Playing Patience(55)

“I saw you two together last night in that corner.” She nodded to corner of the room. “Looked like more than friends to me.”

Finn came in and saved me from having to respond, but the truth was I didn’t know what the hell Patience was to me anymore. I just knew I didn’t do the girlfriend thing and if that’s what she was looking for, she was looking in the wrong place.

She quit coming to Boy’s Club. I guess she took what I said seriously when I told her to stay away. The week went by slow and it sucked entirely too much ass. We played The Pit on Friday night and I saw Megan, but still no Patience. So when I ran into her at Finn’s house party the following night, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tiny bit excited. I could see on her face that she was excited too.

“Long time no see, rich girl.” I teased her.

She rolled her eyes.

“My name’s Snowflake.” She grinned.

Damn, she was fun to flirt with.

“So did you miss me?” I nodded at my friend Connor who walked by and said hey.

“I missed you about as much as you missed me.”

I couldn’t help myself. I had to say something sweet.

“That much, huh? Damn, I must be pretty special.” I winked.

Her smile spread and I got a satisfied feeling. I liked making her smile. Something told me she didn’t do it often at home.

“Yeah, must be.” Her cheeks turned pink. She reached up and tucked her hair behind her ear shyly. “You guys should play. We need some music in here.”

She was right. The place was entirely too quiet.

“You just like to watch me play.”

“Maybe.” She shrugged and looked up at me through her lashes.

I loved it when she did that. She looked so fucking hot when she flirted. There was no more denying anything. I liked Patience, too damn much if you asked me, and I missed her. Damn, it was hard to admit that to myself, but worse things have happened.

We hung out together most of the night and I sneaked in a touch every now and again. Not once did she jerk away from me, and I was glad to see she was becoming comfortable with me. When Megan drank too much and passed out on Finn’s couch, I smiled to myself because I knew I’d get to take Patience home.

Once I got her in my car and we weren’t surrounded by a bunch of people, I could really turn up the flirting. Usually, I was the big flirt at Finn’s parties, but it hadn’t even occurred to me that I didn’t pay any attention to any of the other girls who were there. At one point, Stephanie, the redhead, even tried to throw herself at me, but I hardly noticed.

“I think she does this to me on purpose,” Patience said as she rolled down her window.

“Why would she leave you stranded on purpose?”

“I never get stranded because you always take me home. She only drinks too much when you’re around.” She peeked over at me.

That could only mean one thing.

“So she drinks too much to get us alone?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Did you tell her you liked being alone with me?”

I really hoped that was the case because I loved being alone with her.

“Not exactly in those words.”

“Then what did you tell her?”

My car felt too big. I wanted her to be closer to me. I looked over at her and her eyes connected with mine. It wasn’t safe to drive with her in the car. It was hard as hell to keep my attention on the road when she sat just a few feet away.

“It’s not important.” She shook her head.

“It is to me.”

And it was. It was entirely too important. Why the fuck was it so important?

We were getting closer to her house and it seemed like the closer we got, the more nervous she got. Something was definitely going on at her house. I wished to myself that she’d open up and tell me so I could help, but then again, I never talked about my problems at home so I couldn’t really expect her to talk about hers.

“Zeke?”

I loved the way she said my name—like an emotional plea, like I was the only thing she ever wanted to hold on to. It made me feel important; it made me feel needed.

“Yeah?”

She twisted the ends of her hair nervously. “Would you take me home?”

“I am taking you home, babe.”

I was hoping she’d say something else. I’m not sure what else I wanted to hear, but the way she said my name was so deep and desperate. I felt like there was something else she wanted to say to me.

“No, I mean will you take me to your home. Can I stay with you tonight?”

Just like that, my car shrunk five sizes and she felt so close I could feel her body heat against my side. What was she saying? Did she want to have sex with me? I couldn’t deny the fact that I’d been thinking about having sex with her from the word “go,” but there was a problem and the problem was I knew my dad would still be awake. I couldn’t take her there. I didn’t want her to see that.