One Month, One Lifetime

26: Finally.

Twenty minutes later I had my nice down do pulled into a messy ponytail and bangs pinned back. It was quite the look with my semi formal dress. Britton looked as mismatched as I did with his bow tie hanging from the rear view mirror and the top button of his tux undone. One of his hands was on the steering wheel, navigating the light traffic with ease. The other one was fiddling with the stereo blindly, trying to find a decent radio station, but it was the hour of talk shows and hour long infomercials. Eventually he gave up and turned it off completely.

We sat in silence, just listening to the whoosh of hot air coming in through the windows and tousling our hair.

But I was never really good at silence, and Britton still hadn't told me how he was going to better show that he was over Lylla. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"You know I hate surprises."

"Actually, I know that you love them." He shifted his grip on the wheel so his right hand was resting near mine on the center console. If Britton was any other guy taking me on a date--not that whatever this adventure was could be labelled a date--I would have assumed he was trying to hold my hand. Even with it being Britton, I thought he was trying to hold my hand from the way our fingers brushed casually against each other, but there was something so natural about the movement that he couldn't have planned it. Britton was a terrible actor.

Then his fingers interlaced with mine and we were holding hands.

Of course he had been trying to hold my hand the whole time, I knew that. He was a wonderful actor. Anyone would have marveled at how natural his movement was. It was like we had been holding hands during car drives for years. I couldn't deny how nice it felt.

Eventually he pulled an illegal u turn to navigate the car into the parking lot of a hole in the wall burger and shake place. "This was your plan?"

He killed the engine and broke our contact. In spite of the heat, my fingers felt suddenly cold without his on them. I didn't like it one bit. So when we got out of the car and walked up to the outdoor ordering window, I grabbed his hand again.

My gumption took him by surprise, even though it really shouldn't have. I had never been in the business of letting go of the things I like. His gaze flickered down to our hands and back to me with a smile on his lips. Not a subtle, yeah-I've-got-mad-game sort of smile, but a cheek splitting grin. I returned it without hesitation.

"What kind of shake do you want?"

"What do you think?"

"Chocolate with extra Oreo. You're so predictable."

I swatted at his arm. "I am not predictable. I'm a loose cannon forging her own path. I cannot be predicted or controlled. You're the predictable one." At the window I ordered for both of us. "He'll have a small hot fudge, peanut butter, and marshmallow shake. I'll take a small chocolate with extra Oreo."

"Okay, loose cannon, you've got me all figured out. I'm a simple man with simple tastes."

"And a sweet tooth."

He shrugged and dug his wallet out of his pocket to pay while I wandered away to find a table outside that would give us a good view of the red mountain to the north and shield us from the steady stream of traffic as much as possible. By the time I found the perfect table, Britton was walking out with a shake in each hand. Mine had two red cherries on top. He had never liked them, and I did. It was a good deal.

He sat next to me, head turning up to look at the pinprick stars above us. Despite the city's light pollution, a few patches of glitter still colored the night sky. We leaned our chairs against the building wall to get a better view. They were gorgeous. If I focused hard enough, I could connect them to make images dance in the sky like my very own constellations.