She’s confirmed my exact thoughts, and heaviness pushes into my mind. “Why can’t I just have a normal family like yours? Why is it that, after eighteen years of running from some phantom father, he really does have to turn out to be as bad as my mom’s told me?”
Chloe grabs my hand. “You don’t need him. You’ve been fine without him this long. Let your mom go away, do whatever she needs to do. We’ll go off and have our fun, and then things can just be normal.”
I laugh. Like things have ever been normal. Still, Chloe can be pretty convincing when she wants to be.
“So she’ll be back…?”
“Monday,” I say.
Chloe clasps her hands together in front of her. “We are going to have so much fun.”
I know she’s right. My mom will take care of my father. He’ll stay out of our lives. And Chloe will not die. Tanni was a figment of my imagination. People don’t walk around with fog in their eye sockets spouting gloom and doom fortunes. It’s just not the way life is.
Chapter 10
Date
I peek outside at ten o’clock on Friday night and see Reese staring up at my window. The fact that he knows exactly which window is mine is both creepy and flattering. I try to focus on the flattering part.
I open the front door and call to him. “Hey.”
His eyes shift in my direction. “Hey.”
“My mom’s gone for the weekend,” I say. Maybe it’s not the smartest thing to tell him, but my rush of freedom is controlling my mind.
A grin forms on his face like he’s just found a way to fix the lottery. “That is perfect.”
He walks up the steps to the door, and I notice he’s carrying a bundle of pink calla lilies. At first, I think he’s brought me a potted plant, but when he moves his hands forward, I see they’re clipped at the stems. I can’t help the shock that registers on my face. There are huge penalties for being caught with cut flowers. Not to mention if my mom sees these, she’ll freak.
But my mom’s not here.
“I brought you flowers.” He looks past me into the Botanical Haven like he’s making sure I’m really alone.
Chloe left fifteen minutes ago; I don’t know if I should invite him in.
“They’re illegal,” I say, which I know sounds so goody-goody, but he’s breaking the law. Once they’re cut, they don’t help the atmosphere.
“No one will see them.” He looks down at the flowers. “And they reminded me of you.”
“Dead?” I say before I can stop myself. Because that’s what cut flowers are. Dead flowers.
Reese cups one of the blooms with his hand. “Fresh. Vibrant. Exciting.” And the way he holds the flower hints at how he feels about me.
“Thank you,” I say. “I love them.” And in that moment, they become more than just cut flowers. They become a symbol of something forbidden. I move aside, and he takes this as his cue to enter.
Reese passes the flowers to me, and I catch their scent. With it, I catch his aroma. Same as before, but stronger. Red wine. Thick and dry. Powerful yet velvety smooth. Like a Merlot or a Cabernet. I close my eyes and take a deep inhale, pretending I’m smelling the flowers. But really it’s Reese I want more of. His overriding fragrance that’s making me forget everything but his wonderful presence. I take another breath and know I need to open my eyes. When I do, he’s staring at me.
I find a vase for the calla lilies and set them on the counter. When I turn, he’s behind me, close to me. So close I can hardly move.
“God, you look gorgeous.”
Chloe told me the same thing. Well, maybe not in those exact words. She helped me pick out the dress—thin spaghetti straps holding up black cotton fabric which reaches to just above my knees. Red designs swirl on the black from the waist down.
Reese takes a step back and looks at me—up and down. He takes in each part of me, and I feel like I’m being savored. One piece at a time. It makes me feel like I actually am gorgeous and exciting like he said. By the time he reaches my feet, even in the humid air, I’m shaking, and I never want him to take his eyes off me even though they’re revealing something almost feral.
He steps close and brushes my cheek with his hand. “You’re nervous.”
Nervous minimizes how I’m feeling. “Not at all,” I say.
“I like that you’re nervous.”
Before I can respond, he leans his face forward and brushes his lips against mine. Just a hint of a kiss, but it sends all sorts of crazy shivers down through me. My very first kiss.
This is life without my mom around.
It’s exhilarating.
He pulls away and increases the distance between us, and his smile reaches his eyes.
“So where are we going?” I place my hands on the counter behind me and try to calm the quivering emotions running through me. I decide I should breathe through my mouth until I can get the scent of Reese’s body out of my nostrils.
He shrugs. “Anywhere.”
“That’s a start,” I say.
“We could climb the steel struts of the dome,” he suggests.
I don’t know if he’s serious, but I don’t want to fall to my death at the age of eighteen. “I’m not sure I’m up for that.”
“Okay, then. How about we break into the city planetarium and have a picnic under the stars?”
I laugh because I know he must be kidding. “Tempting. But maybe something less…”
“Illegal?” he suggests.
“Yeah. Less illegal.”
It’s like Reese actually has to consider this. “Legal is normally boring.”
“How about dinner?” I say. “Will that be too boring?” I’ve eaten little to nothing in the last week, and I’ve never been out to dinner with anyone besides my mom or Chloe.
“Dinner,” Reese says. “I can work with that.”
Reese has a car. I’m not sure how he got the permit for it; they’re mostly reserved for CEOs, and senators, and even some of the members of the council though most of them opt out. I’ve been in cars a handful of times but haven’t set foot in one for at least five years. Reese opens the door for me and helps me get in. His car’s low to the ground, black, and kind of reminds me of a cockroach. But the leather seats inside engulf my body, and I try to relax.
“It won’t start unless the belts are done.” He reaches across me, and his arm brushes my chest as he clips the belt secure.
I try not to flinch, but shivers run up my neck, and I think of his kiss. Then he moves his arm away and shuts the door. I feel eyes on me as he walks around to the other side. Not Reese’s eyes. Someone is watching me. My mind flashes to Tanni and her soulless eyes. Her words come to me. I try to push them away, but they’re too fast. Chloe will die.
“What?” Reese is already in the car and fastening his own belt.
I try to erase thoughts of Tanni from my mind. “What what?” I say.
“You look like you saw a ghost.”
I shake my head. I’m half-tempted to tell Reese about Tanni, but I know anything I say will sound crazy. “I guess I am a little nervous.”
Reese puts his hand on mine, and his warmth erases Tanni’s words. “And gorgeous.”
Driving on the streets of downtown Austin at night is a far different experience than taking the shuttle during the day. For starters, his car is self-powered and doesn’t have to stay on any kind of track like the shuttles. Reese turns down streets I’ve never even seen, taking us through the park and behind the theatre which is lit up like a torch despite energy restrictions. And second, it seems on Friday nights, every person who lives here is outside, walking in the streets, heading into bars. Reese swerves around pedestrians until he finally pulls onto the bridge that takes us across the river. The city thermometer reads ninety-nine, and I can understand why there are so many people outside. With as hot as the days are, relief from the sun is a gift.