I waltz out of the bathroom and into my room where I bypass my pajamas and go for something a little more acceptable. It’s been three weeks since the accident and now that I’ve officially been cleared to return to school, Slade has been taking every opportunity to get me out of the house.

A week at the hospital followed by two at home nearly killed me. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in the same house and the same room day in and day out. Don’t get me wrong, I love my home here. Shay has done an incredible job with it, but it’s the same white walls every single day. I mean, there’s only so much Netflix a girl can watch before going stir-crazy.

I drop my towel as I hear my door gently close behind me. Glancing back over my shoulder, I find Slade striding into my room. “I know what you’re doing,” he tells me, seeming somewhat proud of himself.

“Oh, really?”

“It ain’t going to work.”

He comes at me with the monster in his pants practically pointing right at me. I mean, what’s the harm if we’re a little late for some stupid Friday night party that will happen every week until the end of our senior year?

I grin and walk toward him, meeting him by my bed. He goes to reach for me but I get there first, slamming my hands up and pushing him down on my bed. His brow raises as I step between his open legs, slapping his hand away as he goes to take my waist.

“Don’t even think about it,” I tell him, climbing up onto his lap until I’m straddled over him. “If we’re doing this, then I’m in control.”

———-

Slade takes my hand and practically drags me out of the house, too excited for his own damn good. I’m about ready to burst with curiosity. Whatever this thing is that he’s wanting to tell me is something that he’s going to make me wait for so there’s really no point asking.

Night has fallen, clouding our street with shadows but it does nothing to mask the stunning new Dodge RAM with shiny chrome sitting in front of my home.

I stop in my tracks and stare at the Dodge. “No way. What the hell is this?” I ask, taking it in and finally understanding Slade’s boyish excitement. “You got a new car? Wait…it’s not the old one, is it?”

“Of course it’s not the old one,” he says with an appalled scoff, though completely unable to tear the beaming smile off his face. “Are you for real?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I don’t know how this shit works. I was assuming someone was just going to go fishing and pull it out, give it a bit of a clean and then BAM, you’ve got your truck back.”

“No. Not even close. That truck is probably going to be down there until the end of days.”

I pout out my bottom lip despite my excitement for Slade. That old truck had some pretty good memories but I guess that just means we have to make some new ones. “So, you just get a new one. Just like that?”

Slade laughs as he tugs me toward it. “That’s what insurance is for, babe.”

“Holy shit,” I gawk. “That’s kinda awesome.”

“I know,” he says, looking back at me with pride. “And you get to be the first to ride in it.”

Fuck yeah. I know it’s not really that big of a deal, but I’ll take a win wherever I can get one.

Slade stops and like the gentleman we know that he isn’t, he opens the door and offers me his hand. A small part of me wonders if he’s helping me because of the whole getting shot bullshit where the other wonders if he’s legit just trying to be sweet. Who am I kidding? This man doesn’t have a sweet bone in his body, he has everything else apart from that.

The second Slade closes the door behind me, the new car smell hits me like a wrecking ball and I inhale deeply. God, I love that. There’s nothing quite like it. They should bottle it up and losers like me could wear it like perfume.

After walking around the hood as slow as possible to give himself another chance to check out his own damn car, Slade finally steps his ass up into his new Dodge with a cheesy as fuck, boyish grin. His excitement rolls off him in waves and it’s more than just contagious. A burst of laughter hits me and Slade starts the engine, watching me as the vibrations rumble through his seat.

Slade messes around, revving the engine as though he just stepped out of a ‘Fast and Furious’ movie. After the laughter fades and he’s met with a stare, he finally pulls away from the curb.

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