“Wait,you’regiving me a ride?” I ask, balking. We hashed things out, but I’m not sure I entirely trust the guy.
“’Fraid so,” he says. “Hop in or not.”
I check my phone, where I see a message from Devlin telling me as much. When I look at Dixie, she smiles and nods eagerly, a yearning look in her eyes that tells me she wishes she could be in my shoes right now, going off to see the guy she loves. “You’ll be okay?”
“Dolly’s just changing,” she says. “She’ll be out any sec. Go, before your brothers see you.”
“Okay,” I say, giving her a wave and diving into Preston’s leather seat, my heart thudding at the thought of my brothers catching me. As far as they know, I leave after the games to go hang out with the girls—not their sworn enemy.
“I didn’t know you had a car,” I say to Preston, buckling up as he peels out of the parking lot.
He laughs. “It’s not New York, Honey Badger. Everyone has a car.”
“Not everyone,” I mutter. I haven’t been able to get away for more than a couple more driving lessons with Devlin, and I’m far from being ready to get my own car. We ride in silence.
“You know, I underestimated you,” Preston says after a bit, laying an arm along the back of my seat. “You seem all quiet and meek. I thought you’d be easy to break.”
I shrug. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“Oh, I wasn’t disappointed,” he says. “You were easy. I just didn’t expect you to break Devlin, too.”
I smile and turn to the window. “I didn’t break Devlin. I fixed him.”
Preston chuckles. “See, that’s what I mean. I expect the type of girl who would be proud to brag that she broke him. You know, one of those bitches who can’t stop boasting about how badass she is, when really she’s just a little brat who needs to be put in her place. But you…”
He takes a strand of my hair and winds it around his finger, a slow smile spreading over his lips. I think it’s the first time I’ve ever seen him smile, and even though it’s a small one, it matters. To me it does.
He raises my hair to his nose and inhales. “I think you always were in your place,” he says. “We tried to knock you down, but we couldn’t. Because you were always where you belonged. At the top, with us.”
“Wow,” I say. “Did the untouchable Preston Darling just admit he was wrong?”
“I’m not too proud to admit when I make a mistake,” he says. “I mean, it’s never happened before, so I can’t be totally sure, but I like to think I’m pretty self-aware.”
“So, you know you’re a complete psycho?”
He smiles again, this time even bigger, a real smile with teeth showing and everything. “Yeah, baby,” he says quietly. “I know.”
He turns to the road, and we ride the rest of the way in companionable silence. When we arrive, he drops his arm from the seat and turns back to me. “You know why I call you a honey badger?”
“Because it’s nicer than calling me a bitch?”
Preston’s mouth twitches with a smile, but it’s his eyes that get me. They’re so flinty, such a steely blue, but the smile reaches right to the center of them. Knowing I put that smile there feels like winning. “You’re small, you don’t look that intimidating, but mess with you, and damn.”
Before I can answer, he slides out of the car, coming around to open the door and holding out a hand to help me up. I hesitate to take it, to take any kindness from him. With him, everything feels like a trap. At last, though, I let him take my hand and pull me up. When I step out of the car, we’re standing face to face, his blue eyes so bright the color jumps out of the night.
He reaches up and tucks my hair behind my ears. “You know, I kinda wish I’d realized it before Devlin did.” He leans down, his fingers lingering below my ear as his lips skim mine.
I lay a hand on his chest and push him back. “Preston.”
He offers no resistance, stepping back from me until my hand falls away from him. He shrugs and says, “I had to do it once, Manhattan. I’ve never kissed a New York girl before.”
“I thought that was your sex bucket list.”
“Never kissed a girl I didn’t fuck.”
“Well, then I guess tonight will be a first,” I say. “I’m all Devlin’s.”
*