Page 100 of Undying Thirst

ISLA

“Are you serious?” I ask him as he holds out his phone.

“Yeah. Let me add a couple of stops. What are your addresses?”

“Well, they were going to stay over at my?—”

“I think we’re all super tired and want to go home,” Mila says, her brown eyes wide as she nods toward the others. Heidi looks confused at first, putting her hair up into a high ponytail, a single red curl falling out and blowing in the gust of wind. I pull my arms around me a little tighter, shivering.

And I’m not sure if I’m imagining it, but I think Owen moves just a little closer to me, his arm practically touching mine as the girls give him their addresses. He puts them in, and we wait a couple minutes for the SUV to pull up.

Owen is the first to move, opening the door for us to get in.

Mila looks at me from the corner of her eye, tilting her head slightly as if to say, “We’ll be talking tomorrow.”

The problem is that I don’t know what’s going on. This whole night has been confusing.

Settling into my seat, Owen slides into the front seat. No one talks over the soft hum of whatever 80s hairband music plays over the radio, and before we know it, I realize we’re headed out of Baltimore to drop the others off.

I’m last.

Butterflies take flight in my stomach, and I fold my arms over myself again, trying to get them to settle down. Does this mean he wants more time with me? Do we have more to talk about?

I really am tired, and I really do want to just go to bed.

And we also shouldn’t be doing this.

But god, does it feel right.

It’s only been a few days, and Owen Crosby has easily taken over my thoughts.

When the other three are dropped off, Owen directs the driver to my apartment, telling him that he can drop him off there, too.

“Are you sure?” I ask him quickly, wide-eyed.

“My car is around the corner, and I only had a beer. I’ll just get home that way.”

So he had his car near my place and still wasted his own time making sure we all got home safe?

The second we get out of the car, we stand awkwardly, not entirely sure what to say or do. “Thank you for a nice night,” I tell him, watching my shoe as I kick a pebble around.

“Thank you for kicking my ass at Joust,” he replies, the light from the building behind me twinkling in his dark eyes.

“I’ll kick your ass anytime you want.”

Did I just say that?

His smile broadens before he lifts his hand, running a finger over his lips. He looks away.

It’s all or nothing. “Do you want to come up?” I ask suddenly, tucking my hair behind my ears as I look up at him.

His head swivels back to me, his eyes wide. A silence settles between us for a few moments as he juggles his options before he finally says, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I nod, my lips thinning. “I get it, it’s fine,”

“Not because I don’t want to hang out with you, but because we should really think about this first, okay?” he says, his voice low as his head dips to meet my eyes.

I nod, only a little embarrassed, and turn to head into the building before his hand grabs mine, pulling me back in.