He pulled out on to the road. “My parents are getting a divorce. They kicked me out of the house so they could try to kill each other in private. The car was to make them feel better.”
Oh, wow. Suddenly I saw him in a new light, as more than the super talented drummer with good biceps and a tattoo. He had a life and parents and baggage like I did. “That’s a major bummer. The divorce thing, not the car.”
He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
I wished I could be that chill about my life. Was he for real, or did it actually bother him? “So, where do you live, then? Did they really kick you out?” I couldn’t imagine my parents throwing me out. I would freak.
“With my aunt.”
I couldn’t help the heebie-jeebies from crawling down my spine. “Seriously? You actually live with Miss Jespersen?”
“Yep.” He eased to a stop at a red light, rested his forearms on the steering wheel and turned his head toward me. “What’s your story?”
He had dark brown flecks in his green eyes, I realized. His eyelashes were so thick and long I wanted to touch them to see if they were my imagination. “Story about what?” My gaze drifted to his mouth, and his lips. Were they soft? What would it be like if he kissed me? Would he—
“Child prodigy on your good days, piece of dirt on your bad ones,” Rafe quoted as the light turned green and he began to drive again. “What’s up with that?”
Oh, that. Right. My life was not about Rafe kissing me. It was about failing to make the grade. “I play the piano. My parents and your aunt have high hopes for me, but I’m failing miserably.” I chewed my lower lip and watched the trees flash by. Suddenly, the afternoon didn’t seem so warm and sunny anymore. Why did Crusty and piano have to follow me everywhere? Couldn’t I just enjoy a ride from a cute guy and not have it tainted?
“You seem pretty talented to me.” He sounded totally genuine, not trying to suck up to me, and it made me smile.
I glanced at him, but he was checking out the rear view mirror, not me. “Maybe you can drop a hint to your aunt over dinner so she’ll back off,” I teased, only half kidding
“Maybe I will.” He turned on his blinker. “Right here?”
“Yep.” We fell silent for a while, while I frantically tried to think of something to say that would impress him. All I could come up with was to compliment him on his drumming. Bo-ring. Think of something brilliantly interesting.
He turned on the radio and started flipping through stations. Great. I was so boring that he was giving up on conversation. Then he grinned and turned it up. “Great song.”
It was another JamieX song, an older one that still rocked. “I love this song!” I started singing along immediately.
He flicked me a surprised look. “You’re—”
“A terrible singer. I know.” I turned it up to drown me out more. “Good thing I can play an instrument, huh?” I started singing again.
After a second, Rafe started singing too. His voice was like the sound of a jack hammer at three in the morning when you were trying to sleep.
I immediately whooped and hit him on the shoulder. “You’re awful, too!”
He grinned at me, his dimples completely adorable and out of character with his full-arm tattoo and leather jacket. “Good thing I can play an instrument, huh?”
I giggled, a warm bubbly feeling exploding through me. “I think you’re even worse at singing than I am, and that’s nothing to be proud of.”
He laughed, a deep, warm sound that filled me with the most amazing feeling of giddiness. I realized it was the first time I’d ever seen him laugh. He’d been cute when he was doing the uber-serious mysterious bad boy expression, but he was beyond gorgeous when he was happy. “You’re definitely a worse singer than I am,” he said.
“No way. You’re insanely jealous of my incredible voice.” I cranked the radio even more and starting singing louder.
He joined in, and we sang the rest of the way to my house. We didn’t even stop when we hit the stoplight in the town center and there were kids standing on the sidewalk five feet away. They were making fun of us, and we kept right on singing.
Yeah, those girls were eyeing Rafe. Too bad for them. I was the one making bad music with him, and it rocked!
He pulled into my driveway and turned down the radio. His cheeks were sort of flushed and he was grinning.
I was so psyched. What an awesome time! “Thanks for the ride, Rafe.”
“Anytime, Lily.” He raised his brows, his eyes sparkling with laughter. “Despite what my aunt says about you, you’re not too bad.”