Page 49

“Meh.” She lifts a shoulder and drops it. “Is it weird that I’m kinda ready to go home?”

“No. I am too,” I admit.

“Too bad our ride left.”

“Yep.” I nod slowly. “We walking, or you want me to get an Uber?”

“Fuck it.” She pushes to her feet abruptly, causing the swing to sway back and forth. “Let’s walk.”

“You sure? It’s like a twenty-minute walk and we aren’t exactly wearing the right attire.” I glance down at her very high, very narrow heels.

“Who cares.” She lifts a foot, removing one shoe before balancing on the opposite foot to remove the other.

“You’re going to walk all the way back to our dorm barefoot?”

“Better than walking in these. I swear, they had to have gotten the design of these shoes from a torture dungeon because they have been murdering my feet all night.”

“You’re the one who wore them,” I needlessly point out.

“Beauty is pain,” she tells me. “Besides, you’re one to talk.” She looks down atmyheels, which aren’t nearly as tall as hers but are definitely not the most comfortable things in the world.

“Fair.” I nod, slipping off my heels before leaning over to pick the shoes up off the porch. “Solidarity,” I tell Maisie as I stand.

She slips her arm through mine and together we make our way down the porch and through the front lawn before finally veering left when we reach the sidewalk. We only get about a hundred yards or so when a car slows next to us, the driver’s side window coming down.

“Are you fucking walking home?” A familiar voice fills my ears and for a brief moment, I think I’m hallucinating.

Only when I turn toward the car, my feet stumbling to a stop, it’s River freaking Parker staring back at me. And he lookspissed.

“What... What the hell are you doing here?” I stumble over my words, alcohol and shock colliding together like two battering rams striking with the same intensity.

“I’d say that’s irrelevant at the moment.” His gaze flashes to Maisie, registering her reaction to seeing him. He doesn’t know she knows. Or at least, he didn’t. Though given the smile she’s wearing as she looks between the two of us, I’d say he’s piecing it together pretty quickly.

“Uh-oh,” Maisie whispers so loudly she may as well have just spoken at normal volume. “I think we’re in trouble.”

“Get in the car.” He gives me a look that leaves no room for argument. “Both of you.”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Parker, sir.” Maisie giggles, tripping over her own two feet in her attempt to reach the vehicle.

River shakes his head, a small smile tipping the side of his mouth so briefly I start to wonder if I didn’t imagine it.

Maisie climbs into the back seat. I move to follow, but River stops me.

“You. In the front with me.”

“You didn’t tell me he was so bossy.” Maisie hiccups, covering her mouth with her hand, which only slightly muffles her laughter.

Well, if he wasn’t sure she knew yet, he sure as shit knows now.

“Thanks, Mais,” I mutter loudly before shutting the back door.

I stomp around the front of the car like a pouty child who’s been caught doing something they shouldn’t before tearing open the passenger door and climbing inside.

The familiar scent fills my senses as soon as the door closes, sealing me inside. I close my eyes for a brief moment and breathe in deeply.

The car smells like River’s cologne, the kind of smell that you want to snuggle into, the kind you can’t get enough of.

It isn’t until the car begins to move down the road that I chance a look at River, his profile only visible from the soft lights coming off the dashboard in front of him. He’s so handsome my chest literally cracks open at the sight of him. His hair messy like he’s run his hands through it a hundred times over. His lips pursed in irritation. His eyes focused on the road, crinkling at the sides like he has to squint to see.