Page 33 of Shut Up and Drive

“Serafina! Please come down here for a minute,” my mom yelled from the kitchen. I leaned over the loft railing and made eye contact with her. She motioned for me to come downstairs, and as I bounded down the creaky wood staircase, she tore off a piece of paper from her notepad.

“I need you and the boys to run into town for me. We’re doing breakfast for dinner tonight, and I need some Bisquick.”

“What about the Bisquick we brought? That was a huge bag,” I argued, because at nineteen, the last thing I wanted to do was run errands all day long in the heat with my brother and his hot friend. “The Deckers from down the beach are doing a bonfire tonight, and I don’t want to miss it.”

“Well, then you’d best hurry. And I did bring a big bag, but it got dropped when we were carrying things in from the car. Most of it ended up on the driveway, and I’d rather havetoo much than not enough. You know how this group feels about pancakes.”

I sighed heavily in protest and took the list from her hands. I folded it in half, shoved it into the pocket of my cutoff shorts, and slipped on my flip flops.

“Take Sebastian and Nathaniel with you. I don’t want you going alone.”

My mother was always overly cautious—even in a town as safe and small as Amethyst Lake—and rarely let me go anywhere without Thane and Bash. Though there were days when I’d love to run far away from their teasing and immaturity, I knew when to pick my battles. Today was not that day.

I took the keys from the entryway table and slunk out the front door, hoping to leave unnoticed. The door clicked shut and I turned on tiptoe, ready to sprint to the car in the driveway, when I ran smack into Thane’s chest. He wrapped his arms around me to keep me from falling backward, and as soon as I regained my balance, I pushed away from him—not because I wanted to, but because if I stayed in his arms for too long, I might want to do it again. And again. I escaped mostly unscathed, except for the ambush on my olfactory nerves by his intoxicating scent. That was all it took to shake up the jar of butterflies living in my stomach.

I avoided his eyes and spin-moved toward the car.

“Fina, wait for me. My mom said I’m supposed to go to the store with you,” Thane hollered to me as he trotted across the lawn.

“It’s okay,” I said, waving my hand in dismissal. “I’ve got it.”

“You know as well as I do that if our moms find out youwent alone to town, we’ll both be put on dish duty.” When I kept walking, he finished with, “Which means we’ll miss the bonfire.”

I paused mid-step in the driveway.

“Fine, let’s go,” I mumbled. “But I’m only letting you come because I’ve been looking forward to it all week long, and a huge sink full of dishes would ruin that plan. Where is Bash?”

Thane shrugged. “Last time I saw him, he was walking off with that girl from the blue house by the docks.”

I rolled my eyes. “We don’t have time to look for him. Dinner is in an hour and a half, and we need to be back as soon as possible.”

I jogged to the driver’s door and hit the unlock button. Thane stepped beside me, blocking me from opening it. He folded his arms like a bouncer at a club and stood firm in his shoes. The stupid grin on his face was an indication that he was in one of his teasing moods, and that he was about to push every button I had.

“Come on, Thane. We don’t have time for your games,” I insisted, attempting to shove his solid body aside.

“Oh, I’m not playing games. There’s no way I’m riding shotgun with you behind the wheel.”

“I am perfectly capable of driving.”

“You are a certified bad driver, Fina, and we both know it.”

“That’s so not true,” I argued. “I hit one curb…”

“You needed a new tire and rim afterward. And to add insult to injury, you also ruined Mrs. Travers’ fence.”

I folded my arms, mimicking him. “I barely bumped it.”

“You smashed a whole section! And you let her fancy showpoodle escape. Bash and I had to chase that dumb dog all over the neighborhood. As far as I’m concerned, if we’re on any kind of a time crunch—there’s no way you’re driving.”

I glared up at him. His sculpted jawline and soft brown eyes were enough to make me give in, but his smart mouth made me want to fight with him until the day I died. His eyes narrowed to challenge me, and the corner of his perfect lips twitched upward.

I imagined a world where he loved me like I loved him, and I could kiss those lips anytime I wanted. A world where I could steal his T-shirt and sleep in it and no one would think I was a creep for doing it. I dreamed about being wrapped in his arms when we were together and finding random parts of my clothing that smelled like him when we weren’t. I had wanted Thane Donnelly for years now, and it had nearly killed me to pretend I didn’t. But Thane was not just my next-door neighbor and lifetime family friend; he was also my brother’s best friend. Those things didn’t mix well, and if anyone ever found out that I had a giant crush on Thane, I’d have to fake my own death and flee the country.

“Tick-tock, Princess.”

“I hate it when you call me that.”

“That’s exactly why I do it.”