Page 155 of Forever Defiant
“Because you told the world you’re my girlfriend, and my mom has the internet.”
I looked out the window. We hadn’t gone far from campus, and I had a three-hour drive with Dustin ahead of me. There and back, and I was very aware of what had happened the last time he and I were in this car. “Uh-huh, but tell me why I had to come?”
“Because my mom said so, and you’re my ho.”
I slapped his chest. “I am not your ho.”
He grinned. “The stain on my leather would say otherwise.”
I hit him again. “Your leather seat is fine, andifthere was a mark there, it isn’t mine!”
He shrugged. “There’s not a mark,” he conceded. “But itwouldbe yours; the only other girl who’s been in my car is my sister.”
I turned to face him. “I’m the only one you’ve had sex with in here?”
“Don’t let it go to your head.”
I smirked and snuck a peek at him; he was smiling too. “I think I need to make it a hashtag...” I held my arms out. “Or put it in lights, maybe. Only Peterson’s ass was bare on my leather.”
Dustin laughed out loud. “I might actually pay for that to happen.”
“They can post as many dick pics as they want if we share that.” I turned to face him more. “How come you haven’t had dick pics posted before?”
“Because I don’t send pictures of my anatomy to people.”
“Huh.” I thought about it. “I didn’t expect that.”
“So you’re saying I’m the kind of guy who sends pictures of his dick to girls?” He shook his head, then cast me a sly glance. “I’d need a bigger camera.”
I threw my head back and laughed. So did he. The whole three-hour drive was pretty much the same thing. Us messing around and talking shit. It was one of the better car journeys of my life.
When we got to Cardinal, I started to get nervous. “What if they hate me?”
“Do you care?” he asked skeptically.
“Yes! I might see them again.” When he looked at me with doubt in his eyes, I teased him. “You know, at the wedding.”
Dustin laughed. I checked my hair and reapplied my lipstick. I wasn’t a vain person, and even if it was fake, I was still meeting the parents. As my mom used to say, you only get one chance to make a first impression.
When I focused on what was around us, I saw big driveways and even bigger houses. “Are you rich?”
“No.”
I gaped out the window again, my nose almost pressed against the glass. “Dude... these are not the houses of the working class.”
Dustin made a sound of disgust. “My dad works nearly every hour of every day, you want to tell him he isn’t working class?”
“That’s not what that means, and you know it.”
“It’s just a house, Hadley. Calm down.” He drove up the driveway of one of the smaller houses, but it was still huge. To me.
When we parked, he looked over at me. “Can you do this?”
I nodded, feeling apprehensive. “I can.” I bit my lip. “Can you?”
His hand came up to my face, warm and steady, thumb brushing across my cheek like he was checking I was really there. “Hey,” he murmured, voice low, calm. “Breathe.”
I exhaled, shaky and uneven, and before I could speak, he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips.
