“Thanks.” I shuffled over to him and grabbed the warm cup he was holding out to me.
"Good morning, Keegster!" I spun around to find Sophia barreling out the front door towards the two of us, her hair flying in the wind and tennis shoes slamming against the pavement. "Looks what I got!" The black strap to my camera bag was in one hand with my camera in the other, dangling from her fingers and almost smacking into the pavement. Great, I was certain it wasn't going to be coming back in one piece. "Daisy is letting me bring her fancy dancy camera with me today!"
Keegan grabbed it and turned it around in his hands. "This is a nice camera," he said, looking at me. My eyes stayed glued to his hand hitting the power button. My throat tingled when I realized what he was doing and I was grateful I switched memory cards before handing it over to Sophia this morning. Long gone were the pictures of Tanner and I, replaced with my scenery pictures. He flipped through the photos, pausing at each picture and eyeing it carefully before going to the next.
"I think this is my favorite," he said, pointing to the screen. I glanced over his shoulder, taking a look at the picture of the covered bridge I took in Parke County last year. It was during their annual Covered Bridge Festival Tanner and I always went to. The picture showed the falling leaves fading color perfectly, but still didn't do it justice.
"Thanks," I said, quietly, kicking the ground. "We should probably get going, though. I don't want to be late."
"You're right," Tommy agreed, coming out of nowhere. Keegan shut off my camera, grabbing the bag from Sophia and carefully placing it there before giving it back to her. "Have a good day," my uncle shouted, strapping Sophia into the car.
"So you ready for your big second day of school?" Keegan asked, opening up the passenger side door for me again. After hearing all about his womanizing ways, at least he opened up the door for girls before he tried to relieve them of their panties. I guess chivalry wasn't dead until after you screwed the girl.
"If it's as great as the one I had yesterday, than no, not really," I huffed, climbing into the seat carefully, not wanting to spill my drink on myself or in his car.
He shut my door, circling around the car. "Not so marvelous, eh?"
"No so much," I mumbled, removing the splash stick from my drink. I narrowed my eyes to peek in the tiny hole of my lid, trying to see what was in the cup, but had no luck. "What is this?"
"Caramel Apple Spice," he replied, grabbing his own drink from the cup holder. "It's practically the best thing on the planet." He lifted the cup to his lips taking a large drink. "You've never really had one of these before?"
I shook my head, putting my nose in the opening and inhaling the sweet scent of cinnamon. He raised his eyebrows looking at me curiously. I had somewhat of a strange habit. I had to smell everything new before I actually tasted it. The warm scent drifted up my nostrils making my mouth water. Lifting the cup to my still chapped lips, I took the first sip, immediately bringing the cup back to my mouth for another, letting the hot liquid run down my throat.
"Holy yum," I said, swiping my tongue across my bottom lip. "This is amazing."
"I told you."
"Definitely the best thing that's ever been in my mouth," I blurted out, without thinking. I stopped, re-said the words in my head and instantly realized my bad word choice. My face dropped as his head cocked to the side and smirked. "Shoot," I cried out, humiliated, and smacked the palm of my hand against my forehead. "Yeah, that wasn't supposed to come out like that."
"I knew what you meant.” His attention turned back to the road ahead of us. "But I don’t know if I would agree it’s the best thing that my tongue has tasted." I choked on my drink at his words and he chuckled. The car stopped at a red light and he grabbed his drink again. Lifting it up in a cheers motion, he took another huge swig. "You should be fine with Gabby and Cora by your side," he said, changing the subject and pressing on the accelerator as the light turned. "They will make sure no one fucks with you."
"Why? Because you haven't hooked up with one of them? Or because they aren't afraid of your pinched face girlfriend?"
"I see you’ve heard the rumors about me. Didn’t you mom ever tell you to believe everything you hear?” His fingers strummed along the steering wheel. "And to answer your question, no, I have never hooked up with either Cora or Gabby nor will I ever."
Poor Gabby, looks like she would have to unwrap that v-card and re-gift it.
"Why is that?"
"Cora is like breaking the number one bro code," he explained. "I would never do that to Lane. He's my best friend and family. Plus, she annoys the living fuck out of me. As for Gabby, she's Cora's best friend. I piss her off, I piss Cora off and she gets pissed off at Lane because we're related like she did when I never called her slutty cousin."