildlings for a few months.”
I arch a brow. “You like Game of Thrones?”
She nods.
“I’m not gonna lie, El, the fact that you just used a GoT refe
rence in everyday conversation is pretty fucking hot.”
She shuffles back in her seat a little, pride pouring off her in waves. “I know, right? Can you imagine if I said that to Yazzie? She’d think I’d lost my damn mind.”
“She would,” I agree. From what I’ve seen, Eliza’s friends are airheads. I don’t doubt they’d watch a show like GoT if they thought it would score them ‘cool’ points. But I can guarantee they wouldn’t be able to follow along with it.
A couple of minutes later, Eliza pulls up at a little rest area on the outskirts of town. Not many people come here, just the occasional traveler passing through. It’s got a pond, a little bridge that goes over a small waterfall, and a walking path that winds around the pond with picnic benches tucked away here and there amongst the trees.
We get out of the car and start for the path, side by side. “You come here often?” I ask.
“Yeah, now and then. It’s peaceful. I do my homework here sometimes, just for a change of scenery. What about you?”
“I’ve come here a few times, but not often.” I’d like too, but it’s a bit far out of the way to come on foot.
We walk in companionable silence until we come across one of the benches, and somehow, we end up straddling the bench, facing each other. She tucks a strand of her hair behind her ear, looks up at me from under her lashes, and places her palms on my spread thighs.
She’s wearing another sundress today, and the way we’re sitting has made it creep right up her legs. I’m struggling not to shift my gaze down to her smooth, creamy skin, but looking at her face as she peers up at me like that isn’t any better. My dick starts taking notice as she glides her hands higher, and I curse under my breath, turning my eyes away from her.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, a knowing grin pulling her pink lips to the side in a half smile.
I narrow my eyes at her. “What are you doing?”
A look of complete innocence blankets her features. “Nothing. Why? What do you think I’m doing?”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I raise a brow at her. “You know exactly what you’re doing. What I should be asking is why?”
