My Dream Man | Book 1 | Sal Vulcano

Chapter Three

It took me a good thirty minutes before I found Sal. Well, technically I didn't find him. We kind of ran into each other before realizing it was either of us. After apologizing, we walked back to his house, a good mile walk. Fantastic. Sal walked beside me with his hands behind his back. I had mine in my coat pocket, letting little flies fall out of my bun. It was quiet between us. The night breeze flew between our legs and went out into the distance. I let my mind wonder to different places before I got tired of the quietness surrounding us.

"Why did you come all the way out here?" I asked, averting my eyes towards his direction.

"I didn't know you were at my house. I also didn't want you to get lost." He answered with a shrug.

I gave an airy chuckle. "But you have friends back at your house," I retorted. "You didn't need to come chasing after me. I'm a woman who's in her mid-thirties. I think I will be alright."

"Well..." Sal started. He zoned out before unfolding his hands from behind him, letting his arms dangle beside him. "I don't want people to get hurt, especially if I care about them-not saying I care about you! I mean, I do care-but not like-oh gosh."

I chuckled. "I know what you're talking about. Don't worry about it." I nudged his arm.

"Hey-" he nudged mine back. I gave a hard smile before letting my arms dangle next to mine.

We still had much less than a mile left of our walk back to Sal's. One things for certain, it was getting chilly. I shivered, wrapping my arms around my torso. Sal noticed, took off his jacket, and tried to put it over my shoulders. I moved away.

"You'll be cold. I don't want you sick either." I chattered.

"Please Addison, you're freezing. Take it as a thank you for coming out to get me." Sal suggested, trying to put the coat over my shoulders.

I stopped and faced him. "Sal. I'm going to be fine, okay? Put your coat on before you-"

Sal slipped it over my shoulders. I looked down at the dangling jacket before looking back up at him. I furrowed my eyebrows and grabbed the jacket from my shoulders. Sal, quickly, brought his arms back up, snatched it from my hands, and placed it back on my shoulders. My lips turned upside down.

"Please Sal, it's cold and-"

"Addison, don't argue with this." Sal retorted back.

I gave him a look and sighed. I grabbed the sides of the jacket and started walking. As we walked, Sal kept in crossed in front of him as I held the sides of the zippers in my hand. It was bugging me that he didn't have anything on him to keep him warm. Then, out of the blue, I had an idea. I stopped, making Sal stop. He turned and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" He asked, his voice barely audible.

"C'mere." I said, gesturing him with my shoulders.

He sighed and came over to me. "What now?" Sal retorted.

With one hand, I kept hold of the right side of the jacket over my shoulder. With my left, I slid it over Sal shoulder, which he grabbed. I wrapped my left arm around his waist and rested my head in the crook of his arm, my right arm pulling the jacket over my shoulder to keep me warm. Sal, slowly and gently, wrapped his right arm around my waist, keeping me close, and his left kept hold of the jacket over his shoulder.

"Comfy?" Sal asked.

"Yeah."

>><<

We were at least two houses away from Sal's when we saw a flash go off, then stayed there. I squinted my eyes from the bright light, not knowing where it was coming from. As we drew nearer though, we could tell it was James who had his phone out, recording us. Brian stood next to him, smiling at us. Sal and I quickly parted from each other. Sal ran up to them, knocking James' phone out of his hands.