Seven Weeks to Forever (Love / Romance)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Countdown to The Life-After: one week.

I think I'm in for a night of video games and Scrabble when Riley texts me to ask if he can come over. So when he parks his car in my driveway but leaves the engine idling, then gets out and walks up to my door, I'm a little confused.

"It's been a couple of years since driver's ed, but I'm pretty sure that even in California, you're supposed to turn the car off after—"

He presses a finger to my lips, cutting off the rest of my words. Then he lifts his finger away and leans in to kiss me. His arm circles my waist and he pulls me in close to him.

"Smart aleck," he tells me, when we break apart a minute later. "But an adorable one."

"You know, normally I don't like being interrupted mid-sentence, but—" And then his hands are cradling my face, his mouth covering mine again. He inches forward until we're as close as two people could be. My back presses against the wall and my arms wrap around him, somehow trying to squeeze him even more tightly against me even though there's no space between us. I have no idea how we're going to do anything tonight if this is what happens when I talk, but I'm not complaining. Not at all.

"You were saying?" He has the biggest, goofiest grin on his face, which just makes me want to kiss him again. I gulp for air, my breath coming in uneven bursts. I can't help but grin back once I start to breathe normally again. There are goose bumps all over my arms, and I swear even my hair has started tingling.

"Mmm, I was saying..." I blink hard, trying to clear my mind of the haze brought on by the feeling of his lips and his body pressed against me. From the look on his face, I can see I'm not alone. I have to move my eyes away from him to focus. When I see his car still idling in the driveway, I remember.

"Your car," I say. "It's still running."

"Then we'd better catch it," he teases, that heart-melting grin on his face again.

"Hmm?" I find myself swaying toward him but make myself stop. We're going to get a conversation in here, or at least I think we are. Unless I keep kissing him.

Conversation is overrated, my mind chimes in. I try to argue the point with myself, but come up with nothing. I think the tingling has short-circuited my brain.

"I want to take you somewhere." His hands move to my shoulders. One of his fingers traces circles on the bare skin of my neck. Tiny shivers run up and down my spine, and I can feel the little electric sparks of our energy where it meets.

"Somewhere?" I repeat.

Riley doesn't answer me while he lets his fingers move up to my jaw. We're not going anywhere if he keeps this up.

I try again. "Where?"

"It's a surprise." He raises an eyebrow, and I think he's trying to look mysterious. It makes me laugh. He kisses my forehead and then lets his hands drop to his sides. I don't really want them there, but it sure helps me think a little more clearly.

"Let me grab my keys before your car runs out of gas," I tell him.

Once I have my keys and my purse, he takes my hand and leads me outside. We stop beside the car for one more kiss before he'll open the passenger door for me. It's a good thing I don't have to stand for more than a few seconds after that.

"Why do I think you're taking me up to a city lookout to make out all night?" I ask him when he gets inside of the car.

"We're going somewhere way better than that." He turns the key in the ignition and then backs out of the driveway onto the road.

"Give me a hint?"

"Nope." He reaches over and touches my knee, then brings his hand back to the steering wheel.

I can tell from the streets he takes that we're headed away from Hollywood and out toward the San Fernando Valley. My suspicion is confirmed when we get onto the I-5 and head north of the city. I wrack my brain trying to figure out what's out this way.

"We're going to Six Flags?" I guess.

I hear a quiet laugh. "We're driving past Six Flags."

"You really aren't telling me where we're going?" I stick out my bottom lip, pretending to pout. This just makes him laugh harder when he glances over at me.

"Nope, so you might as well just enjoy the ride."

He takes a hand off of the steering wheel to reach over and press one of the stereo buttons. The music of Lazy Monday fills the car and I'm brought back to the first time I saw Riley, not knowing who he was. I remember what I thought of him them. If I hadn't been sent here to help him, I would never have gotten to know him. It makes me wonder how many other great people I haven't gotten to know in this life.

But I have reasons, I remind myself. No regrets.

I watch the scenery pass for a few minutes before it occurs to me that this drive feels familiar somehow, in a way I'm having trouble placing. I stop trying to puzzle it out as I hear Riley singing along to the song that's blasting through the speakers, and I feel warmth spread through me at the sound of his rich voice. I study him as closely as I can without him knowing it.

His energy is fascinating tonight. It's bright and strong, extending far out around him, and all of it is reflected in the smile that hasn't left his face since he got to my house. Given the stop-and-go traffic we're in, I think swearing at some of the other drivers would be completely acceptable. Riley doesn't even notice them, as far as I can tell.

"Are we going some place you go a lot?" I ask.

"Not telling." His smile becomes almost smug, in a playful sort of way.

"How long are we driving for?"

He shakes his head at me. "Are you going to start asking me if we're there yet?" he teases.

"Maybe."

He moves a hand off of the steering wheel to squeeze my fingers. "Patience."

It's a sign on the side of the road that brings the memories I've been searching for into my mind with a force that nearly pushes me forward in my seat. I know why this drive feels familiar to me now, but I doubt it's possible we're going to the same place it used to take me. This is the route I used to follow on my trips out of the city to watch the stars at night the last time I lived in L.A., when I was Anna. There's a back road I loved deep in the valley, where the lights of the city seemed far enough away to be another world. It felt like the galaxy of stars and planets I could see in the sky shone just for me.

Riley steers the car to an exit off the interstate I know well. Each turn we make is one I've made before, until we're on the road I used to park my car on when I'd come out here to watch the night sky.

It's not nightfall quite yet, but the sky is starting to get darker. We drive past the spot where I used to park. After a couple of miles, he slows the car down and turns into a driveway I don't know. There's a small house in front of us.

"My lady," he says, unbuckling his seat belt. "We have arrived."