Double Clutch (20 page)

Saxon smirked while my mother told me she loved me.

“
Tell her I love her, too,” he said in a stage whisper.

I gripped my phone in my hand. “Tell her yourself when you get to my house,” I dared him. He shut up.

We rode for a little while in silence. I tried to make mine a pointed, obvious silence, but Saxon refused to acknowledge there was anything weird about my lack of conversation. He seemed perfectly comfortable with the whole thing.

“
Pretty crazy weather, eh Blix?” He knew it was ironic to bring up something as mundane as the weather when we had such strong emotions broiling between us.

“
It sucks.” Mom would say I was being petulant. So what if I sounded like a priss? That’s how I felt.

“
I think it was fate.” He leaned back in his seat. He looked good, and I knew he knew it. His jet black hair was a little too long and messy. His eyes were dark and knowing, and his shirt and pants were obviously too light for the weather, but he didn’t even have a goosebump. And even though I really didn’t want to notice it, it was hard to ignore how his sculpted muscles popped against his Sex Pistols t-shirt and his ripped-up pinstriped suit pants.

“
I don’t think fate had anything to do with this. This is just you creeping around where you knew I’d be passing,” I said a little too firmly. Because I had a huge superstitious streak and that usually made me believe firmly in fate. But I didn’t want to in this instance.

“
I think you’re a liar. Don’t be so glum, Blix. It’s not cheating to take a ride. Even if it is from me.”

“
Jake would never care,” I said hotly, all the hotter about it because I was secretly a little nervous he would care, and also a little annoyed I was even thinking that way.

Saxon shrugged. “I thought you would be more concerned, now that your Jake’s girl.”

“
Like I said before,” I snapped, “I’m my own girl. No one else’s.” No matter how much I liked Jake, I would never think of myself as belonging to him. The very idea made me shudder a little.

“
So how about Folly?” Saxon made a stab at neutral conversation. “I heard you gave them some designs that were pretty awesome. You and me should go to the show next Saturday.” And then he brought it right back into uncomfortable territory.

“
No thanks,” I said automatically.

His smile curled over his face like smoke curling from a burning cigarette. “You aren’t remotely interested in how your design will sell?”

I was. And I liked Folly. I managed to ignore the fact that Saxon made the Folly mix for me and spent a few nights listening to it. I definitely got into their music. “I’m not saying I won’t go. I just don’t want to go with you.”

Saxon leaned over and upped the heat until every dial was set to maximum. I started to sweat in my seat.“Well, however you get there, I’ll be there, too, so it will technically be a date.”

I balked at his words and resisted the urge to throw my coat off. “That makes absolutely no sense.”

“
Really?” he challenged. “I’m asking you to meet me at the Folly concert. If you’re there on Saturday, you accepted my date request.”

I glanced at the speedometer and saw he was hardly doing fifteen miles an hour. This ride would never end. “I’ll go with Jake.” I unknotted my scarf, dragged my hat off, and put my mittens in my lap, and I was still sweltering. I didn’t know what was more uncomfortable; the extreme heat of the car’s interior or the slow, hot burn of rage that spread through me in response to Saxon’s ridiculous games.

“
Isn’t the motocross race at the Valley next Saturday?” he taunted.

My ears burned. I had forgotten! Jake hadn’t said anything about it for days. I already told him I would go. I even wanted to. How was I going to line everything up?

Now I was aggravated, and Saxon was purposefully crawling along even more slowly. I knew there was no way he’d drive this slowly even in a blizzard. He just wanted to torture me.

“
Can we talk about something else?” I growled. I hated his arrogant smile and the way he knew exactly which buttons to push to get me going.

“
Sure,” Saxon drawled. “What would you like to talk about, Brenna?” The way he said my name was warm and slow, and it coiled down low in my gut.

“
Are you doing any sports this fall?” I asked, my voice falsely bright.

“
Yeah.” He shot me a smile. “I’m a forward.”

“
Like on the soccer team?” He didn’t seem like a joiner, let alone one of the most important members of the soccer team.

“
Like on the soccer team. So are you doing any sports? Cheerleading?” He suggested with a laugh. “Kidding,” he added, and I smiled despite my best attempt to scowl at him.

“
I was thinking about track,” I admitted.

“
You should. You run like Gump.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know. I’ve heard you and your friends chanting for me.”

“
You’re inspiring, Blix.” His tone wasn’t joking anymore. He looked at me with this expression of naked appreciation that I noticed every once in a while. Saxon didn’t try to hide it when he looked at me that way. He clearly wanted me to see it.

“
And I’m sure you make all of the girls burn with desire when you’re on the field.” I shrugged out of my jacket, finally completely broken under the heat torture. “At first I didn’t think soccer forward fit you, but it actually makes perfect sense. You’re the center of attention, calling all of the shots and having everyone worship you. Perfect.”

“
Are you calling me a diva?” Saxon grabbed a pack of Tic Tacs from the assorted wrappers, empty cigarette packets, and crumpled papers scattered on the dash and offered them to me.

“
I call ‘em like I see ‘em.” I accepted his tiny orange peace offering. “I would have been home ten minutes ago if I rode my bike.”

“
Or you would have been dead. Bikes aren’t made for snowstorms.” He held out his hand so I could shake more Tic Tacs in his palm, and I did. “You’re kind of obnoxious.”

“
Glad you think so.” I flipped the vents down and pointed the hot air at my feet. “Let’s not be friends.”

“
Friends,” he scoffed and tossed the candies into his mouth. “We’re so similar, we should join alliances. The two most obnoxious people on earth would be a true force to be reckoned with.”

“
We are not alike.” I really wanted to mean it.

He drove with one hand on the steering wheel, his head turned to look at me. “Why do you think we drive each other crazy? Why do you think there’s that certain something in the air whenever we’re around each other? We’re alike. We attract each other.” His voice was low and smoky in my ears.

I shook my head. “No.”

“
It doesn’t matter what you say. It is what it is.” He lifted his hand from the steering wheel in a huge shrug. “Can’t help it. Trust me, I don’t like it any more than you do. I’m just not as good as lying to myself as you are.”

“
I don’t lie to myself,” I lied.

We both laughed, and I realized two things at once. The first was that we were pulling into my driveway. The second was that I felt upset for some reason. Some part of me wanted more time with Saxon - the same Saxon who insisted he was just like me when we were worlds apart. Because I was sure we were and always would be worlds apart. Period.

Question mark.

I had my hand on the door handle before he’d even pulled to a complete stop. “Thanks.”

He killed the engine and reached for his handle.

“
No.” I shook my head for emphasis.

“
Yes.” He got out and headed to my side of the car, then opened my door. I felt a red flush creep up my face.

I hated having him on my own turf. Being a smartass with Saxon in class or his car was one thing. Now I was home, with the mother I loved, and I wasn’t sure how to act around him again. It also made me a little mad he was going to meet my mom and be an official guest before Jake got the chance. This was Jake’s spot, not Saxon’s, and that point of fact made me annoyed.

Or was it a point of fate?

I marched to the house, Saxon at my side, and Mom’s telltale curtain-fluttering sent my heart into overdrive. There was no script for this between me and my mother. Usually I would have asked permission to bring anyone over. I wasn’t used to being cavalier with my mom, and I was nervous about facing her disappointment. I was nervous she would interpret Saxon as something other than what he was. And I was most nervous she would approve of him, or possibly even like him and link us together in her head, in that place that already belonged to Jake, even if she didn’t realize it yet.

The snow coated my driveway and hid the shiny pieces of quartz gravel that usually made a bumpy white trek down the drive. I took Saxon through the garage entrance and came in to my mother’s open arms.

“
No more bike.” She shook me by my shoulders gently before she hugged me hard. She turned to Saxon. Her look wasn’t exactly welcoming, but she wasn’t kicking him out either. “Thank you for driving Brenna home. We don’t usually allow her to drive with teenagers, but I understand this was an exceptional situation.”

I gloated at Saxon. I loved my mom’s crisp, scary voice. She could put any boy in his place, even if his eyes were black as sin and his smile made it feel like someone had grabbed a fistful of your stomach and was squeezing hard.

“
I understand, Mrs. Blixen.” The voice that tumbled out of his mouth was modulated and humble. “I’m glad I could help Brenna out. Her friends have been worried about her biking home with the weather so unpredictable.”

I wanted to snort at his nonsense, but my mother’s look of approval made my throat stick. Saxon did
not
just charm my mother!

“
Well, I appreciate your worry. We’ve felt it too.” She gave me another shake. “I’d love to ask you to stay…”

“
Saxon Maclean, ma’am.” He stuck his hand out.

She shook it and looked disgustingly charmed. “We’d love to have you stay, Saxon, but this is not weather to be on the roads in. Do you need to use our phone to call your parents to tell them you’re on the way home?”

Saxon had parents? It seemed unthinkable.

“
No, thank you,” said Impeccably Mannered Saxon. “I have a cell phone. It was so nice meting you, Mrs. Blixen.”

“
Same here.” Mom seemed to revel in his thickly-laid-on crap. “I hope you can make it over for dinner sometime when the weather’s a little less freakish.”

“
I’d love that.” He turned to me and gave me a sweet, friendly smile, while his eyes danced with devilish triumph. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow, Brenna. I might need to call you later for help with Government.” He looked at my mom, his eyes as innocent as two freshly picked blackberries. “Brenna has a real brain for government, and she’s one of the youngest in the class.”

I wanted to gag. Mom preened like a proud mama peacock. “Well, she’ll be home if you need help. She is very bright.”

“
I think I know where she gets her brains from.” He smiled and winked. He actually winked! “Goodnight ladies.”

“
Drive safely!” Mom called, looking all agog. I had to suppress a groan.

She went to her favorite crack in the curtains like a friendly sentinel. “He seems very sweet. And very gentlemanly.”

“
Mmmhmm,” I murmured noncommittally.

“
And he’s definitely got eyes for you, Bren,” Mom went on. Her eyes followed his sleek black car as it backed fluidly out of the driveway. “He’s really good looking. Almost too good looking. Is he your boyfriend?” Her voice was just on the edge of being nervous.

“
No.” I paused. “We’re just friends. I think he has a thing for Kelsie.” It wasn’t completely a lie. He had had a thing for Kelsie.

Mom wrinkled her nose. “I don’t think so. Kelsie is sweet, don’t get me wrong. But she can’t hold a candle to you, honey.”

I gave Mom a weak smile and tried to think of some way out of this completely awkward conversation. “So, did you hear from the college?”

“
I did!” she exclaimed. “I have a Tuesday/Thursday night class, but everything else is during the day.”

“
That’s awesome, Mom.” I moved towards her to give her a hug. “Are you teaching something you like?”

She squeezed me hard then shrugged, flicking the curtain back with a jerk of her hand. “Art History 105 and 106. It’s nice to look at the whole timeline of art again. No complaints here.” She smiled at me, her blue-gray eyes crinkling prettily around the edges.

“
I’m happy for you.” We watched the snow fall outside the windows in fat, beautiful flakes. “Do you think we’ll have a snow day tomorrow?”

“
You never know. I just can’t believe we’re getting this much snow and it’s still early October! I can’t remember winter starting this early in years. Listen, I know you don’t like it much, but you’re going to have to start taking the bus, Bren.”

“
I’ll be home really late, though.” I bit my lip as my bike privileges slipped away before my eyes. I was positive I’d be able to ride right up to the beginning of December, but this freaky weather threw all of my best laid plans off.

“
Why?”

“
Tech drops off here after they loop Sussex and Vernon. I’m going to be on the bus for over an hour and a half.”