“So soon?” Mom whines.
“Ma, they been here all fucking day. Let the kids go play,” my brother, Leo, says, giving me a wink.
“Scout? It was great to meet you, and welcome to the family,” Dad says while giving her a side hug.
I gather her fist in mine and shove her in front of me and out the door. Otherwise, we’ll never get out.
“See you at the wedding!” Mom calls out, tears filling her eyes.
“Okay, I didn’t think we’d escape. She’ll keep you there and make you go over every detail, and we’d never get away,” I tell Scout, who goes quiet.
When we get in the car, she’s shivering again. So I blast the heat, grip her hands, and blow on them. Her blue eyes watch me as I do, and she trembles, thighs quivering beneath her coat.
“Your family, uh, is big.”
“It is.”
“And very welcoming.”
I nod. “They are.”
“And I’m a little bit intoxicated.”
I chuckle. “That will happen.”
With the sudden realization that I’m clutching her hands so close to my mouth, my lips tingle with the urge to kiss her fingers. And maybe it’s because her face is dancing with something that looks like desire that makes me do it. Slowly and carefully. Relishing the sensation of her skin on mine.
Her lips part as she gasps. But she doesn’t pull away.
“Can I show you something?” My whisper tingles the air, filling the space between us until there’s almost none left.
Her long neck tenses with her swallow. Just as delicately, she responds, “Yes.”
I place our hands on my thigh, pretending I’m just trying to warm hers up by rubbing the back of it.
She settles in as I pull toward the main road, then glances at me before flipping the radio station to some popular song I think I’ve heard blasting over store speakers before.
The kitschy tune irritates me. And when she starts quietly singing the words incrediblyoff pitchunder her breath, I bite back a laugh. It’ssobad.
“What?” she asks, a fierce look on her face.
“Keep singing.”
“You’re making fun of me.”
She tries to pull her hand back, but I don’t let her.
“Actually, I’m fucking loving it.”
Her dark brown hair falls over her shoulder as she tilts her head at me. “Really?”
“Yeah. It’s nice to see you be terrible at something.”
With a giggle, she jerks her arm away, only to slap mine. Not hard. But enough that I finally release my chuckle that matches hers.
I reach across the car as she attempts to cross her arms. I shove one finger between her balled-up fist and force her to touch me that way. Even when I need to put the car in park, I reach with my opposite hand to do so. All because I refuse to let go.
“You’re ridiculous,” she laughs.
