“Hey, yourself,” she said with a smirk after pulling away.
“You ready to go?” I asked, as my eyes took their time wandering down her body. The top she was wearing was meant to be loose and baggy, but I knew what curves lay beneath it and the fa?ade drove me mad.
“Yup,” she said, smiling as she swung her keyring around on one finger. She turned and walked to the back of her Rover, opening the trunk to allow me to place my duffle bag inside. Once the trunk was closed, I held my hand out to her.
“Keys.”
Her forehead scrunched in confusion, eyebrows drawing together. It was adorable. “You’re not driving my Rover.”
“Babe, when’s the last time you drove through San Francisco? It’ll be easier if you just let me drive. It’ll be late by the time we get there anyway, and dark.”
“I can drive in the dark, Riot. I’ve been driving myself all over the west coast for years. You just want to drive my Rover.”
“You’re not wrong. Come on, babe,” I moved closer to her, wrapping my arms around her waist. “I just want to drive my girl home and hold her hand.” I blinked down at her, using some overly exaggerated pouty lips and batting my eyelashes. It was over the top and I knew I looked ridiculous, but I also knew it would work.
“Fine,” she groaned, pulling away and slapping her keys in my hand. “But if you’re driving, I get to pick the music.”
“Deal,” I said, dropping a kiss on her lips, enjoying the way I could feel her smile against my mouth. I walked her to the passenger side, opened her door, and watched her climb in.
When we were on the road, music selected, her hand loosely gripping mine, it was as if we were finally back to normal. Finally back to a place where there weren’t dark clouds hanging over us, or guilt. I knew there would be many instances in our future where Kalli had setbacks, or bad days where Marcus would be at the front of her mind and she’d need me to hold her, or tell her funny memories I had of him and the few days I was lucky enough to spend with him, but for now she was happy.
We fought our way out of LA traffic and started climbing the grapevine, which was essentially a ridiculously large, tall, and windy road that went over a mountain. It was dry and a brownish-red color in the day, but with the sun already set, all we could see were the lights of the other cars on the road.
“I have a question,” Kalli finally said, breaking our comfortable silence. “I thought your sister worked on a cruise ship? What is she doing in town?”
“Well, that’s kind of why my parents’ house is full. Halah came home for vacation and it just happened to be during her birthday. She hasn’t been home in over two years, so my parents are throwing her a party. There’s family coming in from out of town.”
“So, I’m not just meeting your immediate family?” she asked nervously.
“No, babe, sorry. You’re pretty much going to meet every family member I have who lives west of the Mississippi. Which is pretty much all of them.”
“Are any of your family members from Lebanon going to be there?”
I shook my head. “No, we don’t really see the family who’s left there. It’s mostly distant relatives now, as my grandparents have both passed away. But my mom’s sister will be there. She lives in Montana. Seems my mother and her sister both fell for American men.”
“I can’t wait to meet your parents. I mean, I’m nervous, but from what you’ve told me about the way they met, they seem like people from a fairy tale. And I bet your mother is just beautiful.”
Kalli was looking out her window, but her voice was wistful and genuine. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose your mother at such a young age, and I wanted her to feel like my family was her family.
“They’re going to love you,” I said, bringing the back of her hand up to my mouth and pressing a kiss against it. I wanted to tell her I loved her, too, to make sure she knew it, but I didn’t push it. We were just getting back to being comfortable with each other, and I didn’t need to ruin it by moving too quickly with her. She gave me her beautiful, carefree smile, but then turned back to the window.
When we drove through San Francisco proper, I was glad I’d forced her to let me drive. Her eyes were wide, taking in all the lights of the city. I wanted to stare at her, watch as she took in the beauty of the city skyline. I’d seen the city a thousand times, but it was all brand new watching it through her eyes.
We headed north through the city and I took a few opportunities to point out special places you could see from the freeway; places that had relevance to a special time in my life or a specific occasion.
“Before we head back home I want to take you to the pier.”