“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m just going to bed now.”
“With who, Lucas?”
My head jerked up, spinning around to stare at Luke. He raised one eyebrow, wondering what was wrong. “Why would you say that?”
“I know that you lied to us and went away with him.”
“What do you mean, I went away with Lucas?” I asked, still playing dumb.
Lucas sat up on the bed. I thought I heard him mutter a curse.
“Do you really think I believed all of Emma’s lame excuses about where you’ve been all day? I thought you might be with him, so I called his mother. She told me that he was at a friend’s house this weekend too. We compared notes, and she called Andy’s mom. Imagine her surprise to find out Lucas wasn’t there. Where are you?” She was angry.
“Mom we’re just trying to figure out who is threatening me. We’re in Renford. We have reason to believe the guy might be from here. All I’m doing is looking at pictures. It’s not dangerous, and I’m with Lucas. We are not back together, so you don’t have to worry about that either. We’ll be home tomorrow afternoon. We have one more stop on the way. I promise I’m being responsible, and I’m sorry I lied to you.”
There was silence on the other end while she considered my explanation. “Well, I don’t want you driving tonight, but you’re grounded for the week. You got that?”
“Yes.” I was so relieved, I wanted to cheer, but I thought that might be pushing my luck.
“Okay, be careful.”
I hung up, feeling that I had dodged a bullet. “Our parents figured it out. Did your mother call you?” I turned around to face him.
He took his phone out of his pocket and turned it on. “Yeah, I turned it off when we went into the school.” He dialed his mother. That conversation was very different. Lucas even smiled a couple of times.
After he hung up, he put his phone down on the dresser. Leaning back on the pillows, he turned his attention back to the TV.
“Are you going to tell me what she said?” I asked, after several seconds of waiting for him to explain.
“Nope,” he said with a grin.
“What do you mean no? Was she mad?”
“No.”
Now he was starting to annoy me. “What did she say?”
“Nothing. Just that I shouldn’t have lied. She would have understood. And she hoped this time would give us an opportunity to get back together,” he added when I didn’t look convinced.
“Well, too bad. That’s not going to happen.” I stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
His whole smug attitude was ticking me off. How was that fair, I get grounded for a week, and his mother basically gives him a pat on the back for deceiving her?
I changed into a T-shirt and pj pants, then went back out.
He was only wearing his boxer shorts, leaving his chest bare. He seemed bulkier than I remembered. He looked so sexy, I wanted to smack him. He was lying with his arms behind his head and the blankets pulled up to his waist, grinning at me.
I shut off the lights and lay down on the other side of the bed, on the very edge.
“You’re going to fall off,” he said with a chuckle.
I ignored him, facing the opposite direction.
“That was fun tonight, don’t you think?” His voice was soft in the dark room.
“Uh huh.”
“Who knew country music was so fun to dance to?”
“If you could call what you were doing dancing,” I grumbled.
“Hey! I really got the hang of it.”
It was a lot of fun. “Did you see that old guy? He could have danced all night.”
He laughed. “He looked about eighty, and most of the people there couldn’t keep up with him.”
I turned to lie on my back. “So, should we introduce line dancing to the kids at our next dance?”
“I don’t think they’re ready for that,” he said with his voice full of laughter. We grew quiet for a while, lost in our own thoughts.
“What are you afraid of, Lucas?” I asked him, breaking the silence. I was tired of living in fear. I wanted to know I wasn’t the only one that felt that way.
“You getting hurt,” he said softly. Now that I knew he felt the same way I wondered what else frightened him.
“No, I mean like spiders, lions, tigers, or bears.”
He laughed. “Nothing.”
“Everybody’s afraid of something.”
He paused briefly. “Nope.” His voice went up an octave.
“Come on, there is something, isn’t there? I can tell when you’re lying. Your voice gets higher. What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Come on, tell me,” I whined shaking his shoulder. His skin felt hot under my hand. He mumbled a word, but I couldn’t hear him.
“What did you say?”
“Cats, okay? I hate cats.”
He was clearly annoyed that I had pressed him. I started to laugh, I couldn’t help it. When Emma’s cat Freckles was a kitten, he was so cute and tiny, white with orange spots. You just had to touch him for a second, and he would purr. I couldn’t imagine a big, strong guy like Lucas being afraid of him.
I put my hand over my mouth to try to stop my laughter.
“Laugh all you want, but they’re sneaky, and they stare. They could stare for hours at you with their yellow eyes. Come on, that’s creepy.” I laughed even harder at his explanation. He gazed up at the ceiling with his arms still crossed behind his head, waiting for me to stop. But once I started to laugh this hard, it took awhile before I could stop. A few minutes later, I had calmed down to a chuckle.
“Are you finished?” he asked. I started laughing again. He gave me an exasperated look and continued to stare at the ceiling. My fit of laughter eventually subsided, and we grew silent again.
“What are you afraid of?” he asked.
“Bugs, I hate them. I can’t stop thinking after I see one that they’re crawling all over me.” I got shivers just thinking about it.
“You’re afraid of an ant?” he teased.
“Afraid it will crawl on me, yeah.”
He smiled and lifted his hand, placing it on mine. “I’ve had so much fun with you tonight, Sarah. I know we came here to find him, but it gave us a chance to get away from it and relax. I’m really glad we had that chance.”
I smiled. “Me too.” Glancing at my watch, I realized it was after one. “It’s getting late, Lucas. I’m going to get some sleep.” I rolled over onto my side, facing away from him.
“Good night, Sarah.”
I lay quietly, waiting for sleep to come. When I remembered what he was afraid of, I smiled to myself. “Meow,” I said, teasing him. I couldn’t resist.
“Shut up,” he said dryly with a yawn, facing the other direction and not even moving. I started to laugh all over again.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Gibson’s Hill
When I woke up the next morning, my breathing was labored. Something was pressing down on me. I was still in the same position, facing the dull gray wall of the hotel room, but when I looked down, I saw Lucas’ arm draped over my waist. He was spooning me, leaning on my side with all his weight. I elbowed him.
He jumped up, sitting up in the bed. His eyes were glassy and confused. His hair, which was already getting a little long, stood up in places it really wasn’t supposed to. He looked adorable.
“What?”
“You were leaning on me, and you are heavy.” I grinned at him. I couldn’t help it, he looked so funny when he woke up, all bewildered and sleepy.
“Oh, sorry.” He glanced around the room.
“You must have been in a deep sleep, you seem very confused.” I laughed.
“I slept like a rock.” He rubbed his eyes and yawned, his smooth muscles flexed as he bent his elbows. I glanced at my watch before I started to drool. It was after nine.
“We should get going. We still have one more stop to make,” I said, gett
ing out of bed. I picked up my bag and went into the bathroom.
I had a quick shower. After drying my hair, I dressed and got ready quickly. Stuffing my clothes back in my bag, I went out into the room.
Lucas took his turn in the bathroom, and when he finished, he came out looking awake, with his hair brushed in his usual style, the bed head gone. “I’m going to go check out, I’ll meet you in the car,” he said, dropping his car keys into my hand.
I handed him my share of the money for the room. He started to argue, but I gave him a look that silenced him.
He didn’t take long, and when he came back out, we took off for our next destination. The weather was perfect for a road trip. Just like yesterday it was sunny and warm—well, as warm as it could be in December.
We pulled into the town, or should I say street. That’s all it seemed to be. There were a few shops, a grocery store, a library, and an elementary school. The high school we were looking for was on the outskirts, between two small towns. It was closed, of course, since it was Sunday, so we tried the town library.
We approached the door and saw that it was closed as well. Deflated, we turned around to head back to the car and noticed a woman near the back entrance. She was leaning into an open car trunk, lifting large boxes. Lucas ran over and took a couple from her, carrying them into the library. I followed him in and stood in the doorway. The smell of musty books floated out from the small building.
“Where would you like these?” he asked, juggling two rather heavy-looking boxes.
“On the floor beside the desk,” the librarian answered, setting her own on a messy desk top. “Thank you,” she said after he placed the load where she instructed.
Her black hair was pulled up in a tight bun. She was wearing a light blue blouse and a long navy blue pencil skirt. She looked just like I pictured a librarian would look, right down to the glasses falling down the bridge of her nose.
“You’re welcome.” He turned to face her. “Um, I know you’re closed, but would you mind if we had a peek at a yearbook from one of the surrounding schools? If you have them.”
She sighed and glanced down at her watch. “Yes, we do. And since I’ll be here anyway doing inventory, I don’t see a problem.” I smiled and pushed off the doorframe. “Just don’t be long,” she said sternly to both of us when she saw me approach.
We agreed and set off on our way to search for the book. We found it in the back row, and once again we were disappointed. I tried not to get frustrated, even though I had been hopeful that we’d finally find him. I think Lucas knew that. He took my hand and gave it a squeeze.
We returned the yearbook, thanked the librarian, and headed for home.
The drive back was quiet. I read my novel without Lucas throwing it in the back seat. He listened to the radio. I smiled to myself as I was reading, because occasionally I would hear him singing along to the songs. I glanced up at him when he started banging his hand on the steering wheel in time to the music.
“What? I like this song,” he said, turning his head in my direction.
I just smiled. I was about to look back down at the page I was reading, when I saw a car coming at us in our lane. “Look out!” I screamed.
Lucas whipped the steering wheel to the right, just in time to miss the car. We went onto the side of the road, but when Lucas tried to stop, the tires spun on the gravel. Unfortunately, we were on the top of a very steep hill. He stomped on the brakes to stop us from going down the grassy terrain, but it was too late. We were already going so fast I had to hold onto the armrest. “Push on the brakes!” I yelled.
“I’m trying, they’re not working.” He glanced at me in horror.
“Watch out!” About ten feet in front of us was a tree. Lucas stomped on the brakes, turning the wheel at the same time. We started to spin in a complete circle, and then we suddenly stopped, facing the opposite way we had come down the hill. “Holy shit, are you okay, Sarah?”
I took a few deep breaths before I slowly turned to him. “I’m fine, are you okay?” I asked breathlessly.
“Yes.”
We looked out our windows to see where we were. His car had stopped at the bottom of a very steep hill. There was a large skid mark in the shape of a circle left by Lucas’ tires.
“How are we going to get out of here?” I stared up the hill. There was no way anyone could spot us way down here.
Lucas took out his phone. “I’ll have to call a tow truck.” He started to dial. “Shit, there’s no signal.”
I pulled my cell out of my bag and realized the same thing, no signal. “Mine either.”
He was silent for a moment, considering our options. “Let’s hike up to the road, and see if we get one up there.”
We climbed out of the car and strode up the hill. At the top we stood in the gravel, each of us holding our phones in the air, walking around like idiots, the words “can you hear me now” on the tip of my tongue. But it was no use, they still didn’t work. We had been traveling on a gravel side road, so there wasn’t much traffic. As we stood there, only one car drove by, and of course, they didn’t stop.
“Well, we passed a town a couple miles back. Do you want to walk back there and see if they have a tow truck, or we could use a phone there?” Lucas asked. We didn’t have much of a choice, so we started the opposite way and headed back to the town.
It was cold, but luckily the sun was out, so it warmed us a bit. We both put on hats and mittens to protect against the wind. The gravel under my shoes was bumpy and uncomfortable, but since there was nothing that could be done, I didn’t complain. What was the point?
We had been quietly walking about a half an hour, and only a few cars passed, mostly going in the opposite direction. “I think that was the guy that’s stalking you.” Lucas spoke for the first time since we started our journey.
I had been in my own world, trying to distract myself from the cold and the long walk ahead of us by thinking about bare chests and empty hotel rooms. The sound of his voice startled me. “What are you talking about?”
“The car that drove us off of the road. It was gray, the same color as the one that almost hit you.”
I had thought it was just a careless driver passing another car, but now that he mentioned it, there wasn’t one in the other lane. I didn’t answer him. I was thinking about the driver, trying to remember if I had looked at him. I was sure I hadn’t. At the time, I was staring at Lucas, feeling content and happy. I should have known it wouldn’t last.
“You’re right, we need to stay apart until we find out who is doing this,” he said, confirming my earlier point. I knew if something else happened he’d change his mind.
I remained silent, not interested in another conversation about my mysterious stalker, or our miserable love life.
“Aren’t you going to say anything?” he asked.
“I don’t feel like talking right now.”
“Don’t worry, Sarah, we’ll figure out who is doing this, it will be over soon.”
“I know. I’d just rather not talk about him. We were finally enjoying ourselves and having a worry-free weekend. I don’t want him to ruin it. If he does, then he wins.”
He paused briefly. “You’re right. We won’t bring him up again.” He gave me a playful shove. “So what have you been up to lately?”
I laughed darkly. “Not much, you?”
He smiled. “Apparently, we’re boring when we’re not together.”
“Your dad and Logan said you’ve been working out a lot.”
“Yep,” he said, picking up a rock and throwing it into the bushes.
“Well, at least you’ve gotten out of bed. All I do is lie in my room and listen to music. I’ve been driving Emma crazy.”
His eyes were pained, but his lips turned upward slightly. “Are we going to compare who’s more pathetic, because I’ll definitely win.”
I laughed. “Don’t be so sure. I broke into my ex-boyfriend’s house and stole his journal. Can you beat
that?” I asked him, picking up a rock and trying to throw it as far as he did, but failing miserably.
He stared at me; his eyes taking on another tortured look. He quickly recovered by saying, “I almost beat the crap out of Zack the night you came to the restaurant. The only thing that stopped me was you. He’s lucky I haven’t seen him since.”
We had been joking, only now his voice no longer held humor.
“You better be kidding. If I hear that you hurt him because you were jealous, I’ll kick the crap out of you,” I said, pointing at him. I was half teasing, trying to lighten the mood, but mostly I was serious.
He stopped walking and stared into my eyes intently. “I’m not kidding, but don’t worry, I won’t touch him as long as you keep your distance.” When I started to protest, he raised a hand to silence me. “No, I’m not telling you, I’m asking. We’re getting along again. I can ask that, can’t I?”
I shook my head in defeat. “Whatever, but we already figured out it can’t be him. He doesn’t look like Ton—” He touched his finger to my lips. His face hovered inches from mine. Heat rose up between us, and I was no longer cold. I sucked in a breath, waiting for him to make a move.
“No, we’re not allowed to discuss this.” He let go and started to walk again. My heart slowed to its regular beat. “Now let’s get back to how pathetic we are, because I forgot about the time I crashed my ex-girlfriend's recital, even though I knew she didn’t want me there.” He gazed at me with a raised brow and lopsided grin, his dark hair blowing in the wind. “See, I’m way more pathetic.”
I laughed, glancing around; we were hiking along a dirt road, with trees on either side, no sign of civilization anywhere. “Why did you come this way? We didn’t take this road on the way up.”
“It’s a shortcut. Your mom was so upset, I wanted to get you home earlier.”
“How did that work out for you?” I teased.
“Not that great,” he said, laughing.
“If it was you know who, how would he know where we were, and what way we came?”
“Who knows? He’s a psycho. I don’t even know if it was him. It just seemed like too big a coincidence.” We turned around at the sound of tires on gravel.
Fated Dreams (Book One In The Affinity series) Page 28