Page 47 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
“No, really, I—” I yanked harder and this time I managed to pull it out a foot before it snapped back at me, just barely missing my face. I swore I saw my life flash before my eyes in that moment and let me tell you, it was not pretty. Apparently, most of my life up until this point had been me laying alone in my bedroom.
“Take your time,” Zach said, which somehow only made this all worse. He reached over and flicked a switch. A second later, the heated seat kicked on, warming up the back of my legs and lower back. Okay, honestly, it was mostly warming my butt, but I wasn’t complaining. It felt better than freezing to death in the rain.
I finally got the seatbelt free, but of course, there was a new problem: actually buckling it. Great. With my stupid hand still barely functional and my body shaking from the cold (even with the heated seat doing its best), I could barely hold the clasp.
“Are you serious?” I whispered in frustration. My face probably looked like a tomato right now. “Why is this so hard?”
Zach leaned toward me. “Do you want me to?—”
“No!” I blurted out, immediately regretting how loud I said it. But no way was Zach Miles going to buckle my seatbelt for me. I would never live that mortification down. He snapped back the hand that had been reaching for me like I burned him. “I mean, I’ve got it. Just one sec.”
Smooth, Ivy. Real smooth. Go ahead and yell at the celebrity who was nice enough to offer you a ride home in the rain.
Well, offer might be a polite way of putting it. There wasn’t much choice in the matter. More like a kidnapping.
Go ahead and yell at the celebrity who was nice enough to kidnap you from the rain.
I didn’t feel so guilty when I put it like that.
“Really, it’s fine,” Zach said, but there was a hint of amusement in his voice. Was he hiding a smile? Oh, of course he was. I was dying of embarrassment and he was just enjoying the show.
Finally, after what felt like forever, the belt clicked into place.
“There!” I exclaimed way too loudly, like I’d just won an Olympic gold medal for seatbelt fastening.
He shot me an amused look, his lips curving into a smirk. I was thrown back into that day I first saw him through the window, when he’d caught me dancing alone in my room. He had that same look on his face now and it made me flush bright red.
Was there any chance this seat heater was hot enough tomake me melt away?
“I’m sorry,” I blurted out, glancing at the puddle forming beneath me. “For... you know, getting everything wet.”
His eyes drifted over me, going from head to toe and back up again, as if he was checking me out. I couldn’t imagine Zach Miles checking me out at the best of times, but especially not when I looked like a drowned rat. I suddenly wished I hadn’t brought this attention upon myself and I tugged my jacket tighter around my body like that could undo what he’d already seen.
But Zach didn’t look disgusted or mocking at all. His adam’s apple bobbed as he looked at my face again and then he said, “It’s just water.”
I stared at him, waiting for something more. But that was it.Just water. Like I hadn’t just soaked his expensive car with my soggy jacket and dripping hair. I shifted awkwardly in my seat, pulling my bag closer to my chest, trying to keep my wet clothes from touching anything else, while he finally started driving.
“Thanks for the ride,” I blurted out.
Zach gave a short nod and he glanced at me quickly. “You shouldn’t walk in weather like this.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious.”
His mouth twitched like he was trying to hold back a smile. “I mean, there are buses that run around here. Why walk?”
I tugged a little on the strap of my backpack, not wanting to admit that the rain had been so heavy when I left school that I actually couldn’t remember how to find the bus stop a block away and thoughtwalking home would be easier. But of course, it wasn’t, a) because of the rain and b) because I still didn’t know my way home. I couldn’t admit that to him, though, so I said, “Well, I didn’t plan on it being a monsoon when I left school.”
When he turned onto our street, I felt a strange mix of relief and... something else. Disappointment? No, that couldn’t be right. Why would I be disappointed that this was over?
Zach drove past his house so he could pull up in front of mine. I would have been okay with walking from his garage, but it seemed late to say that now as he came to a stop at the end of my driveway. He turned his head slightly, his dark eyes meeting mine, and even though I knew I should get out, I found myself frozen in place, staring into them. I felt a familiar flutter in my chest that only seemed to happen around Zach, the one that felt like my heart had skipped a beat and wasn’t quite sure how to get back to its usual rhythm.
“Thank you,” I murmured, not quite sure what I was thanking him for but feeling like I should be saying it anyway.
“I can do this again,” he said. My brows furrowed in confusion. What did he mean bythis? Saving me from the rain? Was he really that sure I’d get stuck in this situation again? And his tone was weird–not quite angry but not normal either. Maybe… embarrassed. About what, I didn’t know. I was the only one who needed to be embarrassed with how this day was going.
“What?”
“Anytime you need a ride. All you have to do is ask.”
