Xochitl’s eyes looked ready to roll to the back of her head. Vannah glanced out into the parking lot of a street in front of her again. Even first response vehicles would have a hard time getting to them if they needed to.
“I can get you out of here fast,” Byron assured her in a suddenly much nicer tone. “Everyone here is cruising this street all the way up. As soon as I get us to that first street right there, I’d turn off this mess and we’d be moving.”
Her parents’ warnings echoed in her head again as Vannah tried to decide. He seemed nice enough and there was no way this guy would have to resort to drugging girls to get in their pants, right? But what if he was lying? What if he’d really been up to no good when she caught him? What if he was just one of those guys who didn’t need to, but got off on drugging girls and raping them? She’d seen enough Dateline mysteries to know good looks didn’t necessarily rule out deranged.
As Xochitl began to slide down the side of his car, Vannah gasped reaching out for her. Completely passed out now, her friend’s weight was too much for tiny Vannah.
“I got her,” Byron reached out and easily lifted Xochitl. “Whatta you gonna do? You want her on the grass somewhere, the sidewalk, or in the backseat of my car?”
Vannah bit her lip as her mind raced and then she had a thought. “Okay, your car.”
Helping him open the backdoor, Byron got Xochitl in and then worked on getting her buckled up. Vannah hurried to the back of the car and took a picture of his license plate before he could see her. Everyone around them went on their merry way as if seeing a passed-out girl being carried into the backseat of a car around here was the norm. What in the world had Vannah and Xochitl’s lightweight asses been thinking when they decided to drink hard liquor in the first place?
Vannah put a text together for her sister Nena before attaching the photo of the license plate to it then read it before sending it off.
Check on me in about an hour. If you can’t get a hold of me this is the license plate of the guy who’s taking me home from a party. I’ll explain later. I’ll call you as soon as I get a chance. Love you!
She trusted her sister knew better than to mention this to her parents unless she really thought something was wrong. But Vannah would be calling her the moment she was home safe. She did not need her overprotective parents getting a whiff of what was going on or God forbid her hot-headed brothers. They’d for sure be banging on her dorm room door before the night was over if that happened.
Byron opened the door to the front passenger side. “Ready to go?”
Nodding, Vannah explained she and Xochitl lived in the dorms and gave him general directions. She remembered something else, as she got in and Byron closed the door. She set his gym clothes that reeked of puke by her feet wanting them as far from her as possible, and began texting Joseph, then thought better of it. The poor guy was technically being stood up now after he’d so willingly offered to take them home. At the very least she owed him a call.
Joseph answered just as Byron got in the car. “Joseph, it’s Vannah. Listen, sweetie, we had to leave. Xochitl started throwing up again and then passed out. I needed to get her out of there ASAP. But thank you for offering to take us home.”
“Did you get an Uber?”
Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment because she knew he’d think her an idiot for jumping in with Byron since he hadn’t heard Byron’s explanation. Vannah didn’t want to get into all that now, so she decided to just go along with Joseph’s assumption. “Um, yeah. We got lucky and there was one close by. Just picked us up.”
Feeling Byron’s eyes on her, Vannah lifted her chin but stared straight ahead. Who cared if he’d just heard her lie, right? She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure she could trust him.
“I guess it’s for the best.” Joseph said. “I was getting ready to call you and let you know it was gonna be a while before I got there.”
“I figured as much. It’s why I called an Uber instead.”
“I’m glad you got one quick then.” She heard him clear his throat before asking. “So, when can we hook up again?”
Vannah felt her face warm. Byron wasn’t staring at her anymore since he was busy trying to merge into that nightmare traffic. But she knew he could hear every word she was saying. Since she’d never been good at flirting or talking to guys about hooking up, she’d hate for Byron to be witness to anything lame she might say. She could kick herself now for not having gone with her first thought and just texted Joseph.
Closing her eyes for a moment, she kept it as simple as possible. “I don’t know. Text me and we’ll compare schedules.”
“That pizza place I was telling you about would be a good place to hang out.
Vannah nodded listening to Joseph go on about the pizza place with the live bands he’d been raving about earlier. She wanted nothing more than to get him off the phone before she said something to embarrass herself.
“Sounds like fun. Text me and we’ll plan it.”
A few minutes later, she was finally off the phone. No sooner had she put her phone down when Byron turned to her. “Why’d you lie?”
“Hmm?” she glanced out the window feeling her already warm face heat further.
“You said you got an Uber. Didn’t you just meet this guy tonight?”
“Yeah, so?” Vannah turned to him confused.
“So, what does it matter if you left with another guy?”
Left with Byron? Even though technically she had, the very idea that this is how Byron saw it, had her insides awakening in nervous excitement.
“Not just another guy, Byron.” Now her face was on fire because she just let it slip that she knew his name. Before he could comment because he looked ready to, she went on quickly willing her blushing away. “I left with the guy he’s still under the impression was trying to take advantage of my friend back there. He’d think me an idiot, so I just went with his assumption that I got an Uber because it was easier than explaining the whole truth.”
Inching along in the traffic, Byron was able to stare at her for a moment unnerving her to no end, before lifting his finger. “We’ll get back to how you know my name later, because this is interesting. Ironic that your response to why you lie is so honest. Because it’s easier than telling the truth?”
“Why I lie?” Vannah asked welcoming her annoyed reaction. It was better than squirming in the unease she’d begun to feel. “You don’t know anything about me.”
Byron chuckled, though he looked anything but amused. “It’s just a new one for me. Is all.”
“What’s a new one?”
“I’ve heard liars justify lying in other ways. Usually by—”
“So, you are calling me a liar?”
“Did you, or did you not, just lie to this guy you’re already making plans on getting together with again?”
Vannah could hardly believe this. For weeks she’d been fantasizing about what her first conversation with this guy might be—if ever. First, she’d been highly disappointed that he was a douche trying to get into Xochitl’s pants. Then she’d been relieved it appeared to have all been a misunderstanding, but now it may’ve turned out he was a douche of an entirely different kind.