She gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”
He stopped at his silver Porsche and opened the passenger side door for Destiny. Her mouth dropped. “This is your car?”
“Yeah. My dad bought it for me when I turned sixteen.”
She slid into the seat. “Holy cow. What does your dad do?”
“He’s an ER doctor.”
“And he chose to move here? From Santa Cruz?”
Eli didn’t want to talk about his father, or what led to him and his mother moving. He shook his head. “Nope. He’s back in Cali. Just me and Mom moved.”
“Oh.”
He closed her car door and walked around the front, cursing himself for making the mood feel depressing. Why did he have to talk about his father? He needed to get on a lighter subject. He climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine. “Where should we go to get poster board?”
“Hobby Lobby.”
“I don’t know where that is.”
“You drive. I’ll give you directions.”
“Ooh, scary. We could end up anywhere.” He turned on his sexy smile. “Are you trying to take me to a makeout point?”
Destiny scoffed. “It’s like fifteen degrees out today. Not a great day to make out in your car.” She rubbed her arms.
He turned up the heat. “You’re probably right.” Then he gave her a coy smile. “But if you ever want to, let me know. I’m willing to sacrifice for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Why are you always doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Putting up a front. Not being yourself.”
“Ouch, girl. You think I’m acting? Because I’m serious. I’d totally make out with you, anytime.”
He cringed. There he went again. Sheesh. He needed to chill. How could he ever win her over if he got all flustered when he was around her? He had to find a way to stop it.
Chapter 3
Destiny could feel the smarm coming off him in waves. Eli seemed like a nice guy, so she didn’t understand why he had to put on that fake attitude.
“You are such a fake. I don’t even think you know you’re doing it. Maybe you’ve worn a mask for so long, you don’t know how to take it off.”
Eli didn’t respond. He just kept driving.
She shook her head. It wouldn’t do any good to talk to Eli about it. He was apparently unaware how surface he was being. And that was fine. He could go on being surface because she didn’t care at all about Eli. She was with Jack. That’s who she liked. She huffed. “Go up another block and then turn left.”
He was silent for a few moments as he followed her directions and then turned into the Hobby Lobby parking lot. He found a spot to park and cut the engine, but he didn’t get out of his car. He leaned his arm on his steering wheel and turned toward her. “I’m not fake.”
The sincerity in his eyes surprised her, and she blinked at him. She was taken aback. “Well…you were being fake before,” she mumbled.
“Then I apologize. Because I don’t want you to think I’m like that.”
Her heart thumped, and she suddenly wanted to get out of the car. “Okay,” she said, grabbing the door handle. “Let’s go in.”
He hurried to open the door for her as they went into the store, which was actually kind of sweet of him. “What aisle is the poster board in?”
“Follow me. I’ll show you.” Destiny took the lead.
“Why don’t you ask me some questions. Get to know me. Then maybe you would like me more.”
“I like you just fine,” she said. What she didn’t tell him was she maybe liked him more than she should. He was good-looking, and she suddenly was having a reaction to being near him. Feeling things even Jack didn’t evoke in her.
“No, you don’t. I can tell.” Eli gave her a one-eyebrow-raised look.
“I just don’t like the faky stuff.”
He let out a frustrated breath. “Then ask me some questions. I swear, I’ll answer them truthfully. No fake at all.” He held up his hands in a surrender motion.
Something about the way he stood there made him seem vulnerable. Like he really was trying to be truthful with her. She appreciated it. “All right. Let me think.”
They walked in silence for a moment while she tried to come up with something she could ask him. “What’s your favorite thing to do?”
“Surfing. But you knew that already. I told you when we first met. Plus…” He looked down at his I Love Surfing T-shirt, and she felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment.
“Okay, okay. That was a stupid one. Let me think of a better one.” She turned down the aisle but slowed as she got to the poster board. She wanted to ask him something that wasn’t surface. Something that would reveal a part of him he wasn’t showing her. “Republican or Democrat?”
He smiled at that question, and for the first time, she felt it was genuine. “Libertarian.”
“Seriously?”
He leaned against a support beam and folded his arms. “I told you I would answer honestly.”
“Okay, that’s interesting, then.” She liked that he didn’t say whatever was popular. It meant he’d looked into it and really thought about it. That was cool. She’d have to go home and read more about Libertarians.
“Ask another.”
“What’s the last book you read?”
“Animal Farm.”
“For school?”
He chuckled. “No, I just wanted to know what it was about.”
Huh. She’d never read it. “What was it about?” She pulled the correct size of poster board out of the holder.
“On the surface, talking animals. Under the surface, it was about Russian politics.”
“Maybe I’ll read it, too.”
He raised his eyebrows. “I’d be interested to hear what you think.”
“Then I’ll read it and tell you.” She motioned to another part of the store. “I think we need more black and gold paint, too.” She turned the corner and he followed her.
“When will you read it?”
“What?” She looked up at him.
He smiled again and she marveled how good it looked on him when it wasn’t his smarmy fake one. This one made his eyes sparkle. Like he was amused at her. “Animal Farm.”
“Is it long?”
“Very short.”
“Then I’ll read it this weekend.” She grabbed a bottle of black and a bottle of gold paint.
“Okay. Call me after you do.” He pulled out his phone. “What’s your number? I’ll text you so you have mine.”
It felt a little weird giving Eli her number, but it wasn’t like she was doing anything wrong. She wasn’t coming on to him or anything. All they were going to do was talk about a book. That wasn’t bad, was it?
She rattled it off, pushing aside the weird guilty feeling. She was not cheating on Jack. He was the one that told them to go shopping, after all. It seemed like he didn’t mind them spending time together. She liked that Jack wasn’t threatened.
He fiddled with his phone, and a chime came through on hers. He looked at her. “Anything else you want to ask?”
“Do you have a pet?”
His smile faded. “I did.”
The worst thing shot through Destiny’s mind and she stopped cold. “Oh, no. Did your pet die?”
He shook his head. “No. They don’t allow dogs in the apartment my mom and I moved into, so he couldn’t come with me.”
“You had to give up your dog when you moved here?” Man, she felt awful for asking now. “That’s so sad.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you give him to a good home? Can you visit?”
Eli stiffened, and an invisible wall came down between them. She could see the way his eyes withdrew. “He’s with my father.”
Oh, that wasn’t good. There was something bad there. Something he wasn’t telling her. She put her hand gently on his arm. “Your parents are divorced?”
“Yeah.”
“Is that w
hy you moved here?”
“Yeah.” He took the paint and the poster board from her and motioned. “Are we done here?”
Destiny regretted asking. He obviously didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset.” He said it as he walked down the aisle toward the registers. His shoulders were tense. His movements quick. Yeah, right.
“You are, too.”
He slowed. “No. It’s just hard for me to talk about. Maybe you should ask about something else.”
At least he was being honest. She couldn’t fault him for that. “Okay. I’ll think of another question.”
He turned to her, his expression sobering. “One more. Then it’s my turn.” Why did those words seem to affect her?
“Fair enough.” She joined him in line, behind a woman with a cart piled high with discounted fall decorations. Destiny pressed her lips together, trying to think of a good question. Something that would tell her more about Eli. She suddenly wanted to know more about him, for some weird reason. “What’s your favorite movie?”
“Inception.”
“What’s that?”
Eli’s eyes grew big. “Come on. You’ve heard of Inception, haven’t you? Leonardo DiCaprio? Only the greatest movie since The Fugitive.”
Destiny shifted her weight. “I’ve seen The Fugitive.”
“Well, Inception is better. You’re seriously telling me you’ve never seen it?”
“Nope.”
Eli raised his eyebrows. “That’s it, then. You have to come over and watch it. I can’t live another minute with you never having seen the movie.”
Destiny laughed at his drama. “We have to remake the poster that got ruined.”
“We can make it in my living room while we watch the movie.” Eli took a step forward as the woman with the fall decorations got done paying for her things. “Come on. You like edge-of-your-seat movies, right?”
“Yes, I guess so.” She preferred romance, but she didn’t mind suspense. What she hated were the movies with all action. The ones that had weak stories. They were just popular for the car chases and explosions.
“Then you’d love this one.” He lifted the poster board onto the counter and placed the paint on top. “Say you’ll come watch it with me.”
Why did his large brown eyes looking at her make her stomach feel all strange? She felt put on the spot. How could she say no? They needed to finish the poster. And he seemed excited to show her the movie. “All right.”
He grinned and shot his fist into the air. “Yes!”
She quickly inserted, “But we’re only watching the movie and working on the poster. Nothing else.”
He squinted at her. “Of course. You have a boyfriend. What are you thinking?” But then he winked at her, and she blew out a frustrated breath.
“Eli. I’m serious. Stop coming on to me. I can’t be around you if you’re always doing that.”
He chuckled, but he held his hands up and shrugged. “Okay, okay. I’ll behave. I promise.”
She turned to the woman behind the register and realized she’d already rung in their items and was waiting for Destiny to give her the money. Destiny flushed and dug out the twenty-dollar bill from her purse and handed it to the woman. “Sorry.”
Eli slung his arm around her shoulders. “You’re going to love this movie.”
His touch made her feel a weird sensation in her chest. Kind of like she was hooked up to electrical nodes or something. She ignored it, mostly because she didn’t want to acknowledge it. “I’m looking forward to it.”
And she was surprised to realize she was.
Chapter 4
Eli pulled into his apartment parking lot and cut his engine. Destiny had followed him in her car. She got out, and he led her up to the second floor where he pulled out his key and unlocked the door marked 28D.
He walked in and set the poster on the couch. He motioned to the small living room. “This is it. Want a Coke or something?”
She nodded and sat cross-legged on the floor. He went into the kitchen and pulled open the fridge. It was strange living in such a small space after growing up in a five thousand square-foot home in California. They’d had a pool house larger than this. He pulled out a soda and returned to the living room.
Destiny held the two bottles of paint. “Do you have a paintbrush? Because I forgot we needed one.”
“Uh, yeah, let me go look. I think my mom has some craft supplies in her closet.” Eli went into his mother’s bedroom. He pulled out the plastic container she stored her paints in and rummaged through it. In the bottom sat a couple of paintbrushes.
He also grabbed the World’s Best Mom mug he’d given his mother when he was five from the kitchen and filled it with water. He loved that she kept that mug, even though it was so cheesy. He handed it to Destiny. “Here. This should work, right?”
“Yes.” She pointed to the poster. “I outlined the words in pencil while you were in the other room. So, all we have to do is fill it in with black paint, then accent in the gold.”
“Easy.” He started up the movie.
At first, Destiny painted while she watched, but soon she got too into the movie to look down at the poster. He enjoyed watching her as she gripped her paintbrush tight when the scenes got intense. He finished painting the sign as the end of the movie unfolded.
Destiny let out a breath when the credits started rolling. “Geesh, I feel like I need to watch that again to understand half of what I saw.”
“I know, right?”
“So, is he still in the dream world, then?”
“See, that’s what I think. But my best friend in Cali thinks he made it out. The best part of the movie is it’s not really clear how it ends. You have to speculate.”
Destiny looked down at the poster and gasped. “Oh, you finished it. I didn’t even notice.”
Eli chuckled. “I don’t mind. That movie is engrossing.”
She whacked him on the arm. “Yeah. Way to pick a movie that you have to pay attention to while we’re supposed to be finishing up the poster.”
“I finished.” He gathered up the paintbrushes and took them into the kitchen to rinse them in the sink.
She smiled at him and picked up the mug with dirty water. “Thanks.” She brought it into the kitchen and poured the water down the sink.
He stood next to her, his pulse quickening. She smelled like vanilla. He leaned closer to her. “I’m glad you enjoyed the movie.”
She stared at him, her blue eyes mesmerizing him. He could easily forget himself and kiss her. But he knew that would make her angry. Because she was still into Jack.
Frustration welled in him. Why did she like Jack anyway? He was selfish. And he wasn’t attentive to her. He didn’t even like her anymore. Jack should just tell her the truth. It wasn’t fair to her for him to string her along like that.
Destiny licked her lips and looked down at the linoleum. She still gripped the mug that sported World’s Greatest Mom on it. “I appreciate the help tonight.”
“No problem.”
She met his gaze, and the bottom dropped out of his stomach. He took a step closer to her. Now they were almost touching. He wanted to reach out, take a hold of her hand, but he didn’t, despite his agreement with Jack. He didn’t want Destiny mad at him anymore.
“I should probably go,” she said.
He stepped back and mentally shook his head to clear it. “Right.”
“I’ll hang the poster in the cafeteria tomorrow, before school starts.”
Eli nodded and took a step toward the door. “Yeah, that would be good.”
She turned and he stopped her. “Wait.”
“What?”
“I never got my turn.” Something inside him screamed at him to stop, but he couldn’t. He wanted a little more time with her.
She pressed her lips together. He wasn’t sure if she was suppressing a smile or refreshing her lipstick. “Okay. Go
.”
“Democrat or Republican?”
She narrowed her eyes but not in a malicious way. It was more playful. “Isn’t that cheating?”
“How?”
“You stole my question.”
He couldn’t help himself. He took a step toward her. She had the most beautiful blue eyes. “How is that cheating? I want to know the answer.”
“Don’t you have to come up with your own questions?”
“Are you the question police? Just answer it.” He leaned in.
She backed up against the door, then swallowed. “I haven’t decided yet. There. You happy?”
He smiled and placed his arm on the door above her. “Fair enough.”
“Is that all?”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t think so.”
He liked this girl. She was funny. “What was the last book you read?”
“You are such a question stealer, you cheat.”
“I think we already determined I’m not cheating.”
She blew out a breath, and it made him focus on her lips. Her very red, very soft-looking lips. “The Lightning Thief.”
“Percy Jackson?”
“It was good. And if you tell anyone I read middle-grade fantasy novels, I’ll kick you in the—”
“Hold up,” he said, chuckling and holding out his hands. “Harry Potter was a middle-grade fantasy series, and the whole world read that. I love Percy Jackson. I won’t make fun of you.”
“Good. Because I’m kind of sensitive about it.”
“You mean insecure.”
Her mouth popped open, once again drawing his attention to her lips. “I am not.”
“Okay, third question. Can you guess what it is?”
“My favorite movie?”
He nodded. “You guessed.”
She blushed. “Pass.”
“Oh, come on. Tell me.”
She looked to the floor, her lashes brushing against her cheeks. “No. I don’t want to.”
That made him want to know even more. “I’ll give you one free question. Anything you want to know. I’ll tell you the truth. Then you tell me.”
She shook her head. “Pass.”
He wanted to get her to tell him, but she obviously was uncomfortable, so he let it slide. “All right. You can pass on that one. But I get two more then, okay?”
A Young Adult Romance Collection Page 28