The Revenge Pact (Kings of Football #1) - Ilsa Madden-Mills Page 0,54
not asking for cupcakes, ice cream, and a chick flick. Go with it. Please.”
I roll down the windows and turn up the heat.
I glance over at her, taking in the soft curve of her face.
This is just one night. I can be a…friend.
I pull out onto the street and gun it, and she laughs as she jerks her hair out of its updo. She puts her arm out the window, hands riding the airstream. “That’s what I’m talking about!”
It feels a little forced, her sadness lingering just under the surface, but I’m here.
With her.
Waiting.
Several hours later, we’ve hashed out The Outsiders to the point where I feel like I lived the damn story myself. I didn’t tell her how I had to take notes on every chapter or that I listened to the audio and watched the movie version. We discussed the themes as we drove down every backroad in Walker, Georgia.
We ended up in the neighboring county, got lost once and had to pull up Google, almost ran over a raccoon, stopped to let her pee in the woods, had a debate about cats versus dogs (she’s pro-cat and I’m not), discussed how freaky Santa and the Easter Bunny really are, touched on Twilight versus Vampire Dairies. I had no skin in that game, but she laid it out for me for about an hour. The girl can talk. A lot. She wasn’t an Edward fan. Team Jacob all the way. I hung on every word she uttered but made a mental note to never watch either.
“Romance—bah,” I said, and she pretended to be mad.
She showcased her British accent, which sucks, and I did my interpretation of Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” (Mom’s favorite movie is Gone with the Wind.)
She begged for more.
“Bond. James Bond.”
She hooted.
“E.T. phone home,” I said in my best raspy alien voice.
“My precious,” was her Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
“I’m the king of the world,” I shouted with my free hand out the window.
Then I looked at her and did, “Show me the money,” and she countered with “You had me at hello.”
She’s more random than I realized.
Maybe it’s the late night, maybe it’s her heart breaking.
“We have more than just The Outsiders in common,” I told her.
I see you, Rainbow.
We got quiet during the last hour, one of those easy silences where you don’t have to say anything at all. I don’t have a lot of those. I talk to keep the world turning, and sometimes my head never shuts off, but with her, it’s different. She stills the erratic side of me, and I’m not sure why that is.
Maybe I do, but…
It was me and her and the dark road.
Now we’re parked at Henning Park, a rundown place near campus with old swings, rusted monkey bars, and seesaws that are falling apart. I glance around. This place needs to be cleaned up, new equipment and a fence, some landscaping. The frat needs a new project, and this is perfect for the pledges.
“This place needs some love,” she says, and I glance at her, taking in the tangles in her hair, and smirk.
“I was thinking the same thing.”
She tilts the rearview mirror at herself and gasps. “Holy shit. I’m shocked you didn’t chuck me out on the side of the road hours ago. Sorry I got us lost. Those backroads all look the same.”
“Mhmm.” It might have been one of the best nights I’ve had in a while.
She sighs and looks out the windshield to the park. “The east is that way. Up on the hill—that’s where we’ll go to watch the sun come up.”
“It’s kind of cold. You sure?” I ask, bemused at her idea.
“Heck yeah, Snake. Let’s go. Race you to the top.”
She dashes out of the truck and runs in her heels across the playground
I hang back and let her win, then join her at the top. I slide in next to her as she looks out over the rolling hills and trees. “How are we gonna do this?”
She checks her phone. “The weather app says it should come up any minute. We’ll do what Ponyboy did. We’re going to hold our breaths and wait for the sun to come up. You’re an athlete, right? You can go for, what, thirty seconds?”
“Baby girl, I can go way longer.”
She sends me a smirk. “You act all I’m a bad boy when you’re deflecting your emotions. You’re not fooling me. There’s depth to you.”