He pulled back, exhaling deeply then pressing a kiss to my forehead.“I wanna take you home.Now.”
“Okay.”
Neither of us moved, because to leave was to untangle our limbs and I just couldn’t yet.Instead, I wrapped my arms even tighter around his waist and rested my cheek against his chest.His heart thumped a steady beat that I could set my clock to.
Kissing my temple, he peeled out of my hold.“I’ll go grab our coats.Be right back.”
We snuck out the back door to the parking lot, and I retrieved my bag with the petition, double checked that my car was locked before sliding into the passenger seat of his SUV, as we pulled out of our parking spot.Benji’s supported cars staying overnight if it meant sober drivers, which I loved.It wasn’t exceptional for a small-town bar, but I’d gotten out of the practice of free parking.I did not miss paying for parking.
Counting Crows’Time and Time Againplayed on the speakers quietly, and I wondered, again, what had Remi in contemplation.
“This album has been playing a lot,” I said.
“It’s a good one,” he responded.
I resisted in pushing him further, but just barely.“It is.”
Remi rested his hand on my leg as he turned onto the road.It was good how natural it was to be touched by him.I hummed “ ...Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears off key, smirking at the memory of Remi doing the loosely ass smacking dance move she did in the music video earlier that night.This time, I hadn’t had to watch him smile and dance from across the bar, I’d been in the mix with all his friends.
This place was pulling me in, and it’d be easier to resist if not for Remi.
“Your Spears’ impersonation is pretty fucking good,” I mumbled.
He chuckled.“Yeah, I’ve got all her moves.”
“How did I not know?”
“I was such a scared little boy when you knew me.It’s a lot more fun to not be afraid of whether or not I’m man enough.”
“Oh, baby”—again, with the fake sexy voice—“you’re man enough.”
“I know that voice is a joke, but it’s fucking working.”
“God you’re easy,” I retorted.
“Are you calling me a slut?”
“Would you be into it if I did?”
He tilted his head, then said as if surprised, “I don’t think I would.”
“Holy smokes, did we just find a turnoff?”
“Well, I’ve had my slutting it up time in the past, but definitely not in the last few years.”He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye.“I think I just like you.”
Warmth unfurled in my stomach, tickling through me.Electricity zinged down my spine.It was anti-climatic and an absolute understatement to say I liked him back, but I did anyway.He squeezed my leg as we pulled into his driveway.
Laying my head back on the headrest, I closed my eyes.“I might have to go back to Chicago, so I stop drinking so much.”
I didn’t think anything of the quiet inside the car, filled with only the sounds of the wheels on the gravel coming to a halt, until Remi cleared his throat.“Might have to?”
“Hmm?”I asked opening my eyes.
“You might have to go back to Chicago?”He put the car in park, and turned in his seat to meet my eyes, but it was too dark for me to read anything from them.“You don’t know for sure?”
My jaw hung open for a few moments as my brain sloshed drunkenly back to the words that had come out of my mouth.“Well, I mean, I will be staying ...for the vote ...you know?”
He looked out the windshield again, a muscle flexed in his jaw, and he slipped his hand off my leg to turn the car off and grip the steering wheel in both hands.“Gotcha.”
