We escape the room in record time. Out in the parking lot, the chill air makes me shiver and I lean closer to Zach, who’s ready with his jacket. “You’re sure about this?” he asks and smiles as I nod. He holds the door open for me and makes sure my dress is entirely inside before closing the door with a soft thunk.
“I had all these plans,” he says, merging with the traffic. The school chose a central venue for the dance to discourage self-driving through lack of parking spaces, a trend that Zach bucked as neatly as he does all the others. “Despite all efforts to impress you with my wealth, you seem determined to remain unimpressed.”
“Your pop’s wealth, if I remember correctly.”
The banter comes so easily, it’s hard to remain on guard. After weeks of letting my thoughts run wild until they come home exhausted, it’s a treat to just deal with an actual person instead of the fictional multitudes inside my head.
Again, I steal glances while Zach drives. Without him constantly around, I’ve forgotten how the creases beside his eyes tilt upward; the trio of scars that split his right eyebrow; the way his left ear rests flatter than his right.
When we stop at the lights, he grabs my hand and presses a kiss on the inside of my wrist. “Any preference?”
“The closest?”
“A fantastic choice, madam.” He turns on his indicator, pointing to a sign across the road.
The restaurant is only half full, a few startled diners doing a double take at our finery. The laminated menus are too large to read comfortably but luckily, they’ve chosen to stick with the basics, so we don’t have to spend time choosing.
“Wine?”
I pull a face in answer. “You promised me a soft drink,” I remind him, ordering a diet cola instead.
“Are you…?” Zach leaves the sentence behind, frowning as he takes my hand in his. “Does this mean we’re okay?”
As though I know how to reply.
Ignoring the question, I push my place setting towards the window and slide along the booth, patting the seat beside me. “I don’t like sitting opposite. You’re far too handsome for your own good.”
“And here I thought that was the best thing about me.”
“Yeah. Probably not too far wrong there.” His arm settles around my shoulder, and I relax into his warmth. His jacket’s nice, but the heat rising from his body is a thousand times better. I kick off my shoes and curl my feet under me, snuggling as much as the booth allows. “That and your mad English skills.”
“Out me as a nerd, why don’t you?”
“Why d’you get kicked out of your previous schools?”
“I never found a girl as pretty as you there, so got bored. When I’m bored, I make trouble just for sheer entertainment value.”
“Yeah, but what’d youdo?”
“There are so many.” He leans into me more heavily, the weight welcome. “The first time they expelled me, it was for threatening a teacher.”
“Verbal?”
“Physical. I pinned him to the floor and screamed in his face that I’d kill his wife and children next.”
The image is so outrageous, I laugh. “What had he done?”
“Who said he’d done anything?”
“You did. I’ve never seen you act out for the sake of acting.”
Zach stills, staring down at the hand of mine he’s holding, rubbing the knuckles with his thumb as though they’re bruised instead of dry. “The kid next to me had a lisp. The teacher mimicked him. I don’t know if he intended to or if it was subconscious.”
“How old were you?”
“Eleven.”
“Did your dad drive straight to the principal’s office and demand to buy your place back onto the roll?”
