The gravel roadcontinued for five miles down the road before turning back to pavement. We drove by endless cornfields and rolling hills until finally civilization could be seen again.
And by civilization, I meant a gas station, a bar, the remains of a post office and a diner. These buildings belonged to some town, but even though I was relatively local, I had no idea which town.
Troy parked the station wagon at the edge of the lot where he would be the least likely to run over unsuspecting pedestrians and we all piled out.
“Have you been here before?” Gina asked Mikey. I could hear the skepticism in her voice.
This looked like the kind of place that served dog instead of beef on greasy plates that were never quite clean enough to eat off of.
“Sure,” he agreed. “This place is boss.”
Gina crossed her eyes at me. I bit down on my lip to keep from laughing. Of course, this wouldn’t just be an easy ride to Battle of the Bands. Of course, we’d have to go through all of this.
Griffiti’s was the most crucial haunt for all Wharing students. It was an eighteen and older club run by an old biker named Mad Dog that had lost his leg to some infection. He couldn’t ride anymore, so he opened a bar. When he couldn’t make enough money to pay the bills, he’d started carding and opened the doors to the younger, college crowd.
Wharing was only a thirty minute bus ride to Grafitti’s, but you had to have a ride home if you wanted to stay late. State College was thirty minutes in the opposite direction.
Mad Dog had no problem paying his bill these days.
College kids loved this place, Gina and me especially—although because of our lack of transportation, we didn’t get here as often. And we had never taken a detour to this dive.
Troy held the door for us and Mikey and Gina walked in first.
I wrinkled my nose, afraid of where this night was going. “You sure this place is legit?”
He smiled down at me. “I’ve been coming here my entire life.” He lifted up his white t-shirt in a brazen display of muscle and lean body. His abs flexed and I had to hold my hands behind my back to keep from tracing the lines. “You’ll be safe, Carmichael. There’s nothing to worry about.”
When I continued to stare at his abs, he dropped his shirt and nudged the underside of my chin with two of his fingers. I reluctantly lifted my gaze to his.
His eyes were warm, the deepest blue I’ve ever seen. “See something you like, Cass?”
The small tilt to his lips told me he was teasing me, but the rasping in his voice made my knees weak.
“I’m just hungry,” I whispered.
His head dipped down and his scent and body heat and overwhelming aura enveloped me. “Me too.”
“You guys gonna stand in the door all day or can we eat?” Mikey shouted from a vinyl booth against the window, breaking the spell that had captured us both.
I shook my head and tried not to trip over my own feet as I moved into the diner. Fall had turned cool in our neck of the woods and the closer the sun dipped toward setting, the crisper the night got. I was thankful for the warm diner and the smell of coffee in the air.
We walked by a table with a mom and two kids. One of them had the syrup bottle in hand and a huge plate of strawberry covered waffles. Troy was right. Those waffles looked bomb.
Troy shot me a smug wink over his shoulder and mouthed, “Told you.”
I stuck my foot out and kicked the bottom of his shoe in the middle of his step. His leg flailed and he nearly face planted on the black and white checkered floor.
“You’re in for it now, Carmichael,” he growled playfully. Spinning around faster than I had ever seen anyone move, he lunged for me.
I jumped back, shocked by this man and his superhuman reflexes. What had I just done? “Leave me alone!” I squeaked, but it was ruined by my smile.
“Not a chance.”
He grabbed me around the waist and tossed me over his shoulder, spinning me around wildly. I kicked my legs in the air to keep from hitting anything with them and held onto his shoulders for dear life.
By the time a waitress appeared I was screaming and laughing and gasping for breath.
“Troy Albert Cameron, you put that poor girl down right now before you scare all my customers away!”
