To clarify, they were both on board with my plan to get Ted back, but these past few days they’d been acting weird about my game plan to win him back. They probably didn’t want to see me getting hurt again, which was sweet but unnecessary. And if I called my parents, they’d give me a lecture I so didn’t need about responsibility and traveling on my own and blah blah blah. There might even be a chance that they’d ban me from coming back for Senior Week if they decided to go full-on overprotective.
I stared at the steering wheel and ordered the panic to subside so my brain could function properly. I didn’t have the money for a tow truck, but then again, I didn’t even need a tow truck. I knew what the problem was and I knew how to fix it. This was not the first time my old beater had gone dead on me, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
I just needed some jumper cables. That thought brought with it a certain amount of ease. I liked that plan better. I preferred to help myself than calling for assistance.
When I turned to face Jax, I found him watching me warily, probably afraid that I was going to cry again.
“Do you have jumper cables?” I asked suddenly.
He shook his head. “No car, sorry.” After a minute, he added, “But a friend of mine has some. He can help you out in the morning.”
I nodded. See? I had a plan. And Mr. Unhelpful here had actually proved useful for once. “Perfect,” I said, sounding far more upbeat than I actually felt. But I did feel better, and that I could work with. I had a plan. Which meant that everything else could be salvaged—Senior Week, Operation Win Back Ted…it was all happening.
“You look psychotic,” my helpful new friend pointed out, his tone flat and not even remotely teasing.
My eyes were still so wide they hurt so I blinked a few times and let go of my death grip on the steering wheel. “I don’t feel psychotic,” I informed him politely. “I feel like I have a plan.”
I was looking at my hands on the wheel so I couldn’t tell for certain but I thought he sounded amused. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”
“First thing tomorrow I will get your friend’s jumper cables and get my car back on the road.”
“And then?” he asked.
“Then I’ll head back home and come back with my friends on Wednesday, as planned.”
I frowned and apparently he caught it.
“What’s wrong?”
I gave a little shrug. “Nothing, just…” I let out a sigh. This guy would never understand. “The whole reason I came here early was so I could make sure everything was perfect.”
“For what?”
I turned to face him. “Senior Week. My whole senior class will be here and I’m the one in charge of organizing and…” I trailed off at the look of disgust on his face
Sure enough, he didn’t get it.
Something told me he’d outright laugh in my face if I continued and told him about my grand plan to stage the perfect moment for my ex and I to have our epic reunion kiss. He hardly seemed like a romantic, and I was officially over being the source of this guy’s amusement for the night.
I dropped my head back against my car door with a sigh. “You know what, forget it. You clearly don’t care.”
“About your Senior Week? No, you’re right, I don’t.” The way he stressed ‘Senior Week’ said it made it sound asinine and I turned to him with a glare.
He ignored it, already turning to let himself out of my car.
Good. Great. I dropped my head back against my seat again, hoping to miraculously get comfortable while sitting upright so maybe, just maybe, I could ignore the cold, damp clothes and the chill that was seeping into my bones long enough to doze for a bit.
I heard the passenger car door slam shut but my eyes were closed. I ignored the chill that seemed to grow ten times more frigid at the lack of another human body in the car.
I was alone. And I would be for hours.
I shivered.
Awesome.
What was about to be a rapid descent into another bout of self-pity was cut short when my driver’s side door was jerked open, letting in a gust of frigid, rainy wind. “What the…” I sputtered, sitting up straight to see that Jax was holding my door open and glowering down at me like I’d just ruined his night.
Maybe I had.
“Come on,” he said, before turning and walking back toward the hotel.
I scrambled out so quickly it made me annoyed with myself. What was I, a puppy? I just came running when this guy beckoned? “Where are we going?”
He didn’t stop walking and I couldn’t entirely blame him. It was freakin’ cold and the rain felt like ice on my face.
“You’re coming home with me,” he said as we reached the doors to the hotel and he held one open for me.
I led the way in as I hunched in on myself with a shiver. Oh hell, my teeth were starting to chatter. “You live at the hotel?”
I caught his smirk as he walked past me. “Not quite.”
He walked over to the desk and tapped on the keyboard for a bit, grabbing a jacket that was apparently tucked under the counter somewhere. A jacket he’d apparently left behind in his haste to come out and check on me.
Huh.
I watched him from just inside the doorway, more confused than I’d ever been. I was starting to seriously think I was dreaming, because life had gone from weird to bizarre. I heard the clink of keys as he grabbed them and threw on his jacket, heading back toward me.
“Okay, let’s go,” he said, his voice brisk as though I were some chore he had to take care of.
I glanced at the empty desk as he held the door open for me once more—a bizarrely gentlemanly act performed by the most reluctant hero of all time. He followed my gaze. “My replacement will be here in a minute. She’s always late.”
I nodded. Whatever. It wasn’t my job to worry about the fact that he was leaving this posh hotel unmanned at this time of night.
Yet I still worried about it as I hurried after him.
I don’t know what I’d been thinking but it didn’t occur to me just how risky this whole thing was until we left the parking lot of the Sunshine Inn and I found myself trailing a stranger through the dimly lit back streets of this unfamiliar beach town.
Wariness had me lagging behind and at some point he seemed to notice that I wasn’t following closely on his heels. He turned to face me. “Is there a problem?”
Uh, was he serious? I shuffled my feet, uncertain of what I wanted to do, but so freakin’ cold and so miserably tired I could barely stand up straight. “I, um…I’m not sure I should go off with some stranger.” As soon as I said the words, I realized that they may have sounded rude. Like I was accusing this guy of being a predator or something.
But he just gave me that blank, serious look and I couldn’t tell if he was amused or annoyed, or maybe both. “Fair enough,” he said. Then he gestured back toward my car. “If you’d rather freeze your arse off, that’s up to you.”
I glared at him, even though I knew none of this was his fault. Still, he didn’t have to be such a prick all the time. It would have been much easier to follow him to his warm home if I could convince myself that he was a friend, or even just a good guy.
He let out an exasperated sigh as though I were some petulant child. But then he crossed the distance between us while reaching into his back pocket. “Here,” he said, handing over his wallet.
“What’s this?” I rolled my eyes at my own stupid question. It was a wallet, obviously. The question was, why was he shoving the worn, black leather accessory into my hand?
“I’m giving you all my money,” he said in a flat tone that made me want to laugh and punch him at the same time.
He gestured toward it impatiently. “Take a picture of my ID, it has my address on it. Send it to your parents or your friends or whatever, if that makes you feel better. Everyone will know where you are and who I am in case I try to kidnap you or something.”
I hoped he couldn’t see the blush th
at I was sure had spread into my cheeks. I felt like an idiot as I pulled out his ID and did as he said even though logically I knew I’d be even more of an idiot if I didn’t do it.
A little voice of paranoia had me questioning myself even as I took that precaution, texting a picture to Ashley and Beth who were likely fast asleep. As he watched, I sent the picture and mentally reviewed my options.
I could freeze in my car or I could head to a police station or something for the night or I could try to find a coffee shop that was open all night and try to stay awake until the rain ebbed or…
“Are you coming?” Jax was already walking away from me even though I still had his wallet. I hurried after him to give it back and realized that I was far more comfortable with this guy, who I’d been bickering with off and on for the better part of the evening, than with any of those other options.
Being with this guy who treated me like an irritating pest seemed like the best plan, given the unpleasant alternatives. I picked up my pace so I was walking beside him. “Wait, I didn’t grab my suitcase.”
He didn’t slow his pace as he shoved his hands in his pockets and barreled ahead through the rain that was pelting us in the face. “We’re not turning back now, love. You can borrow something of mine.”
I was full-blown shivering as the wind bit through the thin cotton of my dress and the rain spattered my legs and face. “At least you’re not wearing a sundress,” I muttered.
I may have been imagining things but I’m pretty sure I heard him laugh under his breath. “We can all be thankful for that.”
I felt a smile tugging at my lips despite my current misery. “Do you have any roommates?”
“Just Bob,” he said.
I stopped short. “Wait a second. Bob is your roommate? The Bob?”
He kept walking and I was forced to hurry after him. When I reached his side again, he said, “You can let him have it over breakfast.” Then he added, “If I don’t kill him first.”
Mmm, breakfast. God, I was starving. I hadn’t had dinner thanks to my quest to find a roof over my head.
He seemed to be thinking the same thing. “You hungry?”
“Starving,” I said. A couple seconds passed and I followed him around a corner, trying and failing to keep track of exactly where we were in relation to the hotel and my car. Whether it was my instincts talking or just the relief at knowing I was heading somewhere warm and dry, the paranoia had waned and I found myself oddly comfortable around this guy, who was currently the most familiar thing in this stupid town.
To continue, keep reading Senior Week Kiss
About the Author
MAGGIE DALLEN IS a big city girl living in Montana. She writes romantic comedies in a range of genres including young adult, historical, contemporary, and fantasy. An unapologetic addict of all things romance, she loves to connect with fellow avid readers. Subscribe to her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bFEVsL
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Senior Week Crush Page 16