Drifting into Darkness (17 page)

I looked at him with a sincere smile so he would know I meant every word.

“Thanks,” he smiled, and diverted his eyes.

“Why, Mr. Johnson. Did I just make you blush?” I giggled.

He looked back at me trying to bite back his smile. “Maybe just a little bit.”

“Yo, farmboy. You here to race or what?” yelled a guy walking toward us, breaking us from our flirty banter.

Landon turned to the guy who was approaching us and dropped his smile, but not before reaching his hand out to grasp mine. He entwined our fingers and squeezed my hand. “I should’ve known better,” he mumbled to himself.

I had no idea what he was talking about and I assumed that moment wouldn’t have been a good time to ask him either.

“Hello, Javier,” Landon greeted coldly.

“Ah, come on, bro, no hard feelings. We all have to lose some time.” Javier was a short Mexican guy with a round face and bushy eyebrows. He turned his eyes on me and licked his lips, causing me to step closer to Landon. “I say we race again and the winner gets a night with this pretty señiorita.”

“Fuck off, Javier,” he growled through gritted teeth.

“Oooh, this is new. You’re territorial with this one, huh. How long has it been, Landon? Three years?” Javier taunted. “Such a shame.”

Landon had a death grip on my hand as Javier talked. I had no idea what they were talking about.

Without saying a word, Landon walked around Javier, pulling me with him.

“Two weeks, farm boy. Bring your A game. If you get tired of him, baby doll, I’ll show you a good time,” Javier yelled to me. I turned to look behind me to see him pumping the air with his hips.

“Ewww, gross,” I scoffed. “What the hell was that all about?” I asked, looking at Landon as we continued to walk.

“Just competitive trash talk,” he replied, not saying another word.

Competitive trash talk? That was more than just competitive trash talk. That seemed personal to me. I looked him over as we walked up a hill where a few groups sat watching the races happening below. The view we had from this point showed the whole grounds.

The sign said it was a racetrack, but from what I could see, it was just two separate lanes. There was a light in the middle of the lane that gave a green light when it was time for the cars to go.

Surrounding the track, a few yards away, were bleachers for onlookers to sit and cheer, which a lot of them were doing at the moment. Cars were lined up one after another ready to race.

I watched as the light turned green and two cars sped off on a racing match. My mouth hung open in amazement as the car on the left won by just milliseconds. A scoreboard at the end of the track showed times and speeds for both cars. I remembered Landon saying something about wanting his time to be better and that must have been what he was talking about.

“This is what the fuss is all about,” Landon said, as he leaned in toward my ear.

It was then I realized we were still holding hands. I chewed on the inside of my lip contemplating what to do. Should I make a big deal about it? It was just handholding, right? It wasn’t like we were in the fifth grade when that meant you were going steady. Maybe he just grabbed my hand to make sure I wouldn’t get lost. There are a lot of people here. Or maybe he grabbed my hand to make me feel comfortable in an uncomfortable situation when that guy Javier came over and he’d forgotten to let go of my hand. Ugh, either way, the handholding shouldn’t matter. What
should
matter was the fact that I liked him holding my hand.

I turned my head to face him. He was closer to me now that more people were arriving up on the hill. It seemed to be where all the groups hung out.

“I have to admit,” I said, leaning up to his ear. “This is all pretty cool. I like the controlled environment.”

He pulled back slightly and smiled. He was so freaking sexy. He was standing so close I could smell his cologne and feel the heat permeating his body. His eyes roamed down to my lips and I smiled.

“Have you eaten anything tonight?” He leaned in again to ask. I shook my head against his. “Do you wanna get something with me? I’m starved.” He pulled back and waited for me to answer.

“Yes,” I smiled, “I’d love to.”

Without a word, he pulled me by our joined hands back to the car and we headed off to get something to eat.

Eleven

“Is this okay?” he asked as he pulled into The Family Diner.

“Yeah, this is great. I haven’t eaten here since the first day I met Lisa.”

We made our way into the diner and found an empty booth at the far end. I could feel eyes on me as we made our way to our seat and turned to see a few groups watch us.

Lisa wasn’t kidding when she said there were designated days. The place was packed. “So I’m guessing tonight is college night,” I stated as I looked around the diner.

He laughed. “Lisa told you about the designated days then, I see.”

“Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool. We didn’t have stuff like this in Chicago. Of course, this town is a lot smaller than what I’m used to too.”

“Hey, Landon,” came a perky familiar southern voice. I looked up to see Katie standing at our table with her small order pad.

“Hey, Katie,” he replied politely. “I’ll have a sweet tea. What about you, Sadie?”

I looked up to Katie and smiled. “Hi, Katie, it’s been awhile. How are you?” I asked in an overly sweet voice. She was rudely ignoring me and I was pretty sure I knew why. These girls were catty as hell. It was like being back in high school again, when all the girls wanted the star football player. The girl who got him was hated and treated like crap until she tired of the game and gave up.
But I’ve got news for ya girlies, if I do get the star football player, this girl isn’t giving up on shit.
I wasn’t raised a quitter.

The smile she gave me was anything but genuine. It almost looked like she might be constipated. “I’m great, Sadie, thanks. What can I get ya?”

“I’ll take a coke, sweetie, thanks,” I smiled brightly. She turned and walked off, but not before glaring at me. I laughed out loud and shook my head as I looked at Landon.

“What was that all about?” He jutted his thumb out behind him where Katie walked off.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Are you being serious? I know you’re not oblivious to it.”

He shook his head, feigning innocence. “Oblivious to what?”

I could see the smirk on his face. I laughed. “You’re killing me here,” I said as Katie walked up and set our drinks down.

“Do y’all know what you want, or do ya need a few minutes?”

I shook my head. “I’ll have the burger special.”

“I’ll have the same, but I’ll take pepper jack instead of cheddar,” Landon requested with a smile.

Katie smiled as she wrote down his request and walked away with a little more sway in her step.

I arched a brow at him when he looked back at me.

“What?” he laughed.

“You know what. With the harem following you around, why in the world are you here with me instead of one of your blonde followers?” I bluntly asked.

I knew it would be a question he wouldn’t be expecting, but it needed to be asked. I wanted to know what all of this was. I wasn’t a game player and I was more cautious now than I was back in high school. Flirting aside, I thought he was a really cool guy. I could joke and flirt all day, but I needed to know what was going through his head. Why me, and not some blonde he could get in the sack with the snap of his fingers?

He took a drink of his sweet tea and looked at me with a blank expression. Setting his drink back down, he folded his hands on the table and licked his lips. “I like you, Sadie. That’s why I’m here with you and not one of my blonde followers.”

A smile spread across my lips and I lowered my head to hide it, causing him to laugh. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

He smiled. “You’re not like the harem, as you put it, and it’s refreshing.”

“Refreshing or just a fresh face?”

He thought for a moment. “Both. Refreshing because you handle yourself well and you don’t take shit from others. You speak your mind and you’re honest about it. And everyone likes a pretty face,” he smirked.

I shook my head. “I don’t always speak my mind and I’m not always honest.”

“Well, there you go again, speaking your mind and telling me how it is. I’m thinking it would take a lot for me to think you didn’t.” He laughed as he ran his hand through his hair, drawing my attention to the tattoo on his wrist.

“Can I see your tattoo?” I asked, reaching my hand out. He looked down at his tattoo and hesitated for a moment before reaching his arm out to me. I grabbed on to him and leaned forward to look. It was beautiful. It was a blue flower with a decorative heart in the middle. “It’s a beautiful tattoo. Does it mean anything?” I asked.

He pulled his arm back and ran his thumb over the tattoo. “It’s a reminder,” he said softly. He was staring at his wrist, but looked like he was millions of miles away.

“A reminder?” I asked, wanting him to give me more information. This tattoo obviously held a deep personal meaning.

He snapped out of his trance and looked at me, dropping his arm back to the table. “It’s just a reminder that you can lose something close to your heart in a matter of minutes.” He took a sip of his sweet tea and looked around the diner.

I wanted to ask him more about it, but I left it alone. I could tell by the tension in his shoulders that it wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. So I changed the subject back to cars. It seemed to be a safe subject. “So what was that guy Javier talking about earlier? What is in two weeks?”

Katie walked up at that moment with our plates setting them each down in front of us. “Can I get ya anything else,” she asked, looking at only Landon.

“Nah, I think we’re good. Thanks,” he smiled politely.

She smiled back at him and walked off without giving me one glance. These girls were serious bitches.

“So,” I said adding ketchup to my plate, “as I was saying, what was Javier talking about, if you don’t mind me asking?”

He shrugged his shoulders as he took a huge bite of his burger. I ate some of my fries and waited for him to reply.

“There’s a race,” he answered, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “It’s the main race of the summer. Best time out of three wins a cash prize and bragging rights.”

I nodded my head as I chewed my food. “So, I’m guessing that’s a really big deal than, huh?”

He chuckled. “Maybe just a little bit. Others take it more seriously than I do.”

“How’s that?” He can’t sit here and tell me a big cash prize and bragging rights aren’t a big deal.

“I race because I love it. I love working on my car and making it perform better. It’s not always easy, but like I told you before, the rush you get is unbelievable.”

“So the money and bragging rights mean nothing to you?” I asked with an arched brow.

He laughed. “Now, I never said that. I said others take it more seriously than I do.”

I laughed, shaking my head at his reply.

“Enough about me, tell me a little bit about you.”

“And what would you like to know?” I smiled before biting down on my burger.

He rested his elbows on the table to give me his full attention. “Did you leave behind a lot of friends when you moved?”

“Actually, no. I only have one true friend who I miss. She’s like a sister to me, but we try to talk as often as possible.”

“That’s got to be hard.”

“Yeah, but look at all the new friends I’ve made already,” I smiled.

“This is true. It’s not easy being friends with this,” he stated, gesturing to himself, causing me to laugh out loud.

“Oh. My. God. Conceited much?”

“Truth,” he joked, causing me to laugh some more. I liked playful Landon. “Not many could handle this,” he said with a gleam in his eye.

I continued to laugh. “I think all these girls following you around have gone to your head.” As soon as the words left my lips, I covered my mouth, knowing that what I said would be taken in a different context. I closed my eyes and shook my head while Landon cracked up in front of me. I looked up at him. “That is totally not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant,” he reassured as he took a sip of his tea. “So, did you leave a boyfriend behind when you moved?” he blurted.

Heat rushed to my cheeks as he asked his question. He definitely took me by surprise. “No, actually. Why? Are you applying for the job?” I asked, as my cheeks flamed hotter. I’m still a little bit rusty, but I think I’m getting my flirting groove back.

He smirked as he bit into a fry. “What if I was?” he challenged.

I shook my head and tried to hold back my smile. “I’d warn you that the application is very lengthy and the job isn’t an easy one to fill.”

“Well, then I’d tell you that I had plenty of time to fill it out and nothing in life is easy, but I’m always ready for a challenge,” he smirked.

I bit my lip and laughed. My heart was racing in my chest and I was sure that my ears were bright red. “Yes, but the job is a precious one. Few have accepted that challenge and none have succeeded.”

He leaned in closer and looked me straight in the eyes. “That’s the difference between me and those other challengers. I’m not a failure and I don’t give up easily.”

There was no smirk on his face. No sign of amusement either. When did the joking around turn into a serious conversation involving innuendos? My stomach was starting to do flips so I pushed my food away knowing I wouldn’t be able to eat any more.

I continued the little game to see what else he’d say.

“The difference between you and the other challengers is that they were a one job applicant.”

He had to know I knew his reputation. We’ve been working together for over a month. I knew he wasn’t into relationships, so he had to be blowing smoke.

“When I
do
apply for a job, it’s the only job I’m interested in,” he said softly.

I bit my lip and looked down at my plate. This was getting too serious. Was he telling me that he wanted to apply? What would I say if he was being serious? Was I ready for something like that, especially with a guy with his reputation? And we work together. That probably wouldn’t be the best move. If things didn’t work out, that would be awkward, not to mention really hard for me to go to work every day.