Walls, Macintosh, walls. They are desperately needed. Thousands upon millions of walls to protect me from falling for him again.
What the hell was I thinking, doing something like that?!
I heard him sigh behind me before following me outside, locking the house up behind him.
He has an unnecessarily large SUV for someone who�s rarely home and doesn�t have a family.
Coming up behind me, his hand hovering close enough to my lower back it should have counted for bodily contact, Nick unlocked the passenger side door, pulling it open before helping me in.
Stop being sweet! Just stop it. I can�t handle your sweetness.
Climbing in on his side, he turned on the ignition and began backing out of his driveway.
�So I�m taking you to� that place where you get all the fancy stuff? Flowers and stuff like that?
*
When I turned to look back at her, Kara had a curious look on her face.
�Yes, I think so.�
�It�s on North Florida Avenue and��
Directions flew through my head while I tried to remember things Angie had told me days before.
�East Jackson Street?�
Glancing over at her for confirmation, Kara stared at me like I was crazy.
�I�m from Texas, Nick.�
Oh yeah.
*
He�s nervous. Why is he nervous?
He kept biting at his fingers, fidgeting with the random buttons and knobs in his insanely expensive car. Flipping on the radio, we traveled closer towards downtown in silence, drowning in our own thoughts.
I�m sorry I hurt you. I�m sorry I keep hurting you. I�m sorry that you�re getting to see a tiny part of who I really am.
*
Waiting at a red light a block or two away from where I was taking Kara, I leaned my arm and head against the window. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye.
�You know, you can relax around me. I�m not going to hurt you.�
She�d returned to her painfully correct posture, her hands neatly folded in her lap and everything. Turning from where she�d been examining everything around her, her eyes were wide with sad innocence.
If I couldn�t see the bruise forming on her arm from Mike�s ignorance, I would probably be having thoughts of corruption. Instead I just don�t want to leave her side, so I can make sure she�s okay.
As the light turned green and I returned to driving, she sighed and slumped against the back of her seat.
�Why did you bother buying leather seats? Don�t they get really hot?�
Huh?
When I glanced at her, she was running her hand over the seat before turning to look in the back.
�That�s why I have tinted windows. Plus I like them.�
�But don�t you stick?�
I couldn�t help it. Something about her question made me start laughing.
�Why would I stick to them?�
She leaned forward, a weird noise like Velcro being pulled apart accompanying her movements.
�I do.�
*
Nick started laughing again, pulling into the parking lot of a wedding florist and decorator�s shop. Putting the car in park, he turned to me with a grin on his face.
�I�m sorry.�
He�s so adorable.
I shrugged and couldn�t help but smile back a little.
�It�s okay.�
Pushing open the door, I shrugged and slipped out of the seat.
�Wait a sec, Kar.�
I turned back, finding him digging in his front jean pocket. Finding what he was looking for, he tossed me a key chain with two keys on it.
�In case I�m not there when you come back.�
*
Kara stared at me surprised as she rubbed her fingers over the keys.
�The alarm code is 82346. Angie has my phone number if you forget or need me or whatever.�
My voice trailed off while she kept studying me, a weird look on her face.
�Thank you.�
Her voice was no more than a whisper, but her shy smile filled me with hope.
�No problem. I�ll see ya later, alright?�
Nodding, she shut the door before taking a few steps back and waving slightly.
It wasn�t until she was out of sight, one last look towards me as she opened the glass door, that I allowed myself to melt into the driver�s seat. Rubbing my eyes, I couldn�t believe how fast my heart was beating from that simple twenty-minute drive, especially those last two minutes.
She smiled at me.
I�ll win her over yet.
�This time I�m done with always screwing up
I�m sick of one direction down
I�m a broken picture frame
My whole world�s twisted inside out
Streaming voices like a hurricane
It�s telling me to wake up
Get out of bed
Put your feet on the floor
There�s fresh air out the door.�
Two