Blaze (Drive Me Wild 3)

“Well, I guess I’m not having that,” he said. “I’ll just stick with the burger. How about you, Tay?”

“I’ll have the same,” I said to Jonna, and she took off to put our order in. I turned to Blake and made another attempt at idle chatter, this time opting for a lighter topic of discussion.

“So, what’s with the nose thing?” I asked, referring to the septum ring he’d been wearing for weeks now.

“I don’t know.” Blake shrugged. “Just decided to get it one day.”

“It’s different.”

“Yeah, well, Lucy hates it.” He chuckled, not looking like he cared in the least what his girlfriend thought of his piercing. That tidbit of information made me love the septum ring even more.

“Well, I like it. I think it looks good on you.”

“Thanks.” He smiled, looking pleased.

Soon, we fell into conversation about Neil and his new name. He talked about some of his other friends who were also trying to make the list and what he thought their chances were. I let Blake do most of the talking as I watched his mouth move and admired the dimple that would appear when he formed certain words with his lips. He could have been reading the phone book and I would have been enthralled just the same.

When our food arrived, Blake grabbed the pickle from my plate and I shoved the ketchup bottle his way. I smiled because we felt like us again, even if it was only for a little while.

We continued our conversation as we walked on the beach outside of Catch. We talked about his ideas for the performance shop, and he confessed that he was secretly building his own car. The hours he spent in both shops fixing cars for customers didn’t leave him enough time for his own project. Some of the parts he needed were quite expensive, but he was determined he would get there eventually.

I told him about my classes and how much I really enjoyed the writing courses. When I looked over at Blake, he was staring at me with a smile on his face.

“You’re going to be a great writer one day,” he said. “You have a beautiful imagination.” The wind was blowing around as the sound of the ocean filled our ears. I grabbed a hold of my loose hair and tried to contain it all in one hand. Blake reached a hand up to push a fly away curl from my face. His eyes grew intense and he swallowed several times before he started to speak.

“Tay, I . . .” he began before his phone chimed in his pocket. “Shit, it’s Lucy.” He typed out a response to her text as I winced. I’d forgotten about her little anniversary bullshit, or maybe I just forgot to care. Either way, I felt a little guilty. “I gotta go. Do you want to ride back with me?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I’m going to go to Jonna’s and hang out for a while.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.” He nodded hesitantly before turning back toward the direction of Catch. “Tay?”

“Yeah?” I turned around expectantly.

“I missed this. Us hanging out.”

“Me, too.”

We stood there staring at one another for a moment. It was difficult to decide what to do next. Should I go to him and throw my arms around him or simply smile and wave goodbye? The choice was made for us when Blake’s phone started ringing. He looked down at the screen and then let out a long sigh that was full of irritation.

“I gotta go,” he said then answered the call I knew was from Lucy. We parted ways at Jonna’s staircase, and then I watched him get into his car and drive off to be with another woman.

****

At two in the morning, I put my key into the lock and quietly made my way inside the house. Every single light was on. The dining room table looked like it hadn’t been used, and the kitchen was exactly the way I’d left it. While I was relieved to discover that Lucy hadn’t cooked anything, I wasn’t sure what to think about the pink feather boa on the living room floor. Forcing back the urge to turn and run from the house, I kicked the ridiculous accessory under the couch then turned off all the downstairs lights. My gaze went to Blake’s closed door and my heart felt like it had been sliced in two. Not wanting to linger long enough to catch any sound that could travel from that direction, I quickly climbed the stairs to my room and closed the door.

I woke up to the sound of loud voices coming from downstairs and knew that Blake and Lucy were arguing. Normally, I would cover my head with a pillow or put in earbuds to prevent hearing the unnecessary details of their relationship, but one word made me stop.

“Her!” Lucy screamed. So instead of blocking

them out, curiosity caused me to get out of bed and opened my bedroom door to listen.

“Everything revolves around her. Everything, Blake. What about me? I’m your girlfriend.”

I heard Blake mumble something, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.