“Okay, well, fine, but I don’t see them zipping through to your room at night before I leave to go to Taryn’s either.”
Mav’s smile is big and mocking. “Yeah, Heath, what’s up with that?”
Well, now I know why I don’t try to make small talk with Adam.
I stand and start toward my room. “Just focused on hockey.” I come back with my bag. It’s a little early, but I need out of this conversation. “You guys ready to head over?”
None of them mention the time. They’re all just as ready to get out of here as I am.
“Hey, can I catch a ride over to The Hideout?” Maverick asks after the game.
I’m pulling on a shirt and jeans, but I glance over to make sure Adam is out of earshot before I answer. “I can drop you off, but I’m not going.”
“Why not?”
“Taking Ginny out.”
“A date?” he asks, louder than I’d like.
Adam’s still not paying us any attention, so I nod. “Yeah, a date, hanging out, whatever.”
“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know. Maybe Prickly Pear since all the guys will be at The Hideout.” The Prickly Pear is our second favorite local hangout, but on the weekends. It’s often taken over by townies, so we aren’t likely to run into anyone we know there.
“That’s a lame date.”
“Then I guess it isn’t a date.”
“Yo, Scott,” Mav calls and I fight the urge to pummel him. “What’s the best spot in Valley to take a girl on a date?”
“On a Friday night?” Adam asks, eyebrows drawn together in consideration. “The drive-in up on Mount Loken or pretty much anywhere downtown. Araceli’s has a nice outdoor patio and good food.”
“Didn’t take you for the romantic type, Mav,” Jordan says.
“People are surprising, aren’t they?” He chuckles. “Thanks, Scott, knew you’d come through for me.” Maverick closes his locker and turns to me with a smug look. “Ready?”
I pick up Ginny at her dorm. She slides into the passenger seat in a short dress smelling like apples and cinnamon and I can’t help but kiss her while sitting in the no-parking zone. Someone honks and I reluctantly pull back and then guide the car back on the road.
“Where are we going?” Ginny’s beaming at me and I’m suddenly glad I have some better suggestions than Prickly Pear.
“You’ll see.” I rest a hand on her thigh and head out of town.
I drive to the outskirts where the houses get bigger, set up on the base of the mountain, and are placed farther apart.
The roads are mostly quiet with as many people biking and walking as cars driving along it. It’s still nice and warm in Arizona. A few trees have leaves that are changing colors, but mostly it’s the usual dull greens and browns—nothing like what I’m used to from growing up in Michigan.
Even in the coldest part of the year, the days are too warm in Arizona to consider it real fall weather.
It takes almost an hour to get up to the top of the mountain. The road curves through the trees, and we follow a long line of cars all with the same idea.
I park and we get out to get food before the movie starts.
“It’s so much cooler up here,” she says, wrapping her arms around her body as the wind whips through the lot.
Ah, shit. Something I hadn’t thought of. I double back and grab a sweatshirt from my car. She pulls it on over her dress. It’s nearly as long and she looks freaking sexy as hell. I smooth her hair away from her face and drop a kiss to her lips. “Hungry?”
She presses her mouth to mine and nods. I tug her behind me to the concession stand. We order hot dogs and popcorn, soda, and more candy than any two people should eat (Ginny’s words obviously) before walking back to the vehicle. The movie is just starting, and I open the back and help her into the cargo area of my SUV.
“How do you of all people know about this place?”
“Me of all people?”
She grins. “I said what I said.”
Chuckling, I admit, “Actually, from your brother.”
Her nose wrinkles up. “My brother? Ewww. He brings dates up here, doesn’t he?”
“It’s a good spot, gotta admit.” I lay out a blanket and we sit, her nestling into my side. “Come on, it’s gonna be fun.”
We dive into the food while watching the first half hour or so. It’s some old Cary Grant movie that I’m not really into, but Ginny is smiling and practically in my lap, so I’m dealing just fine.
When the movie fails to keep our attention any longer, we lie down flat in the bed of the SUV with our heads at the end so we can stare up at the stars.
“It’s really nice up here,” she says.
“Yeah, I think I’ll start bringing more of my dates up here.”
She turns her head to face me. We’re both smiling. “Jerk.”
Her eyes are lit with humor and a contentedness fills my chest as I slowly bring my mouth to hers.
Kissing Ginny is better than just about anything. She’s fun and sexy, and when we’re together, everything just feels good. Her nose is cold, and I pull the blanket around us and hug her tight against my chest.
“What’s your major?”
She chuckles a little, caught off guard by the question as my dick poking her tells her just how much I’d like to be inside her. “I haven’t decided yet. Why?”
“Just curious. I realized today I’m not great at asking people about themselves. I didn’t even know your brother was premed.”
“Adam’s weirdly quiet about that. He is about everything he does, really. He takes things on and just holds it in so no one else can feel responsibility for it. I know I gripe about him butting into my life, but he’s always looked out for me, always ready to save me from trouble. He’d do anything for me, no questions asked.”
Am I trouble he’d try to save
