My cherry red baby, the booze, the girls—they were all the things I’d gotten used to needing in my life. But Ari was different. She was the new distraction to my uninterrupted self-torture. And I didn’t know what the fuck I was doing. I had no control with her, yet I didn’t feel the pain when I was around her.
Everything else did nothing but dull the ache. Ari might have started as a conquest, but I’d never met anyone else like her. Girls would put up with my shit, but she would push my buttons as much as I’d push hers. She’d give shit back to me tenfold and glare at me with those hurricane dark blue eyes, like she was going to chew me up and spit me right back out.
And she was so innocent. She hardly let me touch her, and fuck, did I want to touch her. I had a reputation to protect, yet I’d gone and made a fucking idiot of myself by asking for her phone number in front of everyone. Now, Miller and McAvoy were catching on, and I didn’t want to deal with any of it.
But I’d still call her.
I knew I would. Like an addict, I’d take the morphine hit to forget the pain—even if it was temporary. I had always needed more and more of everything else in my life to stall the pain of what one argument, one kiss from her completely eradicated.
I kicked up the speed on the bike, trying to drown out her face and everything else that originated from being interested in someone like Aribel.
The rain came as unexpectedly as Aribel had into my life—a dribble and then a downpour.
I cursed under my breath, but it was soon lost to the wind howling in my helmet. I checked the next sign and groaned. I was over an hour away from home. I pulled off on the next exit ramp and cut my bike back toward Princeton. I hoped I could outrun the worst of the oncoming storm.
I felt the shift in the weather just as I was making it onto my street. The wind picked up, the rain came down in sheets at an angle, and lightning ripped out of the sky from every direction. I’d never been happier to park my bike in the garage. It had been a cold, miserable hour, and I just wanted a steaming hot shower and to jack off in peace.
I pulled my phone out of my jacket pocket and took the stairs two at a time. I stalled on the landing when I saw that I had two missed calls from Aribel. Fuck! I couldn’t believe she’d called me while I’d been out riding around in this shit. Actually, I couldn’t believe she had called me at all.
When I dialed her number, she answered on the first ring. “Oh my God, you called me back,” she said in that bitingly sarcastic tone she used all the time.
“Hey, darlin’. You miss me?”
She snorted, and it made me smile.
“Grant, I’m stranded.”
“What?” I asked. “Where are you? What happened? Are you okay?”
I probably sounded a bit frantic, but I’d only just met her. I didn’t want anything to happen to her.
“Yes, I’m fine. My car broke down right off campus, and my roommates are in the middle of a movie. I-I don’t know what’s wrong with my car. Do you think you could, um…maybe come help me?”
I stared down at my drenched clothing and shrugged. I was already soaked through. It wouldn’t hurt me any to go check on her.
Who the hell am I kidding? I wanted to see her, and I’d drive through this madness to do it.
“Sure. Where are you?”
Aribel gave me the nearest intersection, and I was happy to hear that she was only a couple of miles from my place. As soon as I hung up, I was out the door and in my truck, but the storm had managed to get even worse since I’d been inside. With the wipers on high and my brights lighting my way, I could still only see a few feet in front of me.
A three-minute drive took me nearly fifteen minutes, but then I saw a black BMW sitting on the side of the road with its flashers on. “Fuck. She drives a Beamer?”
I parked behind her, shaking off the questions of why someone would give a college student a BMW, and then I dashed out of my truck. When I reached the driver’s side, I tapped on the glass. I saw her jump in the front seat, and then she smiled when she recognized me. That smile is going to be the death of me.
I opened the umbrella I’d brought with me as Aribel rolled down the window. “Take the umbrella and go get in my truck.”
“What about my car?” she asked like there was a better plan.
“Pop the hood. I’ll take a look, but you won’t see a tow truck tonight. Not in this mess.”
She sighed and then nodded. She didn’t even argue with me. Miracle of all miracles.
After she exited, she slid the keys in my hand, took the umbrella, and then made a dash for my truck. It only took me a couple of seconds to realize she had a busted radiator. She’d have to leave it until the morning. When I finally made it back to my truck, I didn’t think there was an inch of me that wasn’t sopping wet.
“Thanks,” she said softly once I was settled in the seat.
“No problem,” I said. “I mean, I thought I might have gotten lucky, and you wanted a jump.”
I winked at her, and she just rolled her eyes.
“Seriously, everything is sexual with you.”
“I just saved your hot ass. I think you can handle a joke.”
She sighed and then seemed to agree. “All right. Could you tell what was wrong?”
“Cracked radiator.”
“Great,” she groaned.
“Yeah, but it won’t be too bad. I have a friend I could hook you up with. He does great work for cheap.”
“My parents will probably want me to take it to the dealer.”
“Ah.” I didn’t know what else to say, so I shifted into reverse and backed away from her car. I made a U-turn in the middle of the street and started back the way I had come.
“Wait, my house is that way.” She pointed behind her.
“I know, Princess. It would take an hour to get to your house in this. It takes fifteen to get to my place, so that’s where we’re going.”
“Um…I don’t think so.”
“Look, if we’re driving the hour to your place, then I’m staying there because I’m not driving the hour back.”
Aribel opened her mouth as if she as going to contradict me, but then she didn’t. I glanced in her direction twice, waiting for her to say something, to tell me that I’d fucking drive her to her house and back because she said so, but still nothing came out.
“My parents are going to be so angry,” she whispered.
“Why? It’s not your fault.”
She shrugged her little shoulders and stared determinedly out the window. “I don’t know.”
“Seems like a silly thing to get angry about.”
“Well, you don’t know my parents. What would your parents say?”
“Nothing,” I said, tensing at the question.
“Really? You’re so lucky.” She sank back into the seat and crossed her arms.
She looked really young. I’d never given a thought to her age until that moment.
“How old are you, Princess?”
“Nineteen,” she said without skipping a beat.
Shit! Really young. I mean, I’d fucked girls her age and younger, but shit! Ari wasn’t just some fuck. She seemed so mature. I definitely would have guessed a solid twenty-one at least. Maybe that was just what I’d been hoping for.
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh.”
“What?”
“You’re my brother’s age. He’d kill me right now if he knew what I was doing.”
“What exactly are you doing? Getting a ride home from a guy who just helped you out of a tough position. Yeah, what an asshole!”