Chapter 31

The window creaked as Tapiwa carefully pushed it open. She immediately froze, squeezed her eyes shut, and waited. Nothing. No one came to investigate the sound. She was almost surprised. The sound had been so loud she'd thought for sure someone would come but no one did.

Still, she held her breath and looked over her shoulder toward the entrance of the living room. The house was dark since everyone had gone to bed over an hour ago. Tapiwa should have been in bed too but after her call with Jadon that wasn't about to happen.

Jadon asked to see her and instead of waiting for the next day like normal, sensible people would have done, Tapiwa had given Jadon her address and told him to wait on the street in front of her parent's house. That was over two hours ago. Jadon had texted her when he parked as instructed and she had told him to wait.

In all her years, even when her friends had gone through their teenage rebellious phases, Tapiwa had been the good girl. She'd never snuck out of her parent's house even though she had been invited to numerous parties. Tapiwa had been the perfect daughter her parents trusted. Until now.

She couldn't believe she was doing it but it didn't stop her from clenching her teeth and pushing the window again more carefully this time until it was open wide enough for her to climb out.

The temperature outside the house was cold. Tapiwa paused for a beat and just absorbed that. She was standing on the gravel that surrounded the flowerbeds along the wall of the house in nothing but her pajamas, a loose T-shirt and shorts, and house slippers.

"This is crazy," she muttered to herself. If she had any sense, she would turn back around, climb back into the house, and go to bed. She didn't. Instead, Tapiwa gently pushed the window so it wasn't so obvious that it was open. And then she made her way down the dark driveway to the street.

Before she reached the street, she heard a car door open and then Jadon was in her line of sight, standing next to his car. She hesitated a second. He waited, never making a move or saying a word. Tapiwa had the feeling he was giving her the opportunity to turn around and walk away if that was what she wanted.

Tapiwa walked toward him and when he opened the back passenger door for her, she didn't hesitate to climb in. The door shut after her, enveloping her in the warmth of the vehicle and Jadon's scent as the man in question walked confidently around the car and climbed in on the other side.

For a minute, neither of them said a word. They kept the light off inside the car but a well-positioned street light filtered in through the windows making visibility possible. Tapiwa stared ahead, her hands clasped together on her lap while Jadon glared down at his phone. The silence was heavy with tension. Tapiwa couldn't stand it. She shifted in her seat and then decided to just face Jadon and whatever he had come to tell her.

"Why are you here, Jadon?"

"That's a good question, " Jadon answered out of the blue with a strained chuckle. Seeming rather agitated, he dropped his phone on his lap and ran his hand over his hair. "Why did you agree to see me?" he asked.

Tapiwa looked away. "I don't know," she answered truthfully. She had asked herself the same question while she waited for the coast to be clear so she could sneak out and meet him. After their last conversation in the car park, she knew she shouldn't have even given it a thought. But she had and now she was seated in his car in nothing but her blue oversized pajamas.

"Have you already spoken to your family?"

Tapiwa's head whipped back around. She snorted. "Do you think I would look so calm and whole if I had?"

His frown deepened. "Probably not."

"Is that why you came?" Tapiwa asked. "Were you worried about what might have happened to me?"

"I was worried," Jadon confessed. "But no It wasn't what made me drive my car here tonight." He paused for a beat, his frown deepening as he glared out the side window into the dark. "I was on a date tonight."

The air rushed out of Tapiwa's lungs. She pressed herself back into the seat as though to create as much space between them as possible. "Oh." Was the only thing she managed.

Jadon turned and looked at her, the expression on his face unreadable. "Just someone I met at the gym some time back," he explained.

"I don't need an explanation," Tapiwa snapped. "It's not as though we are in a relationship. What you do is your business." The words left her lips but she felt the lie in them as rage coursed through her veins.

Suddenly, the inside of the vehicle was too hot and smelled too much of betrayal. Tapiwa wondered if she could catch the other woman's scent in the car if she paid attention. She didn't want to and getting out of the car seemed like the best possible idea at that moment.

Without waiting for what he had to say, she jerked her body around and reached for the door.

"No!" Jadon suddenly growled before he had his hands on her waist and he was lifting her in the air and depositing her on his lap to face him. Jadon removed one hand from her waist and cupped her cheek, urging her to meet his gaze.

"I kept thinking about you."

She'd intended to struggle and get off his lap but his words stopped her. Tapiwa blinked at him like a deer caught in headlights. Something changed in the air between them.

The warmth of his hand on her cheek almost felt like a branding fire. The heat of it traveled down her body until she felt it in other more interesting places. Her nipples hardened and brushed against the soft fabric of her shirt. Suddenly too warm, her body pulsing with a need she had only become aware of recently, Tapiwa's tongue sneaked out from between her teeth and licked at her bottom lip.

Jadon's eyes fell to her lip as they darkened. As though talking more to himself than Tapiwa, he murmured, "I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss. So brief but it sparked a fire I haven't been able to quench." His eyes then snapped up and met hers. He frowned. "Why?"

"Why what?" Tapiwa croaked. The palms of her hands were pressed against his chest. Tapiwa felt the fast beat of his heart that matched her own.