Once we’re settled in the car and she’s holding the food so it doesn’t spill on my leather seats, I take off.
“Do we have to go home straight away?” She turns to me, surprising me with her question.
“No. It’s still early, I guess. What do you want to do?”
Her face lights up and she points to the road ahead, “Just stay on this road for fifteen minutes. Then I’ll let you know when to turn off.”
She’s not going to tell me? It’s a freeway, so fifteen minutes is a long way, and I’m impatient. I drop the gear and floor it, throwing her back in her seat.
Her gorgeous laugh lifts the last of the dark cloud. “Okay, maybe make that eight minutes down the road.”
That makes me laugh, and what a contrast it is from only a few hours ago.
“So, are you gonna give me a hint of where we’re going?”
“Nope.” She doesn’t even think about it.
Instead, she leans forward and turns up the music. Suits me fine, I love to watch her move in the seat next to me, and I love driving my fucking car. So, I follow where she points, eventually turning off the freeway to an area that’s not the greatest and would hardly visit, only if there was some junkie that was causing trouble.
We pull up to a dingy little entryway behind a row of shops and restaurants. It’s past eleven, so there’s no one here, and nothing open.
“Hang on. Slow down.” Her hands lean against the window as she peers out.
This is the last place I want to stop, but I slow down like she asks. When I look, there’s nothing but large industrial bins.
“Nope.” She looks forward and sighs. “Keep going.”
I don’t need to be told twice, I floor it out of the street but now even more curious as to what she’s up to.
“Actually, turn your next left.”
With more caution, I follow her directions. She turns down the music and concentrates on searching the streets surrounding us.
“Slow down,” she says again passing another back alley.
Once we slow, and there’s again nothing, her frustration shows.
She leans back in her seat with a huff, nose crinkled as she thinks. “Okay, keep going. You’re next left.”
Is she serious?
I go left, but all the way left and pull over.
“Seriously?” I turn my body to face her. “I feel like we’re on a ghetto scavenger hunt. What are we doing, Lil?”
She throws her head back and laughs, her long hair falling down her back.
“A ghetto scavenger hunt?” she says, her laughter slowing as she looks at me with glistening eyes. “That’s actually funny.”
My own smile grows. “You keep sounding surprised.”
“Well, you keep surprising me.” Her words come out before she realises what she said, and a blush creeps up her cheeks. “Anyway, what’s the issue? You have a little problem not being in control or something?”
I don’t miss the daring smirk she’s sending me, or the message that’s not so subtle. But, I’m all down for this game, and for this Lilly. She has no idea how hard it is to keep my hands off her right now, or how hard it is to resist her full stop.
“No.” I start the car again. “Just getting dizzy from all these circles and wanted to check you weren’t lost.”
“Ah huh,” she says, a playful glint in her eye. “Well, I’m not lost. We just need to cross over the main road.”