"Fuck…" she gasps, stunned I can still accomplish such a rare feat.
She wipes her hairline, not exactly enough time for her to begin sweating from the heat, but more so because she's still delirious with pleasure.
"I need to go back out there," she says. "Umm, you'll still give me a ride home?"
"Of course."
"Okay… Okay. I'll find you later?"
"Sure."
She hurries past me as I walk to the front of the counter and collect the milkshake.
Taking a small sip, I'm hit with a deluge of memories. It tastes exactly how it did ten years ago: sweet and delicious. Exactly the same as the woman who made it.
Bennyapproachesandwhispersin my ear, "How strange, the cameras malfunctioned for like ten minutes."
I offer him an image of innocence as I flatten out the front of my dress. I'm bare under here, and I don't need a cool breeze offering everyone a glimpse at my southern regions.
Drinks weren't served for the last twenty minutes to give guests an opportunity to recuperate from the strong pours. So during the last ten minutes of the movie, Benny, Chase, Tawny, and I prepare everything to be hauled inside.
"Lord, that was fun," Benny exclaims once everything looks as it was prior to this evening. "Need a ride home?"
"If Theo is still around, he offered."
"Did he leave you stranded? I haven't seen him," Tawny points out.
"He was around the front picking up the trash some assholes left," Chase informs us.
"That boy. What a doll. Just like old times." Benny gives me a sickly sweet smile. "Except back then, he did it with a scowl on his chubby little face."
My phone beeps from my purse, and I check the incoming text.
"Looks like my ride is ready. We're all good, yeah?"
"Yep, go on. Be good. I'll see you Thursday morning?"
"I'll be there."
Theo's car approaches, and my heart plummets into my intestines. Fuck, what are we doing? I can't make up my goddamn mind around him. He makes me want to do things where we have the potential to get caught, and part of mewisheswe would. I need the reminder that this is not who I'm supposed to be having a rebound with. Anyone but my stepbrother.
When I make my way to his car, I see him getting out of the driver seat and into the passenger side.
"Hey, is someone else driving us?"
"Yes, you."
"Me?" My entire chest has already gone through an ambush with the stunt we pulled. Now he wants me to operate his treasured car? Commence an unsteady heart rate…now.
"Thought you'd want to feel how powerful and fast this thing can go."
I'm mumbling under my breath, something along the lines of: ohmygodohmygod. I was curious how this car would handle, but never imagined driving it myself.
"You're good, right?" he confirms once I sit in the driver seat. He's asked me that three times, and each time I answer, I'm misleading him. No, I'm not good. I'm going out of my mind with worry and wonder and basically every emotion there is because he elicits that from me.
"Yes," I nearly croak. "What if I crash? What if I can't handle it?"
"I'll be right here, don't worry. It's late anyway. We'll take the coast home."
