Playing Patience

Page 32

“I can take you all the way. I don’t mind.” I continued to drive.
“No, please just stop the car here.” She suddenly seemed tense and annoyed.
I pulled over onto the side of the road and turned toward her.
“What’s the deal?” I asked.
Better question, why did I care? If she wanted to get out of my car, then by all means, get the fuck out, but something wasn’t right. Something was off. She went from peaceful and smiley to tense and worried in a matter of seconds.
“Nothing, I just feel like jogging from here.” She turned to get out and sent me a big fake smile.
I reached out and grabbed her arm. A quick moment of terror rushed through her expression and then melted away just as quickly. She’d done the same thing earlier when I touched her hand to show her how to play the guitar. It was brief, but I didn’t miss it.
“Cut the shit, snowflake. What’s going on?” I asked.
She sat back, looked up at the ceiling of my car, and sighed.
“My dad told me to stay away from you.”
I took a minute to celebrate the fact that she didn’t try to correct me on her name. I liked snowflake. It fit her so well.
“Gotcha. You should definitely listen to what Daddy says.” I grinned over at her.
“Yeah, it’s just easier I guess.” She shrugged.
“Although…” I leaned over closer to her. Her unique smell swarmed around me. “What’s the fun in that?”
She looked up at me through her long lashes and took a deep breath. I liked that I affected her. It was only fair since she affected me. I wanted to move in closer. I wanted to touch her. Mostly because she was so damn untouchable and I had a rebellious streak in me that was ten miles long, but also because I was starting to wonder stupid shit. Shit like what her hair felt like and if her cheek was as soft as it looked.
I needed a swift kick in the ass. What would my boys think if they could hear my thoughts?
Then she caught me off guard by reaching up and running her finger across my lip ring. Her fingertip felt soft against my lip and some strange part of me that I didn’t know wanted to kiss her fingertip. It was the most out of character thing ever… for me, and I think for her, too. Nothing shocked me anymore and it was strange that something so innocent managed to.
She pulled her hand back like my mouth was full of snakes and then looked away from me. She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but it was as defiant as I felt and it slipped back out. I reached up and captured it in my fingers. Her hair was indeed as soft as it looked. I didn’t miss the odd expression on her face as I tucked the piece of hair behind her ear again. I should have stopped there, but instead, I ran my finger down her baby-soft cheek.
“What is this?” Her voice cracked.
The question brought me back to myself and I snatched my hand away. I did the first thing I could think of that would make the moment disappear. I leaned back and grabbed the crotch of my pants.
“What this? Come here. I’ll show you.”
The glazed look in her eyes vanished and she glared over at me. Without saying another word, she popped open my door and jumped out. I watched as she started to jog toward her house. I waited until she was in her yard before I pulled away.
Ten minutes later, I was stranded on the side of the road out of gas and waiting for Finn to bring me some. An hour and about ten text messages and phone calls later, I finally gave up on Finn and called my dad. He wasn’t too happy about having to bring me gas. When he got there, he said nothing to me. He pulled up, rolled his window down, and pushed a red can of gas out the window at me. I took it from him and watched as he pulled away.
When I finally made it home for the night, all I wanted to do was grab a shower and go to bed. But the minute I walked in the door, I was hit with the raunchy smell of beer and Marlboros and I knew I was in for a rough night.
I barely made it through my bedroom door before he was on my back and punching me. Only a bitch hit a man from behind. I wanted to tell him what a bitch I thought he was, but instead, I stood my ground as he went in on me. He threw a few upper cuts to my ribs and I fell back against the paper-thin trailer wall. I messed up and moved my hands away from my face and he took the opportunity to land a hard punch straight to my right eye. An explosion of pain rang through my head and I dropped. When I woke up, it was two in the morning, the trailer door was wide open, and my dad was passed out in my mom’s chair.
I skipped school the next day since my right eye was blood red and surrounded by a mean-ass bruise. Instead of school, I went over to Finn’s so I could kick his ass for not showing up.