“Well? What do you think?”
“You bought me a truck?” he asks hesitantly.
I laugh. “Yes. I bought you a truck for your birthday. I know you love that old thing that you are always driving around, but I know it’s going to die soon. I thought you could use something new to drive that would also remind you of the old one you love so much. Just with a few new features.”
“You bought me a truck,” he repeats again.
I nod, and then my heart drops. “You don’t like it, do you?”
“You bought me a truck.”
I shake my head. “I can return it if you don’t like it.”
He turns to look at me. “You bought me a truck.” A grin slowly curls up on his lips.
I bite my own lip, still not sure if he loves it or hates it. I don’t know him well enough to know what this reaction means. It isn’t how I expected him to react.
“You bought me a truck,” he says, now fully grinning.
“If you say that one more time, I’m going to go insane. Yes, I bought you a truck. Do you like it or hate it?”
His arms go around me, and then he’s twirling me around. I let out a little squeal, hoping to God this means he’s happy with me whether he likes it or not.
“You bought me a freakin’ truck! Of course I love it,” he says.
He firmly kisses me and then carries me over to the passenger side. He throws the door open and lifts me up into the truck before running to the driver’s side and climbing in.
“Holy cow! I thought you just bought me a new truck that was just like mine, but this thing…” He runs his hand over the dashboard that is full of buttons and lights. “This thing has everything.”
I smile, but my heartbeat doesn’t slow. It’s beating on full blast, going about a million miles an hour, as I watch him try out every function of the truck.
“To be honest, I never wanted a new truck. And, when my truck died, I thought I would just buy another old used truck that would last a couple of years and then die. I beat my truck up enough with the sand and heat that I never thought I would want a nice truck.”
Shit. He hates it. He thinks it’s cool, but he will never use it.
“But, damn, was I wrong. This
thing is awesome!”
I grin. “Really? Do you really like it? I can take it back.”
He starts the truck and puts it in drive before pulling out onto the main street. I watch as he takes a deep breath of air when he puts down the sunroof to let in the cool ocean air.
“No way am I letting you take this thing back. This thing is awesome. I love it.” He leans over and kisses me on the lips. “No one has ever gotten me anything this nice before. I don’t care how much you spent on it. I don’t care that we aren’t really together. I’m not letting you take it back. You bought it and gave it to me. It’s mine now.”
When he looks at me, his eyes say that I’m his, too. Even though we both know that it isn’t true. I’m not his. I can never be his.
“Take a left up here,” I say.
“Why?”
I smile. “Because I have one more surprise for you.”
He grins. “I like your surprises, Sloane. A lot.”
“Good.”
I like that, now that I bought him a truck, he will do whatever I want for the rest of the evening. He knows all I want is to do something nice for his birthday.