Drive(33)

“I smoke when I feel like it.”

“Why don’t you just quit?”

“Why don’t you just let me smoke?” he said as he watched me execute a heel turn.

He shoved his cigarette between his lips and did a slow clap, and I gave him a wink.

“So, what’s your type? You obviously like blondes.”

“Women who don’t ask a lot of questions.”

“Har, har,” I said as I leapt into him, purposefully knocking the cigarette out of his hand.

He let out a grudge-filled chuckle. “You little asshole.”

“Seven minutes of your life I just saved you, Crowne. A cigarette takes that much off your heartbeat, buddy.”

“That’s a myth, pal,” he said, opening the passenger door.

“What if it’s the best seven minutes of your life? That’s two songs. I saved you two songs, Reid Crowne. Someday, you’ll thank me for it.”

He shut the door and took the driver’s seat, as if it was the most natural thing. I stared at him across the seat. “Well, I’m sorry if she hurt you.”

He sighed as he started the truck. “We hurt each other.”

“What happened?”

He sat back and winced, as if he was trying to see something through the wheel. “It was good and then it was bad. Too much static. Too much chaos. I got tired and she got pissed.”

“You really loved her,” I said as I watched him trace the steering wheel with his finger, touching every groove.

“There was love. There were a lot of things.”

“And then?”

“We crashed.”




Despite my protest, Reid drove us back to the complex and parked Neil’s truck.

“Wait here, okay?”

He nodded as I made double time up the stairs and opened the door to silence. I made quick work of dumping Neil’s keys and changing into a T-shirt, shorts, and Chucks. I grabbed four beers from the fridge and walked back down the steps, motioning for him to join me on a large patch of grass on top of a hill between apartment buildings.

“I’m not tired, you?” I asked as he shook his head, followed me into the grass, and sat next to me. I popped a beer and handed it to him.

“God, I hate this heat,” I said as I piled my hair on top of my head and fastened it before I downed the beer. Reid glanced around the complex and then back to Paige’s apartment.

“You scared of my sister?”

“Only when she’s pissed,” he said with a chuckle.

“I agree. She’s scary. She shrieks.”

“I’ve only seen it once. I’m good with only seeing it once.”

We laughed and clinked our beers.

“You met at work?”

“Yeah,” he said as he leaned back on his elbows and crossed his boots. He surrounded me with his length.

“You two are nothing alike,” I told him.

“I like being around her. She’s grounded and she smiles a lot. She’s easy.”

I couldn’t help but take offense. “Opposed to the big mouthed sister who’s loud and opinionated.”

“Most definitely,” he said smugly, “but don’t go changing to please me.”

“Oh, I won’t,” I snapped, taking the beer from him and drinking it. He took another one from the pile and popped it.

“So, that’s it, a quiet woman who smiles a lot? That’s your dream woman?”

“Guess so.”

“Never pegged you for simple.”

“Now there’s a word. Simple. My favorite fucking word. I’ll take that.” I heard the sad edge of his words and nudged him.

“You’ll have that cast off soon, and then you can make life your bitch. Two weeks.”

“Let the countdown begin.”

I lay on my back and looked up at the few stars the night sky allowed us. “I thought it would be different, moving here. I thought it would be more exciting. Real freedom, you know? But I have since learned being free involves its own chains. My sister acts like a ninety-year-old woman. She cooks dinner at eight o’clock and is in bed by eleven. What the hell is that, Reid?”

He looked over at me as I stuck out my lip. “This is totally boring.”

“She got it all out of her system, I guess.”

“They’ll get married. I know it.” I studied Reid. “She’s going to marry Neil. And then what?”

“And then whatever they want,” he said as he took a long swallow and laid his head next to mine.

“Not me. I’ll have take-out every other night, stay up past midnight every day, get my passport stamped, eat weird shit, do things that scare me. I want to burn out.”

“You don’t say,” Reid said, a huge grin spreading across his face.

“Hell yes! I want to do something amazing, something groundbreaking. And I’ve already set the timer.” I turned on my stomach, forearms perched as I looked down at him. “I will do the impossible by the time I’m twenty-nine.”

“What’s that going to be?”

I gave him my biggest smile. “Wait and see.”





Umbrella

Rhianna/Jay-Z