Becks laughed, quite aware of that fact. “I think it has more to do with how that movie makes me feel. Yes, there are better cinematic masterpieces.Saving Private Ryanor theGodfathertrilogy. But don’t even get me started onCoda,” she threw in. “At the end of the day, though,The Princess Brideis my favorite because it’s my go-to movie. I watch it when I’m happy or sad or sick or when I just need a break from reality. And I think that’s what makes a favorite movie over a great film.”
Ghost nodded slowly. “It would certainly help me fall asleep.”
Becks smacked his arm playfully. “How dare you, sir? Action, adventure, romance,andcomedy? How could you sleep through that?”
“Easily,” he answered.
Becks scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I don’t know if I should be offended or not.” She studied him a second before saying, “Fine, what’s your favorite movie?”
“Based on feeling, not plot?” he verified.
“They differ?” she asked, intrigued. It was rare that she met someone she could talk this in-depth with on movies, the second love of her life.
“You said it yourself, there are favorite movies and then there are masterpieces.”
Becks smiled. “Tell me both then.”
“Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” Ghost answered immediately. “It’s that feel-good movie for me, where I can just turn it onand forget the world around me. As for masterpieces,Blazing Saddles. They certainly don’t make them like that anymore.”
He carefully maneuvered the car around a semitruck that was going too slow. It made Becks look at the speed he was going. She hadn’t been paying attention, but he was barely going over the speed limit. Did he not speed normally or was he trying to make the ride last longer? And why, oh why, did she hope it was the latter?
They stoppedat a gas station about an hour outside of the city. Ghost had only ever been inside the Hartsfield-Jackson airport, but never driven up to it before. He hadn’t asked if they were going inside to meet her aunt or if the woman was going to be at the pickup area. It honestly didn’t matter.
Despite that it was Becks’ cage, Ghost insisted on paying for gas. When they went inside to grab something to drink and a snack, Ghost paid again.
“I can buy my own gas and food,” Becks insisted as they grabbed the plastic bag with their purchases.
“I don’t doubt that,” Ghost told her, stepping forward to hold the door open for her. “The point is, with me, you’ll never have to.”
Becks flushed, ducking her head slightly as they headed back to her cage. The universe did not have to take him so seriously when he’d had the absent thought about riding in a clown car with her. He really hoped her aunt didn’t have a lot of luggage or one of them might have to ride back on the roof.
They got into the cage, reorganizing the center console slightly. Now that they both had drinks, her phone had to find a new home.
“You say that like there will ever be another time in the future where you would be around to pay for my things.”
Her voice was low, but she stared at him like he had a crystal ball that could see her future. Like he was the crossing guard that could tell her whether she should turn left or right on the path of life.
But Ghost didn’t have those answers. For the past two hours, they’d talked nonstop. It was so easy, completely effortless. They hadn’t just discussed movies either. Becks told him about her childhood and her father, even about how hard it was when ‘Liam’ had joined the military and went away. They also talked about her feelings towards the man she called her ‘sperm donor’, and how she wished he stepped on aLegoa day for the rest of his life.
Ghost kept silent about his suspicions that her brother had already ended the man’s life.
She asked him about being a SEAL. He appreciated the respect she had for his position, likely derived from her brother also serving in the Special Forces. There were just some things he couldn’t talk about. She asked about the training and the endurance and his favorite part about being a SEAL. Her inquiries and reactions were honest, lacking the morbid fascination people had with violence and destruction.
The one thing they did not discuss, though, was the invisible elephant riding in the cage with them.
There were moments—so pleasant that they hurt once reality came roaring back to him—where he could forget that the ring on her finger wasn’t his, that they weren’t on their way to pick up her aunt fortheirwedding. Why did talking with her feel so right? Sure, her voice was incredible, unique. The fact that it was in person instead of a recording over an app certainly had its appeal, but that couldn’t be it. There had to be more.
A part of him wondered if it would have been better if they’d traveled in complete silence. Would parting ways with her be easier if he didn’t know so much more about her? Or perhaps it would have been better to have found fault in something she said? Was it too much to ask for the woman to be racist, or homophobic, orsomethinghe could despise enough to break this hold she had over him?
And for her to ask him about the future?
Ghost didn’t turn her cage on. He’d never been a coward in his life, and yet he had no idea if it was cowardly to keep his mouth closed. But it was so selfish to open his mouth, to say what he was thinking and feeling. There was an argument to be made thatshecouldn’t make an informed decision without knowing all the facts. Yet that ring on her finger glared up at him, reminding him that her decision had already been made.
Instead, he turned in the seat to look at her. How incredible would it be if he had the right to reach over and touch her face? As they’d walked into the convenience store, he’d placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her through the door. Then again, after last night, would something as simple as holding her hand really be crossing a line?
“I won’t be a second choice,” he eventually told her, “and you shouldn’t settle for being so either. But if you want me in your life, Rebel, all you have to do is say the word.”
He saw the flush on her cheeks, the dilation of her green eyes, the shortness of her breath, and he knew she wanted.
