Playing Patience(31)

Thankfully, she didn’t respond or make me explain. Because of that, I instantly liked her more. Most women would have questioned and beat that confession to death, not Patience. She was much too good for that. Instead, she smiled back at me and then jumped up and went to play ball with the boys. Again, I enjoyed the gym shorts view for the rest of my hour.

Afterward, when I saw her sitting on the sidewalk, I just pulled up and she opened the passenger-side door and got in. I didn’t have to ask and she didn’t pretend like she didn’t need a ride. I’m not sure why I did it. My gas hand was low and I didn’t have two dimes to rub together, but it just felt like the right thing to do.

The drive to her house was a quiet one and again, I appreciated the fact that she was so different from most girls. Most girls couldn’t sit and enjoy a peaceful ride with just the radio on low. Most girls felt the need to pollute the silence with overdramatic nonsense. Not Patience. She stared out the window and every now and again I’d catch her nodding her head to the music and smile. She had a beautiful smile, one chock-full of honesty and genuine sweetness. I liked to see her smile.

Once we got closer to her house, that smile slipped from her lips.

“You can let me out here,” she said as she leaned up like she was ready to dart from my car.

“I can take you all the way. I don’t mind.” I continued to drive.

“No, please just stop the car here.” She suddenly seemed tense and annoyed.

I pulled over onto the side of the road and turned toward her.

“What’s the deal?” I asked.

Better question, why did I care? If she wanted to get out of my car, then by all means, get the fuck out, but something wasn’t right. Something was off. She went from peaceful and smiley to tense and worried in a matter of seconds.

“Nothing, I just feel like jogging from here.” She turned to get out and sent me a big fake smile.

I reached out and grabbed her arm. A quick moment of terror rushed through her expression and then melted away just as quickly. She’d done the same thing earlier when I touched her hand to show her how to play the guitar. It was brief, but I didn’t miss it.

“Cut the shit, snowflake. What’s going on?” I asked.

She sat back, looked up at the ceiling of my car, and sighed.

“My dad told me to stay away from you.”

I took a minute to celebrate the fact that she didn’t try to correct me on her name. I liked snowflake. It fit her so well.

“Gotcha. You should definitely listen to what Daddy says.” I grinned over at her.

“Yeah, it’s just easier I guess.” She shrugged.

“Although…” I leaned over closer to her. Her unique smell swarmed around me. “What’s the fun in that?”

She looked up at me through her long lashes and took a deep breath. I liked that I affected her. It was only fair since she affected me. I wanted to move in closer. I wanted to touch her. Mostly because she was so damn untouchable and I had a rebellious streak in me that was ten miles long, but also because I was starting to wonder stupid shit. Shit like what her hair felt like and if her cheek was as soft as it looked.

I needed a swift kick in the ass. What would my boys think if they could hear my thoughts?

Then she caught me off guard by reaching up and running her finger across my lip ring. Her fingertip felt soft against my lip and some strange part of me that I didn’t know wanted to kiss her fingertip. It was the most out of character thing ever… for me, and I think for her, too. Nothing shocked me anymore and it was strange that something so innocent managed to.

She pulled her hand back like my mouth was full of snakes and then looked away from me. She reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but it was as defiant as I felt and it slipped back out. I reached up and captured it in my fingers. Her hair was indeed as soft as it looked. I didn’t miss the odd expression on her face as I tucked the piece of hair behind her ear again. I should have stopped there, but instead, I ran my finger down her baby-soft cheek.

“What is this?” Her voice cracked.

The question brought me back to myself and I snatched my hand away. I did the first thing I could think of that would make the moment disappear. I leaned back and grabbed the crotch of my pants.

“What this? Come here. I’ll show you.”

The glazed look in her eyes vanished and she glared over at me. Without saying another word, she popped open my door and jumped out. I watched as she started to jog toward her house. I waited until she was in her yard before I pulled away.

Ten minutes later, I was stranded on the side of the road out of gas and waiting for Finn to bring me some. An hour and about ten text messages and phone calls later, I finally gave up on Finn and called my dad. He wasn’t too happy about having to bring me gas. When he got there, he said nothing to me. He pulled up, rolled his window down, and pushed a red can of gas out the window at me. I took it from him and watched as he pulled away.