More than Secrets

On the Road

DANI'S P. O. V.

"So... where are we going?" I ask Tyler after a few minutes of driving in silence.

We're heading out of town now and if we keep driving in this direction we'll be in the neighboring city in about an hour or so.

I say "city" but it's really not that much bigger than Green Hills is - granted it does have a mall and a few more apartment buildings than we have.

"I thought I would treat you to lunch. You can decide where," he replies, his eyes never leaving the road.

"Oh," is all I can manage in reply. So he's taking me out to eat... like, as in on a date?

"Is this a date?" I blurt out a lot louder than I intended to. Ah! Dani, you are the most embarrassing human being on earth.

I'm covering my face with my hands now, too mortified to face him. I hear him chuckle and sneak a sideways peak at him through my fingers.

"Yes, it's definitely a date," he says, giving me a sexy wink. "I thought it was obvious?"

Of course he would think that, he's probably dated hundreds of girls before while I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing.

Why in the world did I agree to do this? I'm already breaking the promise I made to myself this morning, that I'd never let anyone make a fool out of me.

I feel the tears well in my eyes and, try as I might, I cannot make them stop. The warm, salty droplets fall and permeate through my jeans.

Oh God, I'm crying... in front of Tyler Black!

"Hey, hey... don't cry. Please, Dani?" he pleads, reaching out to hold my hand.

I pull it away instinctively before he can touch me, but I'm instantly filled with regret as I see the pain in his expression.

He moves his hand back up onto the steering wheel. "I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you... or make you cry," his voice is so small and sad, it breaks my heart. "Do you want me to take you home?"

I shake my head furiously. Suddenly the thought of being without him, even for a day, scares me. "No, it's not you. I mean, I really do like you... but I," I pause and take a deep breath, resolving to just be honest with him, "I don't know what I'm doing."

He visibly relaxes and flashes me that dazzling smile that makes me weak in the knees. "I really like you too," it looks like he wants to say more but he clenches his jaw and looks ahead at the road again instead.

A silence falls between us again, but at least it's not uncomfortable. We're both just enjoying being in each other's company.

"So," I say as we're nearing the outskirts of the city, "why did you wanna drive all the way to the city? There are restaurants in Green Hills too, you know?" I point out.

"The city has more options to choose from," he shrugs. "Plus I wouldn't want to accidentally bump into your parents around town and have to explain to them why their daughter's out playing hooky with me," he wriggles his eyebrows at me playfully.

Gosh, even when he's being silly he's still so damn sexy.

I smile and shake my head at him, while pulling out my phone to look at some restaurant options in the city. I decide to go according to the restaurant's ratings. The last thing I want is for my first date to be spoiled by bad food.

There's a really fancy-looking Italian place with a 5-star rating, but the dress code is definitely not "jeans and a crop-top" appropriate.

Speaking of crop-tops... I look down at mine and gasp at its tattered state. Why didn't I notice this before? Or why didn't Tyler? Or worse, maybe he did and was trying to be polite by not saying anything? Ugh!

I could ignore the Cheeto stain, but now it's coupled with spots of mascara from where my tears landed on it and I just noticed there's a tear in the fabric at the back, no doubt where a branch got caught on it after Brian shoved me into the tree.

"Great," I sigh to myself.

"Something wrong?" Tyler asks me, a look of concern flashing in his beautiful green eyes.

"No, it's just that my crop-top is ruined now." I barely get the words out when a black T-shirt is dropped into my lap.

"I keep a lot of clothes in my car for... emergencies," he says, shrugging casually.

I smile gratefully and pull my crop top off, leaving my tank top on underneath, and quickly slip Tyler's T-shirt on over my head. This is the second time he's saved me today.

I hear him suck in a breath, but when I sneak a glance at him, his hands are tightening around the steering wheel and his eyes are focused on the road again.

"Dani, please tell me you didn't wear that to gym?" he asks through gritted teeth.

"Huh? You mean the tank top?" I ask looking down at my new outfit. I absolutely love this tingling sensation flowing through me from wearing Tyler's clothes.

Oh yummy, it smells like him too! Mmm... This has got to be what heaven smells like for sure. It should be illegal to smell this good. Oh, I could just roll around in this T-shirt all day and -

Tyler gets my attention again by clearing his throat and nodding once in a gesture for me to continue.

I slump back in the passenger seat. "Well yeah, I did, but I had this on over it too," I quickly add, holding up my dirty crop-top.

He closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, letting out a long, frustrated sigh. "Goddess, help me," he mutters to himself.

Goddess? I shrug it off and continue scrolling through the restaurant options. Number 3 on the list is a family-friendly Chinese food place with a 4.8-star rating and an "all-you-can-eat" special on their chow mein today!

My happy dance is in full butt-jiggling swing now. Mmm... I love me some vegetable chow mein.

I freeze, realizing whose car I'm jiggling my butt in. Tyler has his head back and is laughing out loud at me. It's such an intoxicating sound that I can't help but laugh along with him.

"What was that?" he asks, still shaking with laughter.

"My... happy... dance," I reply, still out of breath from laughing.

He raises an eyebrow at me in question so I hold up my phone on the restaurant's website as an answer.

"Ah, so "all-you-can-eat" chow mein is the reason for that impromptu jig?" he says in more of a statement than question kind of way.

"Yes?" I reply, not sure how else I'm supposed to reply. "I love food and I'm not ashamed to admit it," I shrug... and it's probably the reason why my butt got so big over the summer too, I mentally add.

He nods, deep in thought as he follows the directions on the website to the restaurant.