When they reached his car a few feet down the road, he yanked open the passenger door before he stormed around the front of the car to his side.

“Are you okay to drive?” she asked softly.

He got in and slammed the door, and the next sound was the thunderous sound of the car starting. She stood there, hesitating for a moment as she took a shaky breath.

“Please just get in,” she heard him say roughly from inside the car, and she swallowed before she slid into the seat and closed the door, buckling her seatbelt.

He took off like a shot, peeling rubber as they turned down the street, and Lauren leaned forward and grabbed the dash.

“Michael, please!” didn’t have to come here.”gry she said, and instantly, he took his foot off the gas and the car slowed to a reasonable speed.

She exhaled heavily, sitting back in her seat as she glanced over at him. He was looking straight ahead, his expression unreadable.

Maybe this was it. Maybe Jenn was right, and this would be the moment he’d confess his feelings. I want you. I don’t want you to be with anyone else. I want you to be mine, only mine.

But there was nothing.

They drove the entire way to her house in silence. He didn’t even turn the radio on.

When Michael finally pulled into the top of her driveway and cut the engine, they sat there for a few silent moments before Lauren finally sighed. “That really wasn’t necessary,” she said. “You could have gotten arrested.”

“That kid mouthed off to me!” he snapped.

Lauren turned toward him, her expression unimpressed. “He said ‘whoa, buddy’ because you cut him in line.”

“He’s got a big fucking mouth!” Michael yelled, cutting her off. “And you had no business getting involved. You could have gotten hurt!”

Lauren closed her eyes and shook her head. She knew better than to try to have a conversation with him when he was like this. She took a small breath and turned to get out of the car.

He reached out and grabbed her arm, gently this time.

“You’re not hurt, are you?”

His voice had softened significantly, although she knew him well enough to know that he was still annoyed.

“No, I’m fine,” she said softly.

Michael released her arm and exhaled heavily. “I’m sorry if I scared you.”

“You didn’t scare me,” she lied. “I just…I wish you would try to keep your head next time, okay?”

“And I wish you would use better judgment when it comes to guys next time, okay?”

Lauren looked at him for a second before she nodded silently.

“Good night, Red,” he said, leaning over to kiss her forehead before he reached across her and opened the car door.

She got out and walked down her driveway in a stupor, knowing Michael wouldn’t leave until she was safely inside her house.

No sooner than she opened her front door, she heard the phone in her bedroom ringing, and she ran upstairs, although she already knew who it would be.

“Yeah?” Lauren said as she sat on the edge of her bed.

“You’re killing me. What happened?”

“Nothing,” Lauren said, half-heartedly kicking off her shoes.

“Nothing?” Jenn asked. “What do you mean, nothing? Guys don’t beat up other guys over girls they don’t want.”

“He went after him because he mouthed off to him at the keg,” Lauren said.

“Oh, come on, Laur, you don’t really buy that, do you? Even Del’s not that crazy.”

Lauren sighed as she flopped back onto her bed. “Either way. Remember when Tommy Greene beat up that guy who slept with his sister?”

There was only silence on the other end of the line, and Lauren knew she had Jenn cornered. “I’m telling you, I’m like his { display: block; text-indent: 5%; font-size: 0.88rem; margin-top: bl you to little sister. He told me to use better judgment with the next guy. That’s hardly claiming me for his own.”

There was another silence before she heard Jenn sigh on the other line. “So that’s it, then?”

Lauren closed her eyes, because she didn’t know what other choice she had. The bottom line was Michael Delaney never held back from what he wanted, and if it was her, she would know.

“Well, this sucks,” Jenn said. “Because after what Mark Valero went through tonight, you’re gonna have a hell of a time getting another guy to hook up with you.”

.

November 2011

Lauren sat in the passenger seat of Adam’s car, alternating between glancing at his profile and looking out the window, trying to figure out where they were going.

When he had called her a few days ago to finalize their plans, he’d only told her to dress casually. Lauren had pressed him for more information, but he was deliberately vague. It didn’t bother her then—in fact, she found it kind of endearing—but now that they were in his car driving to some unknown destination, it was driving her crazy.

When she looked back at him for what must have been the tenth time, she saw a smug smile curving the corners of his lips.

“You enjoying yourself over there?” she asked, her brow quirked.

“Am I enjoying watching you squirm? Of course not.”

“Doesn’t look like it from where I’m sitting,” Lauren said, folding her arms and fighting her own smile as she glanced out the passenger window again.

“We’re almost there,” he said, his voice breaking on the chuckle he could no longer contain, and Lauren shook her head.

“That settles it. I’m definitely escaping through the bathroom window once we get there,” she said, earning her a full-blown laugh as Adam slowed the car and turned up what Lauren thought was a side road, but ended up being a wide driveway.

Through the dusk, she saw the flash of the sign at the bottom of the drive: “South Hills School of Business and Technology.”

She turned toward him, her brow lifted. “You’re taking me to school?”

“Sort of,” he said, pulling into a parking space in front of one of the buildings.

Before she could ask anything else, Adam was out of the car and walking around to her side, opening the door for her. He extended his hand to help her out, closing the door behind her, and Lauren had to bite her lip to hide her smile when he intertwined their fingers rather than letting her hand go as they began walking toward the glass doors at the front of the building.

They walked down the corridor in silence, stealing little peeks at each other as they went. His playful glances—along with the feel of his hand clasping hers—lit a warmth in her belly that reminded her of being a teenager again.

Lauren couldn’t deny how good he looked tonight: a pair of nice jeans and a black button-down shirt, his blond hair looking somewhat unkempt and yet still impeccable at the same time.

And he smelled amazing.

“Here we are,” he said, gesturing with his head toward the large sign on the door didn’t have to come here.”t Sr they had stopped in front of.

Couple’s Cooking Class: Saturday Evenings, 6:30 p.m.

As Lauren read it, a slow smile broke over her face.

“I figured any guy could take you out to dinner, but how many guys can cook you a gourmet meal?”

“Impressive,” she said, looking up at him. “I didn’t know you could cook.”

“Oh…well, I can’t, actually,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand and shrugging. “Hence this class.” Lauren laughed as he added, “But it still counts, right?”

He reached for the door and released her hand, placing his on the small of her back as she walked into the large room. There were about ten cooking stations, complete with stoves, appliances, measuring cups and spoons, and some ingredients already lined up on the counter space.

“Welcome!” beamed a middle-aged woman from the front of the room. “Have you signed up in advance for this evening’s class?”

“Yes,” Adam said. “Adam Wells.”

The woman looked down through the glasses balanced precariously on the tip of her nose, scanning a clipboard. “Ah yes, here you are. Excellent! Help yourselves to any open station,” she said, gesturing grandly toward the room.