Page 50 of Wrecked

Adam bites down on his lower lip, his eyes roaming around my face. “You’re better than this town. You were supposed to leave here and make something of yourself.”

I step back, a sick feeling taking over my stomach. What he’s saying is exactly what everyone thinks. I’m a nobody, a worthless bar rat who doesn’t know better. That is why I keep my passions to myself.

He reaches out and grabs my arms, pulling me back toward him. His chin dips down to mine, his piercing gaze steadfast into my soul. “I know now that I was wrong. That night in the station, you proved me wrong. Last week, you proved me wrong. Today, you shattered me with my ignorance. You’re still the same smart, savvy, crazy girl I did everything I could to see all those years ago.”

“I thought you were just being a good friend.”

“Nothing about what I was doing back then was being a good friend.”

My mouth falls open, and my heart literally stops beating. Okay, not literally, but whatever.

“What about now?” I ask tentatively. “Can we be friends?”

I watch as his body stiffens. Apparently, it was the wrong question to ask. He releases me and turns around. I lift my thumb and bite my nail. It’s not like I need more friends. I have plenty. Never have I ever had someone who didn’t want to be my friend. I’m pretty amazing, fun, extraordinary. There are people practically lined around the corner to—

“Do you want to get something to eat?” he asks.

I drop my thumb and look up to him. His back is still to me, but his chin is turned into his shoulder.

“Yes,” I answer too quickly. “I mean, yeah. Sure.”

He pulls his keys from his pocket and starts walking down the stairs. I look down at my paint-splattered yoga pants and tank top.

I gather my things and make my way toward his truck. “I just have to stop home and freshen up.”

He opens his door. “Don’t worry. Where I’m taking you, no one will see you for miles.”

chapter ELEVEN

We drive down Old West Highway, past the park where Victoria slammed my car into a tree and past the school where my dad teaches English Literature. Ahead, there’s an airfield that was once a military base but is now used for limited commercial flights.

The fast-food bag is warm on my thighs. We stopped and grabbed two cheeseburgers—his a double bacon, both with fries.

“Are we going to the airport?” I sip my chocolate shake up the straw.

“You really take this dessert first thing seriously.” He lets out a smile. A gorgeous sideways grin that makes me sip harder on my straw. “You don’t think I’d let you die on my watch, do you?”

“I’m having visions of you chopping up my body and leaving it in pieces along the runway.”

“Leah, that’s ridiculous,” he says as we pull up to a gate. “I’d leave you on Blackford Farm. There’s a large swamp uninhabited by animals and impenetrable to humans. I, however, have a secret pathway into it. They wouldn’t find you for weeks.”

I lean over and hit him, the bag nearly falling off my lap. “You’ve totally thought of this before!”

He laughs. It’s thick and booming. “I’m a cop. Chase enough bad guys, and you start to think like one.” He leans in and whispers out of the side of his mouth, “Don’t worry. I think I like you too much to off you.”

He gets out of the truck and jogs up to the gate. Using a key, he undoes the dead bolt and swings the massive gate open toward us. He hops back in the truck and drives through, only to get out again and return the gate to its original locked position.

I look around at the Do Not Enter signs and No Trespassing: Violators Will Be Prosecuted warnings. “Are we allowed in here?”

“I have a key.”

“And I’m sure it was given to you for a greater purpose than…what exactly are we doing here?”

This time, I get the full-teeth, even-glorious-in-the-dark smile. “Having dinner.”

I sit back and let him take the truck to a spot about a hundred yards off to the side of the end of a runway.

When the truck is parked, he leaves the key in the ignition and gets out, closing the driver’s door behind him. He grabs some blankets from the backseat and walks to the back of the truck. He unhitches the tailgate and climbs up to spread the blankets out. He jumps down and then comes back around the side of the truck.