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CHAPTER FIVE
BILLY'S BABY BLUE CAMARO WAS NOWHERE to be seen when Dylan finally left the gym and headed to the parking lot. She should have guessed he wouldn't wait for her: he was a player, an asshole — but she hoped he was an asshole true to his word.She was left disappointed and without a ride home.
Steve chuckled behind her, finding humour in her situation. "Billy leave you behind? You really do have a type Dylan — shitty guys."
"Me and Billy are not together," she said defensively. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Harrington."
"So you two didn't not-so-discreetly leave the girls locker room all sexed up?"
"Doesn't ring a bell."
Steve sighed, giving up. "Whatever. You want a ride? I got some errands to run but it beats walking."
"Does it?" She deadpanned. "I don't exactly remember you being good company."
"I'm not going to take back what I said," Steve's voice switching from condescending to soft, reassuring. "But I will say sorry for hurting you. I was just trying to be realistic."
"Well maybe you should try being sensitive."
She sprinted ahead of Steve, knowing his BMW was always parked in the same spot. She flung open the door and Steve scolded her for being so rough with his fancy car. She didn't head his warning, hopping in the car and slamming the door behind her.
"You could at least try to be careful," he whined, "my dad would kill me if anything happened to this car."
She let her eyes roll — Steve's parents disciplining him in any form would be a completely unheard of experience for Steve. It was the perks of being an only kid, she guessed.
"Please, daddy would just buy you a brand new one and you know it."
Steve grunted but never disagreed.
The two teens roamed around the flower shop, looking for the perfect bouquet for Nancy. In reality, Dylan was just trying to stop Steve from buying anything altogether. She tried to convince him to leave and forget it or else he'd look desperate but the guy was dead set on going to Nancy's house for a romantic gesture.
"Nothing yellow, Steve," Dylan grabbed the bouquet of bright tiger lilies from Steve's grip and placed them back in their water. "What is she, your grandma? Even Lottie Harrington would find these a disgrace, actually."
Steve hummed in response, stepping away from the bright, original flowers over to the more classic bouquets — daisies, roses.
"So watergirl huh?" Steve said while eyeing down two bouquets, holding them up for inspection. "How'd that happen?"
Her cheeks warmed. She knew he was just trying to break the ice but she wasn't eager to admit she had punched Carol in the face — it just wasn't a Dylan thing to do.
"Uhh," she tried to stall but Steve was staring her down pointedly. "It was either that or suspension."
At suspension, Steve's interest peaked and he put his full focus on her instead of the flowers. "Suspension? I was in the shower for ten minutes tops! What did you do?"
"Look, I wouldn't do it normally, you know me," Dylan rambled. "But Carol insulted me and it just pissed me off and so I hit her."
"You hit her."
"Punched her! Same thing."
Steve started chuckling which ended up escalating to boisterous guffaws. The other customers, mostly elderly ladies, gave the teenagers passing glares.
"That is not the same thing," he tried to control his laughter but failed, his words breaking. "God, Dylan. She probably deserved that for a while but who would've guessed it would be you to serve it to her."
"Ha-ha," she mocked. Dylan threw down the bouquet of daises in his hands and the pink roses tucked under his sleeve. She shoved a bouquet of red roses in his chest. "So funny. Now get these and lets get out of here."
Dylan begged Steve to bring her home first but to no avail. He insisted he would be quick and it only made sense to stop at the Wheeler household first since Dylan and Steve lived closer to each other. So, Dylan slumped down in the passenger seat as Steve trudged across the Wheeler's front lawn — it was funny, almost endearing, to see Steve fiddle nervously with his hair and stammer out the words he was planning to say (which she could hear since unfortunately for Steve he had left his window reeled down). The old Steve was nothing if not a confident, egomaniacal ladykiller, seeing him break over Nancy was sweet. Maybe she had misjudged his intentions Halloween night — possibly, he wasn't trying to be cruel, but attempting to help her move on. He did seem like a new person.
While his anxiousness was cute, it also filled Dylan with secondhand embarrassment and she turned up the stereo to drown him out.
"That was quick," she mused as Steve returned only a couple seconds later, slamming the door behind him as if he hadn't just scolded her for that same thing. "I'm guessing your apology wasn't a hit?"
"Oh, no. Nancy wasn't home."
Dylan turned to look over her shoulder. She hadn't noticed the new addition enter the car. A small, curly-haired prepubescent boy in a baseball cap sat in the backseat of Steve's car. The kid grinned at her and she confusedly turned back to Steve.
"Who the hell is he?" She asked incredulously. "Is babysitting on your list of errands now?"
"Dustin." The boy answered instead of Steve. "I'm a friend of Mike's — and you're Dylan Holland, everyone knows you because they all think you're pretty."
Steve put the car into gear and rolled his eyes at Dustin but a smile played on his lips.
"The kid needs help with something. I'm here to help." Steve shrugged as if him picking up a random preteen was normal. "Now lets get you home."
"No!" Dustin protested. "We don't have time. This is a code red, Steve! She'll have to come with us."
"She can't," Steve glared at the kid behind him. "She has to go home."
Dylan glanced between the two boys, taking in Dustin's pleading eyes. She had never met the kid before but he had a pair of puppy eyes that were easily impossible to argue with.
"If it's that urgent, I can come along. I have no plans."
"Awesome." Steve muttered under his breath and ripped down the road.
