Take Me There

Possible Signs and Eight Texts

Chapter Nineteen

 The next day, Sadie and Lincoln made me tell them every little thing that happened. We literally spent thirty minutes sitting out on the balcony talking about everything that happened between me and Kiptyn.
 I thought Lincoln was going to happy dance whenever I told her about Kiptyn and I kissing again. Sadie didn't really look too pleased, but I knew that she would eventually get over it.
 I'd told them every part of the night from meeting Kiptyn in the lobby to when he walked me to my hotel door and took ten minutes to kiss me goodnight. Not that that bothered me. Hell, I loved kissing him.
 I was currently standing in the hotel parking lot, helping Lyle pack everyone's bags back into the trunk. I could tell that Lyle was sick of unloading shit and then packing it up, and I knew from the look on his face that he wasn't too thrilled to be driving once again. I wasn't even the one driving and I was tired of it.
 "Tired?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.
 Lyle gave me a smile. "How'd you know?"
 "I mean you've only yawned fifty times in the past ten minutes."
 I handed him the last bag, which he easily tossed into the trunk before shutting it. "Yeah this whole trip is starting to wear on me."
 "Do you want me to drive?"
 Lyle turned around to look at me, his eyebrows raised. "You want to drive five hours to Tennessee?"
 "I wouldn't have offered if I didn't mean it."
 He thought before nodding his head. "That would be awesome, actually."
 I smiled, taking the keys out of his hand. "I've been wanting to drive this thing anyway."
 "What's going on here?"  
 We both turned around to see Cealy, her eyebrows raised. I could have slapped that condescending look right off of her face.
 "Dallis was helping me pack up the truck since you were still getting ready."
 "Why does she have the keys?" Cealy asked, glancing at me.
 "I'm obviously driving."
 She looked back at Lyle. "You're letting her drive?"
 He shrugged. "I don't feel like it today."
 "Don't feel like what today?"
 My breath hitched whenever I saw Kiptyn coming up behind Lyle. He looked so incredible, even though he was only wearing a pair of gym shorts and a Crossing Lincoln shirt with ripped sleeves. Memories from last night immediately flooded my mind and I couldn't help but blush.
 Lyle turned his head and nodded towards me. "I'm letting Dallis drive to Tennessee."
 Kiptyn glanced over at me and smirked. "Might wanna say a prayer."
 I rolled my eyes. "You've never even been in a car with me before while I was driving."
 Kiptyn walked passed Lyle and Cealy, not stopping until he reached me. He gave me a cute smile before wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him, surprising me by placing a soft kiss on my lips.
 "What the hell," I heard Lyle mutter from behind Kiptyn, causing me to smile against Kiptyn's lips.
 Whenever Kiptyn pulled away from me, I glanced over at Lyle and Cealy, who both had wide eyes and open mouths. Lyle eventually shook his head before pointing a finger at Kiptyn. "I told you, man! I knew you guys would hook up!"
 My cheeks grew red at his comment and Kiptyn smirked, glancing at me before looking back at Lyle. "She's really not all that great in bed."
 I elbowed Kiptyn in the ribs, my cheeks growing hotter by the second. I gave Lyle a sheepish look. "We did not hook up. Don't listen to this idiot."
 "You obviously did something," Cealy pointed out, her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised, "Kiptyn doesn't just kiss girls at random for no reason."
 Kiptyn snickered. "You know me so well."
 "What's going on over here?" Lincoln suddenly asked, slinging her arms around mine and Kiptyn's shoulders. I turned slightly to smile at her, my stomach still exploding with butterflies at Kiptyn's public display of affection. Usually I wasn't too keen on PDA, but this was Kiptyn we were talking about.
 I definitely made an exception.
 "Did you know about this?" Lyle asked, looking between me and Kiptyn.
 "I knew something was going on."
 Lyle huffed. "How did I not know about this?"
 "Not know about what?" Jase suddenly asked, his arm wrapped around Sadie's waist as they walked towards the SUV.
 I swear if one more person joined this conversation I was going to flip a shit.
 "When Kiptyn came out here, he kissed Dallis," Lyle said, his eyes still wide.
 Jase immediatley grinned, letting go of Sadie and holding up a hand in front of both Kiptyn and I. We both laughed and slapped his hands, my blush still growing by the second.
 "I knew you guys would give into the frustration!"
 "You guys are making this such a big deal," I said, completely embarrassed by all of their reactions. It wasn't like Kiptyn and I were dating or anything. I just liked him and even though he hadn't really said it, I was pretty sure that he liked me too.
 "It is a big deal!" Jase exclaimed, "Our little Kiptyn might actually settle down!"
 Kiptyn put a hand up, his smirk faltering slightly. "Too far, bro. I'm not settling down."
 And just like that, the butterflies were flying right out of my stomach and leaving me with nothing but a weird sensation of dread. I felt a lump forming in my throat and for a second I felt nothing but humiliation.
 Was this a sign or something?