Ryan shrugs. “I’ve heard the guys talking in the locker room and they’re always talking about having sex in their cars and trucks, at least that is what they are telling each other and it’s not like I don’t want to do it, I do. I just don’t want you to feel cheap or like I don’t care.”
Blue lights flash through the fogged up windows, followed quickly by a flashlight. “Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit,” I say as I scramble off Ryan’s lap. I look for my shirt, sliding it over my head just as the officer taps on the window.
I look at Ryan, who’s whiter than a ghost, staring at me. I throw his sweatshirt at him, but he doesn’t flinch, even when it hits him in the face.
He shines the flashlight in the window, tapping again. I have to lean over Ryan to push the window release down. I don’t let the whole window down, just enough that the officer can see inside.
“Good evening, officer,” I say, hoping to kill him with kindness.
He looks at his watch and back into the car, shining his light all around. “I think we’re way past evening, wouldn’t you say, Ryan?” He points his flashlight directly into Ryan’s eyes. His arm comes up to act like a shield. It doesn’t escape me that the police officer knows his name.
“Yes, sir.”
“I suppose you have a good explanation as to why you’re out at this hour, in a running car, sitting in the church parking lot?”
“Just talking,” I answer immediately. I rub my hands up and down my legs, trying to calm my nerves. The officer looks at us like we are a bunch of lying teenagers. He’s right. He should look at us this way. He steps away from the car and does something with the radio on his shoulder. I can’t tell what he’s doing, but I need to use this distraction to get Ryan to snap out of it.
“Ryan?” I pull his face toward mine, forcing him to look at me. “We weren’t doing anything wrong so we need to answer his questions so he’ll leave, okay?”
He nods and puts on his sweatshirt that isn’t even dry yet. I lean forward and shut off the car. I forgot it was running and is probably out of gas. I don’t dare step out of the car, although I want to move up front and get the hell out of here. I can’t believe I let things get this far. I should know better.
The officer steps up to the car. I smile, hoping to convey some sort o
f “I’m sorry and it will never happen again” image. He’s unreadable, his lips in a straight line. I think if he was to smile, his face would crack and break like old plaster.
“Hadley Carter?” I swallow hard when he says my name. I look down. I can’t look at him as I nod in assent. “I need you to step out of the car.”
Ryan finally acknowledges what’s going on. He grabs my hand as he opens his door. I follow him out. He shuts the door behind and pulls me to him. I get this chivalry act, but it’s not going to help.
“What brings you to Brookfield, Miss Carter?”
“Um –”
“She came to see me.” Ryan speaks with confidence. The officer looks at him doubtfully and that pisses me off. He shakes his head while he writes something down.
“It’s true. I flew in and texted him when I got here.” Ryan pulls me closer, wrapping his arm around me.
The officer nods as he continues to write in his notebook. He walks around the car, flashing this light in the windows.
“What’s in the bag?”
“Clothes, I flew into Jackson and drove straight here. I didn’t have time to check into a hotel yet.”
“Where are you guys off to?”
“Excuse me?” Ryan speaks up. I’m thankful he’s not just standing here. I know he must be scared, but really, what does he have to lose. I look like a freaking child predator here.
“Your dad reported you missing about two hours ago and I find you in this car with Miss Carter and her luggage.”
“It’s a backpack, hardly what you’d consider luggage.”
The officer steps in front of us and turns off his light. “That’s not how I see it. What I see here is an impressionable young man from a good family getting mixed up with big-city money like you. What I see is an older woman taking advantage of a young boy. A boy that may not have everything he needs out of life and you come in here with your money and flash it around. What I see is a woman about to kidnap this boy to cause him harm.”
My mouth drops open at his accusations. I hate that he’s close to accurate. I did come in here and show Ryan that I can offer him something different, but I only did it because I love him and want to be with him. I never suggested we run away together. His birthday is close. If we’ve waited this long, we can wait until he’s eighteen.
Besides, he needs to finish school and get his diploma and then we can be together whenever we want. He can travel with me and work on my tour if he wanted. Although we’ve never discussed that, I’d want him with me. But never would I force myself on him.
Ryan steps forward, dropping his arm until our hands link together. “Whoa, Officer Daniels, you don’t know anything about me and Hadley. I’m here because I want to be and she’s nothing like that. She didn’t do anything or force me to do something that I didn’t want to do. We’ve been together for a while now. She’s my girlfriend.”