Girl Meets Trouble #Wattys2015

Chapter 19: Why Don't We Go There?

The sun has barely risen but all my senses are awake and alert, capturing everything in clarity.

It's 3 am, we're driving with the windows rolled down and the streets almost empty. The radio plays a soft tune of La Vie En Rose and Harry's fingers tap against the steering wheel, while his other hand is interlaced with mine.

On the way home from the coffee shop, today seemed like a picture perfect morning and I couldn't help being overwhelmed.

My lips are fixed in a permanent, cheerful smile and I have never been more excited and thrilled and exhilarated all at once. It's as though time is on-hold.

I stare at our interlaced fingers together, unable to believe this is real.

I look at Harry's face, imagining what it would be like to see him first thing in the morning everyday, and my daydream begins. Something about him keeps pulling my eyes to his face like a magnet and I can't stop sneaking sideway glances. I'm caught, spellbound.

His dimpled cheeks, the line of his jaw, his lips quirked into a smile...

Then my eyes travel over the black ink across his skin, the tattoo on his arms, controlling my urge to trace the outline of his bare skin with my fingers. I lean back and sigh, feeling relieved for the first time in a few weeks. It's the most calm I have felt in a while, and I don't want it to stop.

What a great way to start each day if I get to look at him like this, I thought to myself. This is definitely something I wouldn't get tired of seeing.

Harry hits the brake and we stop, waiting for the lights of pedestrian crossing to change, then he turns his head to me and catches me blatantly staring.

I avert my eyes away, focusing on the windshield but I can't suppress the scarlet flush forming on my cheeks.

I try hard to keep my expression neutral, biting my cheeks to fight off a smile, but in my peripheral vision, I'm aware of his eyes on me.

Be cool, Teddy.

Seconds, then minutes passed and every now and then, he glances my side, chuckling lightly. He's smiling at me like he has known me for his entire life and his contagious grin had me smiling right back.

"Shouldn't you be looking at the road?" I remind him after a while.

"Sorry ma'am, couldn't resist," Harry laughs easily. "I have a better view right here." He points at me.

"I never knew you were such a reckless driver," I teased.

"Only when I'm with you, Teddy," he answers. "Only with you."

God, I love the way he says my name. I stare at him, heart beating in my chest and wonder how was it so easy for him to send my pulse racing, my body infused with so much life?

Did he enroll to a course where he was taught to say the things that women wanted to hear? I can't help thinking to myself. And honestly, since when did the normal act of driving looked so crazy hot?

Something about his presence is making me nervous and at ease at the same time. A lethal combination. My mind still hasn't wrapped around the idea that we're driving around town, hands held together, grinning like carefree teenagers. The experience is so surreal.

After the forty-minute drive, Harry parks the car, finally arriving at our house.

He opens the passenger door, guiding me by the hand as I step out. I walk off to the porch, fumbling in my purse for the keys.