“Alek,” I say. “What are you up to?” I study his profile, and despite having no idea what he’s up to my insides relax a bit. Over the last couple of days, he’d been acting a bit secretive, making calls on his phone, and whispering if I came into the room. I’d even seen a couple of texts from a girl named Fallon come in, but what right do I have to ask who Fallon is and what she means to him? I still don’t know who she is, and I totally dislike the jealousy in my stomach, but I can’t help but think all the secrecy was about this surprise trip to the city.
“Are you going to answer me?” I say, and lift my chin a little, pretending I’m upset about the whole thing when I’m secretly elated.
Still ignoring the question, he whistles innocently and backs out of the garage. He buckles himself in, presses a button to close the garage and drives through town. We go down Main Street and when I look off into the side street, I see a vehicle in front of my grandmother’s house, a young couple standing on the sidewalk admiring it.
“Take a right,” I say, and Alek’s gaze flashes to mine.
“What’s up?”
“There’s a couple looking at Grandma’s place.”
“You want to creep them.”
“Of course I want to creep them,” I say with a laugh.
He takes the turn, and we slowly drive by. I check out the license plate. “Maryland,” I say. “I wonder what brings them to Bridgetown.” A deep sadness goes through me, but I have no choice but to sell.
“What a gorgeous old home.”
“You like it?” My mood lifts. I’m not sure why Alek liking my home fills me with a strange satisfaction.
“I love it. Drive by again?”
“No, we can go to this mystery city,” I say.
He makes his way back to Main Street, and when he takes the ramp for the highway, I turn to him.
“We’re not coming back tonight, are we?” I ask.
He casts me a fast glance and hits his signal light to merge into traffic. “No.”
“And you’re not going to tell me where we’re going?”
“No.”
“What about clothes?” I glance down at my jean shorts and T-shirt. “I don’t have anything to wear.”
“You won’t need clothes,” he says, and I bite back a grin at the playful way he wags his eyebrows.
I fold my arms like a belligerent child, even though I’m looking forward to finding out what he’s up to, and honestly, I don’t really care about our destination. I just like hanging out with Alek. Maybe a little too much.
“What if I don’t want to go?” I ask.
“You do.”
“Oh, do I now?” I purse my lips. “How would you know that?”
He reaches over and puts his hand on my thigh. The reassuring squeeze wraps around my heart, and as I take in his smiling face, I worry I could be in real trouble here. He’s such a sweet guy, but like everyone else I know, he’ll be leaving for bigger and better soon enough. An invisible hand squeezes my heart at that thought, but I paste on a smile for Alek’s sake. He’s pretty excited about this adventure, and I don’t want to do anything to ruin it.
“You’ll see. Now relax, we have a good, long drive ahead of us.”
“There better be ice cream,” I pout and he laughs.
“You and Kaylee would be fast friends,” he says. “I always take her out for ice cream when I visit.”
My heart tightens again. I love that he’s so close to his family. There’s no denying I want that, that I’d love to meet Kaylee and his brother and folks, and even his friends that are coming to visit, but he’s not putting that offer on the table and I hate myself for even wanting that. I knew what I was getting into with him and have no one to blame but myself for these budding feelings, or that I’m a little more invested in him than I would have liked.
“Tell me more about your family,” I say and sink back into the seat to enjoy the drive.