“Help Stick navigate, will you, Jane?” Lucas said as he pulled the front seat back into position. “Stick, Jane. Jane, Stick. Hey, Stick and Jane,” Lucas said, and I smiled.
Stick and Jane did not. Jane gave Stick her “don’t even think about it” look and Stick shot back a “you wish” glare.
Lucas grinned and sat back in the seat next to me.
Jane was obviously taking one for the team, and being an excellent wingwoman, because the way she looked at Stick—and she looked him completely up and down—said she’d rather be anywhere than next to him in a car that he was driving.
“Our dorm is the other way,” Jane said when Stick took a left at the next corner, taking us away from campus and into Schoolport proper.
“Who said we were heading to your dorm?” Stick said, though he didn’t look at her.
I could hear—feel—Jane’s sigh, but I didn’t care. Because I could also feel Lucas’s presence next to me.
“Hey,” he said in nearly a whisper.
“Hi,” I whispered back, then ducked my head, embarrassed by my breathlessness. There was no disguising my desire from my voice.
I felt his finger on my chin, lifting my face, tilting it toward his. I looked up, met his brown eyes.
“Hi,” he said, more firmly this time, and with such a soft, sweet smile that I felt it shimmer all the way through me.
“Hi,” I said, more sure of myself this time. I was not alone in this. He felt it too.
“Do you need to get back to your dorm?” he asked.
I glanced at Jane’s back and saw just the tiniest of headshakes from her, though she didn’t say a word.
I’d owe her big time for tonight—a price I was more than willing to pay.
“No. We don’t need to get right home,” I said, Lucas’s finger still on my chin. He nodded, then took his hand away, but not before he gently placed the finger on my bottom lip.
“Good,” he said softly. Then, more loudly, “Stick, let’s take a drive to the west side. I’m looking for some inspiration.”
“You got it,” Stick said, and roared the engine as we headed to the other side of Schoolport.
And I wondered why Lucas needed to be inspired.
And I hated to admit it, but I desperately wanted to be part of that inspiration.
Chapter5
We drove for a while,past campus, past the nice area of downtown (small as it was), through the sketchy area of downtown (bigger), and to the downright scary area of the small city.
“God, this town is a total shithole,” Jane remarked. She said the exact same words my father had told me when he’d dropped me off: “Stay on campus, Lily. This town is a shithole.”
There was the same amount of judgment in both their voices.
“Well, not all of us were born with silver spoons,” Stick said to Jane.
“Only half of a silver spoon. And it doesn’t make the town any less of a shithole…asshole. What kind of car is this, anyway? I feel like I’m in a bad ’70s cop show.”
“This is a 1970 Dodge Charger,” Stick said with obvious pride. “Restored to its original glory. An American classic.”
“Yeah, a classic, all right…classic case of bad taste in cars.”
And they were off. The verbal volleys flying fast and furiously between them. I’d heard Jane reduce guys to stammering idiots with her quick acid tongue, but Stick gave it right back to Jane.
Lucas smiled listening to them. “Fun with Stick and Jane,” he said quietly to me. I returned his smile, stunned by the brilliance of his, the absolute transforming power of his smile, from broody tough guy to—dare I say—sweet.
