Chapter 5
Five
Dalton
I head to the address Sam gave me early in the morning on Saturday.
It’s only a two-hour drive from Haversham City to my hometown of Huntsville, but I drive slow.
I didn’t used to. Not until my older brother Colt died in a drunk driving accident on his way to pick me up from a party I wasn’t supposed to be at.
I’d rather walk everywhere, but that’s not feasible when I’m out of the city.
The door to the apartment building opens, and Sam steps outside. It’s snowing a little, but Sam’s not wearing the coat I loaned him. It’s over his arm, like he’s just waiting to give it back to me.
When he opens the passenger side door to my car, I realize I’m right.
“Thank you for loaning this to me,” he says, laying it carefully in the backseat. Fuck, I love the sound of his voice. It’s soft and lilting, and I love the way his mouth forms words.
I shift as best I can in my seat without drawing attention to the way my body reacts to his presence. “You should still be wearing it. It’s snowing.”
“I’m fine.” He drops a duffel bag in the floor of the backseat before tugging his seatbelt on. “How far are we driving?”
“Just a couple hours. You ever been to Huntsville?”
“I’ve never been out of Haversham. I haven’t had the time.” There’s a note of sadness in his voice, but it doesn’t linger. “Tell me about your family. I want to know as much as I can before we meet them.”
“There’s not a lot to tell. My mom and dad met in college, had my older brother Colt before they even graduated. I’m the middle child, and then I’ve got a younger sister named Sophia. You’ll like her. She’s the nicest one of us.”
“What about your brother? What’s he like?”
My throat tightens, and my fingers flex on the steering wheel. “Colt died when I was sixteen. He was eighteen. It was a drunk driving accident.”
“I’m so sorry.”
I shrug like it doesn’t matter. Like that wasn’t the hardest thing I’ve ever had to live through. Like I don’t hope that I go before Sophia, so I never have to feel that kind of pain again.
“I mean it,” Sam says. “I’m sorry, Dalton. That’s horrible. I couldn’t imagine losing my brother.”
“I don’t really talk about him much. Neither does my family, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring it up.”
“Of course.” He falls silent, and I get the feeling that he’s scared of saying the wrong thing.
So I ask, “How old is Nathan?”
“He turned eighteen earlier this month.”
“What’s he like?”
“A lot like me, I guess. He’s a little less introverted than I am, but not by much. He also wants to go to medical school, which I don’t.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Like an ideal job? I’d like to be a teacher. I love kids. I’d want to teach second or third grade, I think.” He picks at a band-aid wrapped around his thumb. “Though, I’m not sure I’ll ever be allowed to do that. I’m pretty sure ex-strippers don’t get teaching jobs.”
His odds probably aren’t high, but I don’t voice my agreement.
“How long did you work for Vinnie?”
“A little over a year. I started right before I turned twenty.”
“The legal age to strip in Haversham is twenty-one.”
“I’m well aware.”
Of course he is. Why the hell did I say that?
“Look, if it’s okay with you, can we just tell your family I work as a waiter? I don’t want to tell everyone how we really met.”
“Yeah, of course. I’d never tell anyone about that. It’s your business, Sam.”
He nods but doesn’t say anything else, so I shift the topic.
“What’s your dating history up to now? Any exes I need to worry about?”
Sam laughs. “Right. The last guy I had any kind of thing with was in high school. We were sixteen. It was just hand jobs and blow jobs. We haven’t spoken in five years.”
“You haven’t dated anyone in five years?”
He shrugs self-consciously. “I’ve been busy. What about you?”
“Mostly hook-ups. I haven’t had anything long-term.”
“How come?”
“I’ve been busy,” I echo.
“So I’m the first guy you’ve ever brought home?” He runs a hand through his blond hair and lets out a sigh. “This just keeps getting better and better.”
“Don’t worry. They’re going to love you, trust me.” Of that, I have no doubt. I’ve only talked to him twice now, and I can tell Sam has that unnamable quality that draws people in. On top of that, he’s shy and sweet and wants desperately to please people. My mom and Sophia are going to love him.
Dad will like him too. Though I’m not sure how well he’ll show it.
My throat tightens again, and I try to concentrate on all the mile markers flying by outside Sam’s window.
Dad and I used to be so close. Until the night I called Colt to come get me from a party, and he got hit by a drunk driver doing eighty in a forty zone.
I know Dad blames me. I blame myself. I shouldn’t have snuck out and gone to that thing.
I take a breath and let it out slowly, trying to calm my nerves. The tension between me and Dad is one of the big reasons why I don’t visit more often. I can barely live with my own blame; feeling Dad’s on top of it is suffocating.
“Are you okay?” Sam asks softly.
“Mmhmm.” It sounds like a lie.
Sam must think so too because he says, “Do you mind if we stop for a few minutes? I want some coffee.”
“Yeah, sure.” I take the next exit with a sign for a coffee shop and pull into the lot.
We’re about halfway to Huntsville already.
I check my phone as we get out of the car to find several messages from Mom, all telling me to be safe and text her when I can.
She always worries when she knows one of us is on the road.
I’m sure Sophia got it too, and she only lives thirty minutes from them.
I pull the door open and step back to let Sam through first. As the door falls shut behind us, I can’t help lowering my gaze to watch the way his jeans hug his tight ass as he walks. And I’m pretty sure he’s completely unaware of how cute he is.
When we get up to the counter, I pay for our coffees, even though Sam’s reaching for the wallet in his back pocket.
“I can pay for my own stuff,” Sam says, defensiveness creeping into his voice.
“When I’m dating a guy, I pay for his stuff. Period.” It’s not something I’m willing to budge on. I have the money to take care of whoever I’m seeing, so I’m going to. It’s not like I expect anything in return. Though maybe that’s what Sam thinks.
When we move out of the way to let the next person in line up to the counter, I say, “It’s not coming out of the price we discussed yesterday. I just like doing nice things for the guys I date, all right?”
He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t glare at me either, so that’s progress. Instead, he looks around the coffee shop, staring at the Christmas tree in the corner before moving onto the holly wreath on the window and the mistletoe above the door.
“Maybe we should kiss,” he says, turning back to me. A blush rises in his cheeks, but he keeps going. “I just . . . I know I’m going to be really uncomfortable if I kiss you for the first time in front of your family. It’s, um, it’s been a while for me.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” As if I need any kind of reason to get my mouth on his.
I reach out and put a hand on his hip so I can draw him close, but I don’t kiss him immediately.
I wait, letting him take a breath. He’s not afraid, but I can feel the nervousness rolling off him.
He mentioned something about high school back in the car.
Is that how long it’s been since he’s kissed someone too?
When he lifts his gaze to meet mine, I lower my head, intending the kiss to be something chaste and quick. But the second his lips are on mine, it ignites a burning heat in my chest that I can’t push away.
His lips are soft under mine, pliant and yielding instantly. That tough exterior he keeps up to protect himself seems to melt away. He’s so trusting. Vulnerable. When I open my mouth to tease his tongue with my own, he lets out a soft moan that I swear I could live off for days.
When he pulls away, I feel the loss in my chest. Like a stab of pain I’m not sure how to treat.
“They called your name,” Sam says. His eyes are wide, his cheeks flushed.
I glance up to find our coffees sitting at the end of the counter in the pick-up zone. When I grab the to-go cups, my fingers feel numb around them.
I don’t even remember what I ordered. Or where the fuck I parked the car outside. The only thing I know for certain is that I need to get my mouth back on Sam as soon as possible.