How Not to Fall In Love

Chapter 18

"How about I drive?" Austin said, unlocking his car. 

"Uh...What about my car?" I asked, motioning to it. 

"You shouldn't leave it here; if Blake and his friends return, they might realize it is your car and do something to it." He looked over toward my car. "You can drop your car off at home, then ride with me to get something to eat while we work on Math." He smiled and climbed into the driver's seat of his car. 

I walked the few rows over to where my car was parked, and before I unlocked my door, Austin was in front of my car, telling me to hurry up. I furrowed my brows at him as I climbed into my car. He gave me one of his sexy, crooked smiles, then headed for the street. The kind of smile made you want to rip his clothes off. 

He had pulled off to the side so I could pull out first and lead the way to my house. I kept looking in my rearview mirror to make sure Austin was still behind me, afraid he would disappear if I looked away for too long. He pulled in front of my house while I pulled into the driveway. I walked over to his car to tell him that I would go in and tell my sister where I was going and that I'd be back in a few minutes. 

"Jules! Where are you?" I yelled, walking in the front door. "Jules!" 

"What?" She hollered back, walking out of the kitchen and popping a grape in her mouth. 

"I'm going to get something to eat with Austin and work on Math. I'll be back later." 

"Okay." She started to turn around when what I had just said hit her. "Wait...What?" She spun around, her eyes wide. "You're going out with Austin?" She walked past me toward the window and peeked through the blinds. "The rumors are true!" She stepped back away from the blinds, smiling. 

"What rumors?" I asked, going up to my room. "Nothing is going on between us. I'm just tutoring him." 

"Then, why are you going upstairs to your room?" She asked, raising her eyebrow, smiling.

"To get something if you must know."

"Yeah, right." She yelled up the stairs. 

I pushed my bedroom door open and quickly sat down at my vanity to check my makeup and hair. "Oh my god, Rylee, what are you doing?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror. I put my powder down and got up off my vanity bench. 

"I'm leaving!" I hollered down the hall toward the kitchen. 

"Did you fix your makeup?" Jules asked, sticking her head out of the kitchen. 

"Shut up." I rolled my eyes at her, then turned to open the front door. I paused in the doorway when I caught sight of Austin sitting in his car in front of my house. 

"He's hot," Jules whispered close to my ear. 

"Will you stop!" I glared back at her. 

"What? It's not like he can hear me from here. Calm down." She nudged me out the door, causing me to stumble. I raised up, glaring back at her. 

"Bye." She smiled, closing the door. 

I quickly turned forward, praying Austin didn't see me almost face-planting in the middle of my porch. Luckily, he was still looking down at his phone or didn't want me to know that he had seen the whole thing. I studied his face as I walked down the steps for any signs of laughter. The way people try to suppress their laughter by pressing their lips together as they sneak glances at you. I didn't see any of those things coming from him, so hopefully, he didn't see any of it. Finally, I got to his car and opened the passenger side door. 

"Nice recovery up there on the porch. I give it a solid eight." He smirked, putting his phone down in the console. He pulled away from the house and headed back toward town. "Where would you like to eat?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road. 

"Anything but pizza. I'm not really in the mood for it, sorry." I glanced at him, admiring his chiseled jawline and wondering how his lips would feel. 

"Nooo...pizza. How about burgers and fries? Unless you want a salad?" He peeked over at me. 

"Burgers and fries are fine. I haven't eaten really today, so I'm starving. Where are we going?" I asked, looking out the window as we zoomed by houses. 

"Downtown Mall," he said, glancing over at me. "Don't worry about Taylor. I'm sure she and her friends will be gone already." 

I turned my head slowly back toward the passenger window. Taylor and her friends were not gone, and he knew it. He was driving me straight to my demise. Why did I agree to go with him? Was it his dark brown eyes luring me into this mess, or was it his sexy voice hypnotizing me to do anything? Well, I might as well enjoy the last few minutes I had left on this earth next to the hottest guy in school. 

We were about five minutes from Downtown Mall when my phone started chiming like crazy down in my bookbag on the floor. I tried to pretend I didn't hear it at first, but I knew who was texting me, and they wouldn't stop until I answered. I grabbed my phone and swiped it on, and sure enough, there were three notifications, two from Sophie and one from Cole. I opened Cole's text first because I knew he would be a warning about Sophie. He told me massive texts were on the way. I took a deep breath in and opened the first text from Sophie. 

OH. MY. GOD! Are you with him now? What are you doing?

Keeping my head down at my phone, I looked at Austin to make sure he couldn't see what I was doing on my phone. He was busy trying to find a place to park his car. I quickly texted her back that we were about to go get something to eat and that I'd text her later tonight. I pressed my screen off and dropped my phone back down into my bookbag. 

"Let me guess; your friends want to know what's going on?" 

"Uh..." My eyes widened as I tried to find the right words. 

"They're looking out for you. I get it. Let's get something to eat." He opened the driver's side door. 

I sat there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what the hell just happened, when my passenger door opened. Austin was standing there looking down at me. I grabbed my bookbag and got out of the vehicle. On the way to the restaurant, we talked about him getting back to practice so he'd be ready for the first game in a few weeks. I reassured him that if he listened to me today, he should pass the test on Friday. The minute we stepped foot onto Downtown Mall walk, my breathing quickened. Something in the pit of my stomach kept telling me we were going to run into Taylor and her friends. Austin was talking, but I couldn't tell you what about because I was too focused on studying who was walking in and out of stores and restaurants. Every now and then, I shook my head in agreement and mumbled uh-huh. Basically, I had turned into the guy in this conversation. We were halfway through Downtown Mall, and I hadn't seen nor heard Taylor and her friends. But I wasn't ready to let my guard down yet. 

Author's Notes:

Rylee is having a hard time being with Austin even though they are getting ready to work on Math. 

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