Kissing Jayden: a romantic teen thriller (7 page)

Chapter 9: Kissing in Cars

I was sitting there, kind of in a panicked daze and feeling bad for myself, when Jayden’s black Mustang pulled up behind Mom’s car. His window came down, and I smiled weakly, trying not to feel sick.

“Molly, get in.”

I shrugged and stood up, figuring it was better to get a ride home from Jayden now and figure out later how to get Mom’s car fixed. What else could I do? Sit here and wait for Mike Jensen to come roaring back in his enormous pickup and mow me down? I got in and closed the door after me, willing myself not to cry or fall apart.

“Give me the keys,” he said gently.

I handed them over without asking and then watched in awe as a tow truck pulled up. Jayden got out and had a conversation with the driver before getting back behind the wheel. When he started pulling out of the parking lot, I gave him a questioning look.

“My dad knows a guy who owns a shop downtown,” he said calmly. “I’m having your car taken there.”

I bit my lip and winced, wishing he had told me that in the first place.

“It’s my mom’s car, and I don’t have any money with me. I mean, I’ll pay you back. I just can’t pay right now.”

I didn’t mention the part where it might take me the rest of high school and most of college.

“Molly, you’re not going to pay for anything.”

I shook my head, totally confused.

“Huh?”

“This is my fault, and you’re not paying for anything. Simple as that.”

“How is it your fault that your friend’s a … ?”

I stopped before I could say “jerk” or “psycho.”

Jayden’s hands tightened on the wheel, and he frowned when he looked over at me.

“It just is, Molly. Let it go.”

“No!” I said, surprising myself. “I’m not gonna let it go. Mike is really scaring me … and I don’t even know why the two of you are even bothering with me. I mean, what did I ever do to either of you?”

Jayden shook his head. I couldn’t tell whether he was exasperated with me or something else.

“Molly, you didn’t
do
anything. This is between Mike and me.”

I sat lower in my seat and looked out the window.

“Sure doesn’t feel like it,” I grumbled.

When Jayden took the onramp onto the freeway, I yelped.

“Where are you going?!”

“You need your mom’s car back, right?”

I thought about her getting home tomorrow and finding her car missing. Yeah, that would go over well. I nodded at Jayden.

“But I’m supposed to go over to Stace’s. She’ll freak if I don’t show up!”

“You could tell her you’re on a date with me,” Jayden said.

At first I thought he was being mean. Then I thought he was completely nuts.

“Yeah, ’cause she’d believe that!” I mumbled.

“Why not?”

“You
have
seen the girls you go out with, right? Do I seem anything like those girls?”

“No, you don’t.”

That stung. I looked out the window and tried not to cry — again. When he turned on the radio, I was surprised that we listened to the same station. I didn’t say anything, though, feeling like stuck-up, prissy Molly Adams. Jayden crossed the bridge. I hadn’t realized he meant the other side of town! That was just great. A few minutes later, we were in a super industrial-looking area when he turned into a parking lot with a sign that said
Jim’s Auto Repair
. He parked and shut off the engine.

“Molly, look at me.”

I turned toward him, hoping that my eyes weren’t red and puffy.

“You aren’t like the girls I go out with, but that’s a
good
thing. You’re nice, you study hard and—”

“Yeah, I’m such a
good
girl.”

The type of girl Jayden wouldn’t even notice if it weren’t for some stupid bet
.

“You’re also pretty, with long strawberry-blonde hair and beautiful green eyes. And you’re sweet.”

I didn’t really have a comeback for that. One, because I wasn’t expecting him to say anything close to that. And, two, Jayden saying I was sweet just brought back this rush of memories of his lips on mine and him whispering my name. The car was warm, but I shivered when he reached behind me and gently tugged my hair out of its ponytail. He didn’t move his hand from the back of my neck, though. Instead he brought his other hand up and brushed my cheek, causing me to blush.

When he leaned forward slowly and touched his lips to mine, I tried not to react. I tried not to lose my heart. He nipped at my lower lip and then reached around my waist, bringing me closer as his hand tangled in my hair. Suddenly our kiss turned from sweet and slow to urgent and passionate, and I moaned. By the time Jayden pulled back a little and brought his lips to my ear, I was lightheaded.

“Sweet little Molly,” he groaned before touching his lips to mine again, making me crave more.

A sharp tap on the driver’s side window caused me to pull away with a little whimper. I looked through the glass and saw an older man staring sternly back at me. But when Jayden turned and faced him, the guy laughed and backed up, raising his hands in the air like he was surrendering. Jayden turned back to me.

“Next time, I don’t want to get interrupted,” he said softly, reaching out to touch my bottom lip, which was still sensitive.

I shivered as he got out of the car. I was floating, tingling all over — and aching to feel Jayden’s lips on mine again. He had said
next time
… like there was going to
be
a next time. What was I going to do? He was way out of my league. And what would happen when Jayden got bored of good, little Molly?

I would get my heart broken, and I knew it.

Besides, I couldn’t keep pretending that this was all I wanted. Stolen kisses in his car, in dark movie theaters — and in front of the whole school as part of a terrible bet. My eyes watered as I thought of the reasons why Jayden had asked me to the dance and kissed me in the first place. And, yeah, maybe he kind of liked me now. But I couldn’t be one of those girls who just hooked up with him whenever and then forgot about it. How could I forget about his kisses and not crave them?

The answer was simple: I couldn’t.

Then I realized something. It wasn’t like Jayden was asking me out or anything like that. And it wasn’t like I had to have some big conversation with him. After today, I just had to avoid him, which would be pretty easy — as long as I could avoid Mike Jensen, too. Otherwise, Jayden would feel responsible, like he had to keep saving me from his psycho buddy.

So that was it. I made a pact with myself. I would pay Jayden back for the car — not that I was sure how I was going to do that — and then I would stay away from him. But I would
not
get back together with Tyler, either. And I wouldn’t go anywhere alone. Then Mike wouldn’t get the chance to torture me again. No more guys. Period. As soon as Jayden got back to the car, I looked over at him anxiously.

“Did he say how much it was going to be?” I asked, bracing myself.

Jayden’s smile faded fast, like he had heard my thoughts about avoiding him — and every other guy — for the rest of high school.

“Molly, Jim’s an old friend, and he owes my dad a favor. He’s not going to charge me. And you don’t owe me a thing.”

Then he told me it was going to take at least an hour to fix Mom’s car, which meant I was going to have to text Stace and tell her that I was going to get to her house really late. Plus, I hadn’t eaten anything since the one bite of apple before Mike had ambushed me, which reminded me that my stuff was missing, including my backpack. My stomach growled, and Jayden looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.

“I didn’t get to eat lunch,” I shrugged. “And I couldn’t find my backpack in Mr. Kaplan’s room.”

Jayden started the car wordlessly and drove out of the parking lot. A minute later, he pulled up at a local burger chain. There was one not far from our house.

“I love their shakes,” I smiled.

“I know.”

I looked over at him, but he was already getting out of the car. He came around to my side just as I was getting out. He smiled and offered his hand.

“I used to see you with your mom at the one over on Evergreen. You always got a chocolate shake.”

“You saw me?” I asked in shock.

He smiled again and nodded. I never thought Jayden had even noticed I was alive before that stupid bet. When we got to the counter, he motioned for me to order. Remembering that I didn’t have my wallet, I ordered a burger and asked for a cup of water.

Jayden ordered a double cheeseburger, two orders of fries and two chocolate shakes, and I looked over at him like he was out of his mind. I followed him to a table and sat down. As soon as our order was up, he got up and brought back the tray and gave me one of the fries and one of the chocolate shakes. When my stomach growled again, Jayden laughed.

“Thanks, but you didn’t have to,” I smiled.

“I wanted to.”

Jayden Stone was really sweet. Beneath all that baseball swagger and tough talk with the guys on the team, he was really, really sweet.
And
hot. But I was really trying not to notice how perfectly blue his eyes were or how amazing his shoulders, biceps … and the rest of him looked under his shirt. I got up and went over to get ketchup, bringing him some, too. Then I tasted the shake and grinned. It had been a long time since Mom and I had been here.

“These are the best!”

Jayden laughed.

“I like it when you’re not all serious,” he said, reaching over to brush a piece of hair out of my face.

Of course, this made me get all serious again. Being here with Jayden felt too much like a date, but it
wasn’t
a date. Jayden was just helping me because Mike was a crass, crazy jerk. I still wanted to ask Jayden how he could be friends with such a jerk, but I stopped and thought about how I’d feel if someone said that Stace or Kelly was a jerk. Sure, I had been plenty pissed at Kelly for the house party stunt, but that didn’t mean I wanted anyone saying bad stuff about her.

Mike Jensen, though.
He
was a jerk. No doubt. But Jayden wasn’t. Still, it wasn’t like we had anything in common. We were from different planets: Planet Popular and, well, my planet. And our orbits did not cross, except when Mike Jensen really messed things up.

“What happened? You’re all serious again,” Jayden said.

“I was just — I mean, I was just wishing that this was …”

I stopped just short of saying
real
, and Jayden shook his head.

“Molly, there’s all this stuff going on inside your head, and you won’t tell me what it is.”

I bit my lip. I couldn’t say any of what I was thinking or feeling.
I wish I was your girlfriend
?
I want to kiss you like crazy and never stop
?
I think I’m totally in love with you
?

Right! His shiny black Mustang would fly out of this parking lot so fast that my head would spin! I sighed and tried to smile. Then I looked down.

“Jayden, thanks for … well, everything. I know you didn’t have to do all this stuff, and I really appreciate you helping me.”

When I looked up at him, Jayden’s eyes were dark and stormy. I couldn’t figure out what I had said to make him look like that. It wasn’t like I wasn’t asking for anything from him that he hadn’t already offered. And I was
trying
not to melt in his presence, except for when he was kissing me. And I totally had a right to melt when he kissed me! Jayden Stone was a kissing god! Not that I had a ton of experience to judge by, but kissing Tyler hadn’t come anywhere even close. Not by a long shot.

We finished our burgers in silence, and I swore to myself that I’d pay him back for dinner at least, since he kept insisting that I didn’t owe him anything for Mom’s car. When we got back to the auto shop, the older man who had caught us kissing was standing outside. Jayden told me to wait in the car, and I was just about to argue when he jumped out and slammed the door. He went over and talked to the guy, who I was starting to think owned the shop, and then Jayden came back a minute later. When he sat down in the driver’s seat, I nearly had a heart attack, realizing that I hadn’t called or texted Stace.

“Stace is going to think I got kidnapped or something!” I squeaked. “Can I borrow your phone?”

I winced, knowing how strange it would look if I texted her from Jayden Stone’s cell — I would have so much explaining to do. But I didn’t have another choice. Then I watched as Jayden reached into the backseat and grabbed — my backpack! I snatched my cell out of the pocket and texted Stace that I had just found my phone and would be over as soon as possible.

A second later, the same tow truck from earlier came around from the back with Mom’s car, and my palms started sweating. What if something had happened and they couldn’t fix the damage? What then? I winced and looked over at Jayden.