Knox almost missed his next step down. My stomach dropped into my knees, and I had to swallow a scream, but he didn’t even seem to notice his brief stumble. “And?”
I cleared my throat. “And she, uh, she tasted like cherry lip gloss, smelled like rose petals.”
I was worried that sounded too cliché, but he murmured, “Holy shit,” like he was really getting into the story. But then he had to go and add, “Really?”
I couldn’t keep lying, so I sighed. “No, not really.”
He blinked, confused. “Huh?”
“I’ve actually never kissed a girl. Or a boy. Or...anyone, really. Heck, I’ve never even been invited to a slumber party before.”
“But...” He shook his head. “Why would you be so cruel as to lie about that?”
“You said my joke was lame! I had to come up with something to sidetrack you.” When he opened his mouth, frowning, as if he was going to argue with me, I held up a hand. “And by the way, you only have one step left. You could probably jump to the ground from where you are.”
“What?” He looked down, and then cursed. A second later, he leapt off the wall and landed on both feet.
It took him a moment to straighten and look up again. But once he did, awe packed his expression.
“Congratulations!” I called. “You did it.”
He nodded solemnly before bursting out, “I can’t believe you lied about that.”
I laughed, and he scowled harder.
“You could’ve at least let me believe it was the truth. You didn’t have to go and crush my fantasy to pieces.”
“Oh my God. Why are all you guys such perverts?”
“Because all you girls—”
The sound of a car coming up the lane cut him short. We both nearly jumped out of our skins, knowing it was probably the sheriff. This side of the house didn’t face the driveway, but it still wasn’t a good idea for Knox Parker to loiter here, arguing with me. Plus, Max was still waiting outside my bedroom door. I’d kind of forgotten about him.
“You better go!” I hissed as loudly as possible.
Knox lurched into gear and started to race off, only to stumble to a stop a few seconds later and whirl back as he looked up at my window.
When our gazes met, I shook my head, confused.
What the heck was he doing? I waved him away, panicking, sure he’d be caught any second.
But he only sent me a short, respectful nod before mouthing the words, “Thank you.”
Then he was gone again, dashing toward the woods.
Blood sprinted through my veins with a fervor that made me want to grab a pillow off my bed, scream into it as loudly as possible, and jump in an overexcited circle around my room.
If my first encounter with Knox Parker hadn’t left me with the biggest crush ever, then this second one certainly had.
Fresh blood was surprisingly easy to clean from leather seats. Just a quick wipe down with warm water, and boom, it looked as good as new. Thank God I hadn’t waited around for it to dry, though. That could’ve been a bitch.
Spending most of the twenty bucks and eleven cents I had on me, I stopped in at the first car wash I saw, and cleaned and vacuumed the Lexus inside and out. Then I drove it back to St. John’s, where I sat in the driver’s seat with my fingers wrapped around the steering wheel, wondering how I was going to get the keys back to their owner, and then wondering what the hell I was supposed to do after that.
Someone at the hospital had assured me they would contact the pregnant woman’s next of kin, so I didn’t even have finding her husband to look forward to anymore.
I had no idea where my family was, no idea where to look for them, or where to go, or what to do. I was broke, homeless, unemployed and didn’t have a friend left in the world, it seemed.
The panic of that reality started to swamp me, so I focused on the one task I did have. I needed to get this car back to its owner, except I couldn’t ask about her at the desk. I’d never gotten her name.
Maybe there was only one pregnant girl in the maternity ward.