I get down to Noah’s car and reach for the handle before hesitating for just a second. His windows are tinted and all I can see is an outline of him within. Preferably, I would have liked to get a read on his eyes, see the emotion flicking within them, giving him away before diving in the deep end. I’m not that lucky. I guess I’m going in blind.
Taking a breath, I suck it up and pull open the door.
As I bend to step into the car, my eyes lift to his and I stop, faltering as I stare into a pair of dark eyes. “Rivers?” I grunt as a wave of disappointment washes over me, threatening to paralyze me.
“Geez, don’t look so disappointed,” he smirks.
“What are you doing in Noah’s car?” I ask, pulling myself together and coming down into my seat.
He gives me a sly grin, filled with a guilty amusement. “It’s the only one I could get my hands on that had gas,” he admits.
“Sounds about right.”
“Where’s Noah?” I question, hoping to finally get some answers.
His eyes cut across to me before he holds up his hands in surrender. “Nope. All I’ve heard for the last three days is ‘Where’s Henley? Do you think she’s alright?’ ‘Henley, Henley, Henley.’ I’ll say to you as I said to him – leave me the fuck out of it. If you want to smoke a fucking joint, that’s your business and if he wants to have the shits about it, that’s his. It’s got nothing to do with me.”
“Really, now?” I grin, sitting back in my chair and crossing my arms like a fucking boss. “So, you just happily volunteered to come pick us up?”
His brows furrow, unsure where I’m going with this.
“Rivers, I know I’ve only known you a short time, but it’s been enough time to know that you don’t just come and pick us up out of the kindness of your heart,” I tell him. “I don’t know how he did it, but Noah somehow manipulated you to do it cause he didn’t want us walking.”
He shakes his head while looking deep in thought. “Nah, he…he had something to do.”
“Like what?” I challenge. “If anything, he should have been in school.”
His brows furrow further. “That fucking prick,” he growls. “He involved me in this stupid bullshit.”
I grin. Adding salt to the wound for good measure. “He didn’t just involve you, he made you his chess piece and our chauffeur.”
He let’s out a deep sigh. “I swear, you two need to fuck and make up. I can’t imagine what it will be like when you guys have an actual fight about something that means something, not this trivial bullshit.”
His comments have me hesitating. This really is trivial bullshit. I should just apologize and promise not to do it again. I put myself in danger. I made myself vulnerable and because of that, I put Tully and Kaylah in the same position. Yeah, I need to apologize no matter how much fun it was.
“Damn it,” I growl low in my throat. I hate it when Rivers is right.
The back door is torn open before Tully comes barreling in. She takes one look at Rivers and scoffs as he watches her in the rearview mirror. “Let me guess,” she smirks with a cheesy grin and her eyes shimmering with emotion. “You were too cheap to go and get your own gas?”
Rivers continues watching her in the mirror as she stares right back, making me feel like the third wheel as I smother my laugh. “Something like that.”
Rivers starts the engine as Tully leans forward between the two front seats, watching him as he peels out of the student parking lot. “What’s going on? Did you get your ‘job’ done?”
His eyes nervously flick towards me before turning back to the road. “Would I ever leave a job undone?”
“Every fucking night,” she murmurs, her eyes blazing as she watches him.
His body stiffens, knowing exactly what she’s implying. “Babe,” he sighs. “You know that I-”
She cuts him off. “Truth or dare, Rivers?”
Shit. Not good. Despite the fact that I thought we were done playing ultimate truth or dare, I know she’s more than willing to take this somewhere neither of them are ready to go. Even if he picks ‘truth,’ she still has plenty of questions to ask.
His eyes widen a fraction as he quickly looks across at her, showcasing the slightest bit of panic bubbling up within him. “Tully,” he warns.
“Truth or Dare?” Tullu repeats.
He lets out a sigh. “Dare.”
The corners of her lips lift into a brief smile and it’s clear he’s playing right into her hands. She leans even further into the front, putting her nearly right beside him. “Take me home.”
When she says ‘take me home’ we all know she doesn’t mean drive her ass off and wave goodbye when she hops out of the car. She means so much more.