Chapter 9 Danger

• ~ Zoie’s POV ~
• The stranger took the spot next to Zoie as he leaned against the parked black Mustang convertible. Meanwhile, Zoie kept her head on the ground as she took a big gulp of the beer. Her heart was beating like a drum and her knees felt like Jell-O. If she wasn’t leaning against the car, she’d probably be a puddle on the floor.
• Just stay cool, Zoie! Stay cool!
• “So, you wanna talk about it or what?” the stranger asked suddenly. He was watching her expression and saw that she was nervous about something.
• “About what?” she asked back.
• “About why you have such shitty friends,”
• Zoie wasn’t expecting that question at all. She paused for a moment before answering, “They’re not really my friends… I barely know them,”
• “Then were you doing with those people?”
• “I don’t know,” she shrugged. “I never had any friends. I guess I just wanted to know what it feels like to be normal for once…”
• Zoie looked down to the dirty floor as she clutched her almost empty beer bottle. Remembering what happened at the club just now, she felt her stomach sinking down again. For the first time in eighteen years, Zoie thought she finally had things figured out. After all these years of being a prisoner of her own life, she was finally going to be free. She thought she could finally start living a normal life—go to parties, make new friends, and maybe meet a guy that she likes. But all that came crashing down with a rather rude awakening. If her dad or brothers knew about what happened, they would’ve been so mad. And they’d probably say, “See, I told you so. The world is a dangerous place. You should’ve never left the house!”
• “How come you never had any friends?” the stranger asked, pulling her out of her train of thought.
• “It’s… complicated,” she replied. The stranger looked at her with a confused look, and she just shrugged.
• “I’m sorry. This is kind of an awkward thing to tell a stranger, huh?” she said again.
• “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me,” he said, giving her a playful wink as he finished his drink.
• Zoie watched as he downed the entire bottle. The drink went into his mouth and down his throat. Zoie couldn’t stop herself from taking note of his chiseled jawline, it was so sharp, you could probably kill someone with that.
• Damn.
• Looking at him drinking that beer made her thirsty. Zoie put her own bottle to her mouth and downed her drink. The stranger watched her for a moment, and he realized that her bottle was now empty too. He gave out his hand to take the empty bottle and Zoie gave it to him.
• “So, you gonna call an Uber or do you need me to take you home somewhere?” he said as he threw the empty bottles into the trash.
• Home?
• Zoie was not ready to go home. She was feeling weirdly comfortable being in that place.
• Wait a minute. That sounded wrong.
• A girl shouldn’t be feeling comfortable being with a stranger late at night at some dingy car garage. She should be running out the door, getting on the next cab away from there. And yet… she didn’t want to leave. The night was still young and even though it didn’t go as planned, it wasn’t completely ruined. She met an intriguing guy who turned out to be very nice, and she wanted to get to know him better.
• What’s the worst that could happen if I stay another hour or two?
• “Do you want me to go?” she asked back.
• The stranger thought for a moment before saying, “No, but I think you should,”
• “Why?”
• “Because your parents are probably looking for you,”
• “No one’s looking for me,”
• The stranger strode closer and stood right in front of her, his face hovering above her face.
• “Are you saying you wanna stay?” he asked challengingly.
• “I’m saying… I don’t wanna leave just yet,” she replied.
• Their eyes were now locked straight onto each other. No one was moving. No one said anything, but there was a lot being said. There was so much tension in the air, you could cut through it with a butter knife.
• “No,” the stranger said suddenly. “I don’t think that’s happening,”
• Zoie almost gasped out loud. They were still standing so close to each other and Zoie felt this irresistible pull toward him. It was such a strong pull, Zoie could’ve fallen into his arms if the wind blew just a little harder.
• So how could he not feel the same way?
• “Why?” she asked. Maybe it was shameless, but whatever. She had no more filter at this point. “You don’t wanna make a move on me?”
• The stranger thought about it, cocking his head to the side. His eyes grew dark as he stared at her. Zoie could tell that he wanted her too.
• “No,” he said coldly, ripping her heart to shreds.
• “Why not?” she pressed.
• “Because I don’t think you can handle it,”
• “What’s that supposed to mean?”
• Zoie narrowed her eyes at him, but he just gave out a smile. Then he broke into a chuckle and lent out his hand, saying, “Come on, little girl, let’s get you home,”
• Little girl?
• “I’m not a little girl!” Zoie glared as she swatted his hand away.
• The stranger knew he hit a nerve. He stood back and watched as Zoie went on her rant.
• “I don’t know who you think you are and who you think I am, but I’m a big girl and I can handle myself, thank you very much!”
• The stranger snorted a laugh.
• “Oh, really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
• “Yes, really,” she said reassuringly, crossing her arms in an act of protest.
• The stranger searched her eyes and the moment their eyes met, the tension went from zero to a hundred again. There was something about the way he was looking at her. Zoie found it hard to breathe.
• “Okay, then,” he said suddenly, closing the distance between their bodies.
• Zoie was standing flushed against the car and he was right in front of her. He reached for her wrists and uncrossed her arms from her chest. Then he pinned her wrists back against the car’s window. Zoie looked around and she had no room to move away. His face was now so close to hers. He leaned his nose to the crook of her neck and inhaled her scent. Zoie’s entire body began to shake. Something was brewing inside her like it was ready to explode.
• What’s happening…?
• “You’re not gonna regret this, are you?” he whispered lowly into her ear. “Little girl?”
• And that was it. Something exploded inside of Zoie and she lost all sense of decency and control. Before she could change her mind, she grabbed him by his neck, stood up straight, and crashed her lips onto his.
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• - - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -