Hitchhiker

by Stacy Borel

  “You like to ask a lot of questions.”

  I jerked my head back. “I believe I’ve only asked you four. I’d hardly call that a lot.”

  His dark brown eyes seared into me. “That’s one too many.”

  I tilted my head to the side. “Knowing a stranger’s name who is in my vehicle is kind of a necessity. Knowing where you’re going would seem to be the next natural progression of questions, seeing as how you didn’t tell me yesterday what your final destination was, either. And lastly, since you told me you’ve never been to Big Sky, I’m wondering what kind of business you could have there to keep you around.”

  One of his hands was resting on top of his arm and I saw it contract around the muscle. “I gave you my name. As far as the rest goes, it’s none of your business.”

  His tone was ruthless, leaving no room to push. Screw that, though. I’d find another way to asking him. I blew out a breath before starting in again. “Okay, well, I have a cell phone if you want to look up some places to stay while you are in town. Most will be fairly inexpensive this time of year since it’s not peak season.”

  All coldness washed away from him and he smirked. “I have a phone.”

  Drawing my eyebrows together, I said, “You do?”

  “Yes, of course, I do. What do you think I am, homeless?”

  Truth be told, I suppose I did. I couldn’t even fathom that a person would hitchhike out in the cold mountains just for the fun of it. Not unless they were crazy.

  Leaning forward, Dawson said dryly, “Pretty sure if I listen close enough, I could hear you thinking.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You have got to be the easiest person I’ve ever come across to read.”

  Offended, I slumped back in my seat. “You don’t even know me. So don’t assume you can read me.”

  “Well, you did, didn’t you?”

  “I did what?”

  “You thought I was homeless.”

  Before answering him, I attempted to read him right back. Nothing. His face was expressionless and stoic. He was giving me nothing! “Maybe.”

  He chuckled, and despite my frustration, it was a sweet sound to my ears. “Well, I’m not.”

  I watched him this time, without reservation, and with more inquisition. Who was this person? Why was he getting rides from total strangers? Didn’t he know that was dangerous? Clearly he would, although, the sheer size of him alone would probably deter anybody from trying anything funny. All of these questions swirled around in my head, and they were on the tip of my tongue. Fortunately for him, the elderly woman came back to our table just before I was about to let them come tumbling out. I had no clue how such a small woman could carry that tray. It was about as big as she was. Gently, she placed our bowls in front of us and refilled our drinks.

  “Careful, the bowls are hot. Y’all need anything else?”

  “No, thank you,” Dawson answered politely.

  She smiled and walked away.

  “Soooo . . .” I started saying between blowing breaths on my steaming soup.

  “No.” He opened his mouth and inserted his spoon. I watched with rapt attention as his lips closed over it and his Adam’s apple moved when he swallowed. “No more questions, Chandler.”

  It was the first time since I’d given him my name that he’d said it aloud. “You remembered.”

  He hit me with a pointed stare, but then looked back down at his food and continued to eat. The way he’d said my name caused me to shiver. Picking up my grilled cheese, I took a tentative bite and set it back down. Whatever appetite I had before was now gone. His elusiveness irritated me, as well as his reluctance to answer a simple question. Wiping my mouth, I set my napkin on the table and rested my hands back in my lap.

  He stopped with his sandwich near his mouth. “Why aren’t you eating?”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Reaching across the table, Dawson pushed my bowl a little closer to me. “Eat,” he demanded.

  “Excuse me?”

  His unreadable face now appeared exasperated. “We stopped because you wanted food, and you’ve barely taken a bite. Eat.”

  Okay, I didn’t care how attractive he was or what his excuse was for needing a ride; nobody told me what to do. Pushing the bowl back a couple of inches past its original spot, I raised my brow and said, “I’m good . . . thanks.”

  His brown eyes met mine head-on. There was so much expression in that one look. There was a battle of wills happening here, and I was bending without even realizing I was doing it. Hungry or not, my insides quivered and I wanted to do whatever he was telling me to. I mean, anything. If he asked me to lay across the table and moan, I would. I didn’t understand it, but right now, it didn’t matter. Scowling at him, I pulled the soup back toward me and started eating again. Never once in my life had I allowed someone I barely knew to dictate what I did. I didn’t even like it when Syd or Seth tried to tell me what to do. In fact, I normally did the total opposite. This time . . . I felt like I had no choice. Those eyes were daring me to defy him. I didn’t want to.

  We ate the rest of the meal in silence. When the woman brought the check, I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to her, telling her to keep the change. Wiping my mouth, and picking up my purse, I started to stand when I noticed Dawson glaring at me.

  “What in the hell was that?” Dawson’s voice penetrated my ears.

  Confused I asked, “What?”

  He pulled a wallet from his back pocket and started to take money out. I held my hand up to him, trying to halt his movement. He didn’t. He aggressively threw a twenty on the table.

  “I’ve got it.”

  “But I’ve already paid.”

  “Okay, then you can put that back in your pocket.”

  “Why? I don’t mind paying,” I argued.

  I watched his jaw clench and unclench. He was angry, and I didn’t get why this was such a big deal.

  “I don’t need you paying for my meals.”

  I sat back and shook my head in confusion. “All right, but like you said before, I am the one who wanted to stop and eat. Seriously, it’s not a big deal.”

  His mouth hardened into a thin line. “Take the fucking money. I pay my own way.”

  He stood and made his way out the door, leaving me inside. My own mouth dropped open, flabbergasted with his tone. It really wasn’t a big deal. I mean I knew I might have offended him earlier with the whole homeless thing, but this wasn’t about that. I just always offered to pay when I went out. That was me. I knew he didn’t know this fact about me, but his whole attitude wiped away any lapse in judgment I might have had about my attraction toward him. I was finding it hard to see anything redeeming in him at this point besides a pretty face. Priding myself on being nice and extending that kindness was just how I was. Clearly, we didn’t live by the same standards.

  Not wanting to leave the money on the table, I leaned over and took it, shoving it in my pocket. I refused to make a fuss over this. He wanted to be a hard ass to me then I would do it right back. His blatant rudeness toward me was wearing on my last nerve, and I’d been around him for less than a day.

  When I made it out to the Rover, Dawson was standing by the passenger side waiting for me to unlock it. Hitting the button, he didn’t speak a word as he climbed inside and buckled his seatbelt. Another game of silence, apparently. Wonderful. Getting to Big Sky was going to feel like an eternity sitting next to him. I gritted my teeth as we went the rest of the way through the mountaintops and over the slick roads. It only took another two hours before I saw the first sign indicating that we were five miles from our final destination. I couldn’t wait. Not only was I ready to get out of this car and stretch, but I was also anxious to see my house. It’d been too long. And, of course, let’s not forget about getting the guy next to me out of my car and on his merry little way. Out of sight and out of mind seemed to be the reoccurring theme playing in my head.

  The town
of Big Sky was extraordinarily small. It consisted of two main streets, both making a circle, with businesses occupying each building. Three grocery stores, all offering something a little different, a pizza shop, a sushi place, a gym, and a realtor’s office were the main ones that stood out. Figuring I’d hit up the grocery store before heading to the house, I parked.

  “Well, we’re here.” I unbuckled my seatbelt and twisted toward him. “If I remember correctly, there is a hotel or lodge about a quarter of a mile that way,” I said pointing in the direction behind me. Wanting to avoid any awkwardness, I held my hand out to shake his. “Good luck with whatever you are after here.”

  He looked down at my offered hand and then back up at me. I frowned. Wonderful, he was going to leave me hanging. Dropping my hand and hiding any forming embarrassment, I opened my door and started to step out.

  A hand landed on my forearm and the warmth from it traveled across my skin and inadvertently caused a shiver. “Thanks for the ride, Chandler.”

  I swallowed back the girly sigh that attempted to escape past my lips. While I appreciated his politeness now, it was a little too late for niceties. That flew out the window about a hundred miles back. Blinking rapidly, I nodded with a quiet, “Welcome,” and pulled my arm from his loose grip. Getting out, I shut my door and walked to the automatic sliding doors of the grocery store. I had no intention of turning around to make sure he got out, too. Instead, my only indication was hearing his door shut. A pang of sadness rolled through me. Why? No way should I be sad about not seeing Dawson again. I didn’t even know him. I’d chalk the crazy feelings up to being on the road too long and not getting enough sleep. Hitting the lock button on my keys, I moved forward, wanting to put this whole last leg of my trip behind me and begin to figure out how to heal whatever was broken inside me.

  DOING A MUNDANE TASK such as grocery shopping always bored me. One of those weekly chores I despised when I was home. Today didn’t seem so simple. For starters, this store was full of all organic, healthy choices that you wouldn’t find in a normal grocery superstore. Not that I didn’t eat healthy, it was more that I didn’t recognize many of the brands. So searching for food and trying to remember recipes off the top of my head wasn’t working out in my favor. I found myself mindlessly wandering up and down the aisles, pushing a cart that kept trying to veer off to the left. Not just the cart was pulling at me. There was a certain dark-haired man who was currently occupying my thoughts.

  Where did Dawson even go? Why did I care? Hitchhikers get in and out of vehicles and go about the rest of their lives without giving the stranger who gave them a ride a second thought, right? So what was the big deal? I picked up a box of cereal without noticing what it even was and tossed it in my cart. Maybe I should have gotten his contact info so I could check on him. Like a text or something. No, that would be weird. We weren’t at that level. I was sure he was anxious to get away from me—the girl who grilled him relentlessly and wouldn’t stop talking. I knew I must’ve annoyed him. He probably didn’t even intend on staying in Big Sky; he was likely here overnight and he’d move on in the morning. I knew he had to have a destination in mind.

  “Ma’am?” a voice asked in front of me.

  Snapping out of my stupor, I realized that I’d somehow made my way to the front of the store and was at the checkout counter.

  “Ma’am, are you ready?” the cashier inquired again.

  Looking down at my basket, I had a few things that I vaguely remembered putting in there. Just the basics. I’d have to come back to town in the next day or two to get some other stuff. Smiling, I said, “Yes, sorry.”

  She rang me up quickly and I handed her a wad of cash. When I got out to my Rover, I was putting the bags in the back when I looked up and saw him. Dawson was standing under an awning speaking to a man in a business suit. Grabbing my two bags, I put them in the backseat while I continued to watch. They were speaking too low for me to hear anything, but both appeared serious, their mouths firm and unforgiving. I hadn’t realized how long I’d stood there watching, but when a horn honked behind me, I jumped. The door I’d been leaning against, or hiding behind, was blocking them from pulling into the empty spot beside me. Several other pedestrians had stopped what they were doing, so I could only assume the man and Dawson had, too.

  Redness was seeping into my cheeks. Reluctantly closing the door, I was no longer under the cover of my vehicle. The person who’d been waiting pulled in, but I was ignoring them. I didn’t know how, but I just instinctively knew that a certain set of eyes was on me. I let my hair fall forward to mask my face as much as possible as I attempted to glance up nonchalantly in the direction of the two men. Sure enough, he’d seen. The Suit was talking, but Dawson was staring right at me. Well, if you want to call it staring. More like burning a hole through my body with his intensity. He was giving nothing away with his face, again. A moment later, they shook hands, gave each other polite smiles, and parted. Dawson began striding toward me, a look of purpose etched on his features.

  Oh, fuck.

  I moved as quickly as I could. I hadn’t the slightest clue why I was trying to get away from him so fast, when only a few short minutes ago, I was pathetically pondering the idea of contacting him. I hopped into the Rover and started it but never got the chance to put it into reverse before my driver’s side door came open.

  “Chandler.” The way he said my name this time caused every cell in my body to come alive. “Any reason you’re spying on me?”

  My mouth was hanging open. Spying? Was that what he thought I was doing? Okay, maybe I was spying a little bit, but I certainly wasn’t going to confess it. I’d call it more curiosity. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I lifted my chin in defiance. “I just came out of the store and saw you talking. Excuse me for noticing.”

  His dark brown eyes dazzled in the sunlight. In fact, I wouldn’t even call them brown. They had a lighter yellow hue to them making them appear slightly hazel, but not quite. Stunning. “That was more than ‘noticing.’” He air quoted. “You were watching me. Why?”

  I wanted to laugh in his face so bad. “Wait, so you get to ask me questions now, but before, I couldn’t ask you anything? I don’t think so, buddy.”

  He curled his lip up. “Spying and being nosy aren’t the same as asking why you’re doing it.”

  “Sure, it is.”

  “No, it isn’t. Not even close,” he retorted.

  “A question is a question,” I threw back.

  The other side of his mouth lifted into a sarcastic sneer. “You’re some kind of genius, aren’t you?”

  I jerked my head back. “Are you fucking kidding me right now? I give you a ride for the last two days, and you’re going to make fun of me? Well, screw you.” I reached forward and tried to close my door, but he wouldn’t let the damn thing budge.

  Dawson, the same guy who barely gave me any expression over the last forty-eight hours, had now shown me five different faces I’d yet to see from him. He was clearly still in asshole mode as he poked his bottom lip out. “Aww, did I hit a nerve?”

  Enough was enough. “No!” I shot back as I grunted, still trying to yank my door shut. “God, would you move?”

  “Not till you answer my question.”

  I gave up. At least for now, but the moment he moved even a little bit, I was closing it. I didn’t care if I hit him in the process. Crossing my arms in front of me, I saw his eyes land on my heaving chest. It made my heart pick up its pace, but I was still too pissed to care. “Okay, yeah I was watching you. I was wondering what you were talking to that man about. You told me a whole lot of nothing while you were with me except for your damn name. You got out of my car, and I had no idea where you were going, if you had a place to stay, or if you planned to get another ride out of town. So when I saw you talking to someone, I got curious. Sorry, but that’s just the kind of person I am. I like to know that people are okay.” His hand fell away from the door. As much as I wanted to lean for
ward and do what I’d originally planned, something about his stance changed, and he regarded me differently.

  His brow furrowed. “What do you mean; you like to know that people are okay? You don’t even know me.”

  I gave him a sarcastic shrug. “Yeah, what does that have to do with anything? I just said I care, whether I know you or not. Doesn’t matter that you’ve been the world’s most grumpy human being to me, yelled at me for taking care of a food bill, or that you’ve barely acted grateful for the ride. I would have wondered how you were doing regardless.”

  Tilting his head slightly to the side, he narrowed his eyes. He was attempting to figure me out, probably trying to decide if I was playing some game. Well, keep looking because I wasn’t. This was me—always was and always would be. My parents taught me to be kind to everyone. But there was only so much that they ingrained in me versus what was simply me. I lived by the theory that you never know what someone else has been through. Case in point—Dawson. He might be acting like the world’s biggest asshole, but that might be because of things he’d been through. For me, that just meant that I would have at least shown someone like him a kindness that maybe he was never offered. Not everyone in this world had to be hard around the edges.

  His silence wore on for a couple of beats before he straightened and rested his forearm on my still open door. There went my chance to escape. “I don’t have a place to stay.” He tossed the statement out into the open air like it was weightless and not a big deal.

  It was a big fucking deal! One could only assume he was telling me for a reason. He’d obviously answered one of my questions from a few minutes ago, but I wasn’t anticipating this. Did he want me to ask him to stay with me? I couldn’t possibly . . .”Okay, do you want me to look up the number for the hotel down the street?” I reached into my center console and pulled out my phone. “’Cause I don’t mind. Give me just a second . . .”