Read Online Escape In You by Rachel Schurig - Free Book Online Page B

least, been warm and cheery. My mom and I spent hours at the butcher-block kitchen island, experimenting with our own baked good concoctions with varying degrees of success. When I was a little older, she’d join Grace and me at that same counter after school. She’d fix us a snack and ask us all about our day, gossiping with us about the boys in our class like she was one of the girls.
    There’s no sense in thinking about that . I’m mad that I even went there. That’s all over now.
    I’m starting to get that familiar, tight-skinned anxious feeling that usually comes from too much time in the house. I know if I stick around much longer it will slowly morph into all-out panic. A glance at the clock tells me it’s only eight p.m., not even fully dark out yet. I rack my brain for something to do, some excuse to leave.
    Ellie has a date with some guy she waited on at the Burrito Barn Sunday afternoon, so she’s out. I text Hunter and then remember that he’s working. If it were a weekend I could text any number of people to find out where the most promising parties were. But Wednesday night isn’t prime party time in this town. Sighing, I grab my purse. I have to find something to do, or I’m going to go nuts. Not having a car limits my options considerably, but I don’t care. Anywhere is better than here.
    It’s about a twenty-minute walk to the center of town. There isn’t a lot down there, just a few restaurants and a couple of bars, but it will have to do. I can find a quiet corner in a quiet bar and nurse a few beers until I feel tired enough to go home.
    As I step out onto the sidewalk, the muggy heat of the summer night envelops me. I reach into my bag, grab a hair tie, and pull my hair back off my neck as I walk. At the corner, I wait for two cars to pass before crossing. Out of the corner of my eye, I see the second one, some kind of old muscle car, slow down before stopping entirely. “Keep going, buddy,” I mutter and quicken my pace. Instead, the car backs up to the intersection, where it turns and heads my way. Great.
    “Hey,” Taylor calls from the window. “That you, Zoe?”
    I squint at the half-rolled-down window in the dimming light. “Taylor?”
    “Yeah. Hang on, this thing is stuck.” He disappears out of view for a moment. Then the window rolls the rest of the way down, and he sticks his head out. He grins at me. “Where ya going? Want a ride?”
    I debate for a moment. I’m still kind of miffed that he hasn’t called after our kiss—which is silly, because he doesn't owe me anything. And getting in that car is only going to drag me further into the ridiculousness of this crush.
    “Come on, Zoe.” He winks and somehow that looks dangerous. “Isn’t it hot out there?”
    It is hot, and really muggy. A ride actually sounds really good. “Okay,” I say. “What the hell.” I climb into the passenger side, sighing a little when the ice-cold air hits my skin.
    “Isn’t that better?” he asks, rolling his window back up and putting the car into gear.
    “Much.”
    We’re silent for a moment, and I wonder if he’s feeling as awkward as I am.
    “So,” he finally says, “where were you heading?”
    I stare out the window. “Nowhere in particular. Just needed to get out.”
    “Do you always walk around alone after dark?”
    I roll my eyes. “It’s hardly dark out.”
    “It would have been by the time you got back.”
    I shift in my seat, uncomfortable. I don't want to tell him that I do, in fact, wander around the neighborhood on my own all the time, regardless of the time of day. It sure beats the alternative.
    He’s quiet for a moment. “Well, it sounds to me like you need a new plan then.”
    “A new plan?”
    He looks away from the road for a moment to smile at me. “Yeah. Wandering the streets alone in this kind of heat seems like a pretty shitty plan to me. You need a new one. You’re lucky you ran into me.”
    “Lucky, huh?” In spite of myself I’m smiling