Page 139 of Ignition

Her eyes had abandoned all pretence and embedded into the side of my face.

Giving her knee another squeeze, I said, “Wanna head straight back?”

My voice came out hushed, as if afraid of breaking the spell.

A few seconds later, snow started falling.

Her delighted little gasp wormed its way between my ribs. She leaned forward, chest nearly touching the dashboard, eyes glittering at the thick snowflakes dancing in the headlights.

Meanwhile, all I could see was her.

“I wouldn’t mind a drive. It’s beautiful,” she murmured.

You’re beautiful.

I allowed myself a long look, before facing ahead again with a weary sigh.

Apocalypse by Cigarettes after Sex wrapped around us like a spell, and slowly, tentatively, her hand twitched towards mine. My heart did a stupid cartwheel in my chest as I held out my palm, abandoning the gear shift completely.

Her fingers slotted between mine as if they belonged, and my own tightened their grip.

I shifted with my right hand and kept the wheel steady with my knee when needed, as the city grew distant behind us and the forest swallowed the car whole.

I chanced a glance at her that nearly stopped my heart all over again.

She’d softened: cheek nuzzling against the seat, gaze fixed on the side of my face, the orange glow from the dashboard playing over her freckles. Her hair had come loose from its ponytail, now spilling over relaxed shoulders.

My fingers twitched with the urge to run through it.

“Today was fun,” she murmured. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, baby,” I chuckled roughly, locking eyes with her for a split-second so she’d know I meant it.

Her pupils were a little wide in the dim light, and my breath caught, before I cleared my throat and faced forward again, pulse skipping.

Christ.

We meandered down a winding path through the dark woods, the headlights illuminating the tall silhouettes of pines all around us.

Deadly quiet blanketed us, broken only by the hum of the engine—the type of quiet only a snowy night in the middle of nowhere could bring. Not even the radio caught up here.

Snowflakes turned thicker, and her hand nestled in mine, curling against my palm, thumb drawing slow circles over my knuckles.

I tried to focus on driving, and though that usually calmed me, tonight, my muscles burned with awareness as her lingering stare brushed over the side of my face.

“Careful, Mia. You’re distracting me from the road,” I warned, voice a little hoarse.

I cracked open a window and forced in a few slow breaths that smelled of pine, snow, and faint exhaust fumes.

The motion kicked up the automatic need for a cigarette, but knowing she wasn’t a fan of the smell and taste—and planning to kiss her plenty—I shoved it down.

“No way am I capable of distracting you,” she teased, in a low and playful tone that sharpened the pull in my gut.

I cracked the window open a touch more in a desperate bid for air, which only drew her lips into a knowing smirk.

You little minx.

My hand untangled from hers, fingertips skimming her forearm in a deliberate motion, before they gripped the wheel. The asphalt had turned slippery with snow drifting in from the roadside as the wind grew stronger.