under the counter, and place the notepad and pen I used in the drawer Autumn showed me. I peek into the kitchen to tell Ron I’m heading home. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Ron, and thanks again for letting me work here.”
Ron wipes tiredly over his forehead. “Sure thing, Kid. Are you okay to walk home by yourself this late?”
I’m not thrilled about it, but it’s just a twenty minute walk. I’m sure I’ll be safe. “Yeah, home’s just around the corner.”
I wave at the girls standing by the counter and walk to the door. I glance in Seth’s direction and with a sinking stomach I see he’s left already. I missed him! I so badly wanted one last glance to fill my dreams with tonight.
Hayden’s eyes land hard on me and he gets up from the table. He stalks in my direction and I quickly push the door open and run. My heart starts to pound as the door dings behind me, indicating that someone just opened it.
“Wait up, bitch! I’m not done with you yet,” Hayden growls behind me.
I glance over my shoulder and when I see how close he is, I let out a small shriek. I run into something solid and would’ve fallen if a pair of hands didn’t take hold of my arms. My fingers dig into the material in front of me and an earthy scent surrounds me.
I look up and am shocked to see who I ran into. Seth glares over my head at Hayden. I’ve never seen him look angry before. My mouth dries right up and my body tenses. The realization hits hard – I’m inches from Seth! I’m touching Seth. I’m touching the very chest I was wondering about earlier. He’s rock hard, just like I thought he’d be.
Seth is touching me! Oh, my gosh! I’m freaking touching Seth!
I’m still struck with stunned wonder when Seth growls, “I told you to leave her be!”
My head whips around and I see Hayden is just as stunned as me that Seth is once again standing up for me. “She’s just a girl! I can’t believe you keep defending her. I see how it is,” Hayden snaps, clearly upset that he can’t get his revenge with me. He turns around and stalks back to the diner, not saying another word.
Warm fingers brush my cheek, and I feel the tingle deep in my belly. Seth takes hold of my chin and lifts my face until our eyes meet. His eyes look black in the dark, but I know they’re blue. Looking into his eyes is like finding my own personal heaven.
I realize my fingers are still tightly bunched in his shirt and I let go quickly. I drop my hands lamely to my sides and swallow hard. I’ve dreamt about this moment for so many nights and now that it’s here, I don’t know what to do. And I smell like diner food! That sucks.
“You okay?” Seth asks and I can only nod.
I swallow again and I swear I can hear the lump go down my throat. Scared that he’ll feel me swallowing, I gently pull my face from his grip. “Thank you,” I whisper, a cloud of embarrassment settling over me. I must look like such a wuss. Twice in one day I’ve run away from a fight, and Seth was there to witness both times.
“I’ve never seen you around here. I’m Seth.” He drops his hands, too, and we both just stand under the bright light of the diner, staring at each other.
I clear my throat nervously. “Yeah, I know. We ride the same bus, and go to the same school,” I blurt out. “You live up the street from me.” My cheeks flush scarlet. I practically just told him that I’ve been stalking him. Can this night get any worse?
“You’re joking?” He looks stunned by the news. He points over his shoulder in the direction of the RV park. “Can I walk you home?”
My cheeks flush again, but this time it’s because Seth is actually talking to me. I drop my eyes from his and tuck my hands deep into my jeans’ pockets. “Won’t your friends miss you?” I ask as we start to walk.
The shadows of the night swallow us and I become intensely aware of the boy next to me. I match my footsteps to his.
“Nah, they won’t.” I hear him take a deep breath and my mind races for something to say. “Look,” he starts, sounding a bit unsure,