Sixteen

ANDREW

“Tell me where we’re going,” Lilah demands from the passenger seat, turning her body to face mine as I navigate my car south down a pretty deserted Interstate 95.

“You said you trusted me, Cupcake.”

As soon as we got to her place, I’d dropped her bags on the kitchen counter and told her that we were going out. She’d already revealed that she wasn’t tired and I knew the perfect outlet for some of that restless energy.

“I do trust you, but I still want to know,” she says, skillfully cloaking her words in a sullen tone before crossing her arms across her chest.

Covering my mouth with my free hand, I cover a smile. She’s fucking adorable.

“We’ll be there shortly. Just sit tight,” I instruct, changing lanes.

This trip would typically take a little over an hour during the day, but with the help of my Porsche Turbo and the empty roads, we’ll be getting there well ahead of schedule.

She lets out an exasperated huff and faces forward again.

“This is a pretty sweet car,” she mumbles from the passenger seat. She’s spoken so lowly that it seems as if she’s talking to herself.

“Thanks,” I say smoothly, gripping the wheel.

“I think you’ve been in a different car every time I’ve seen you,” she points out. “Are cars a passion of yours?”

I’ve never really thought about it like that. I’ve always just been a lover of beautiful cars. It’s one of the few things my father and I had in common.

He bought me my first Porsche Carrera for my sixteenth birthday and the rest was history.

“Not sure I would call it a passion, more like a hobby. I guess you could say I’m a collector of sorts,” I tell her. For a second I remember my bucket list, which I haven’t really thought of since the day I first saw Lilah’s beautiful face on that leaflet.

“I see,” she says, and I get the sense that there’s a lot left unsaid.

What’s she thinking?

It still blows my fucking mind that a woman has been able to keep my attention for so long. I’ve never worked this hard to get someone in my bed. And to be honest, I’ve caught myself forgetting that’s the ultimate goal.

When it comes to her, things flow effortlessly and that scares the shit out of me. It’s like I actually want her to fall for me, for reasons that have nothing to do with sex, and that’s a terrifying pill to swallow.

I don’t know what it is about her, but Lilah has effortlessly done the impossible from the moment we were introduced. She holds my attention without even trying.

Women chase me, not the other way around. Yet, Lilah let it be known early on that she didn’t plan on joining the “legions of women in my fan club.”

Her words, not mine.

As we get closer to our exit, I ease into the far right lane and begin decelerating.

“No fucking way.” Lilah’s voice is full of awe as she presses her nose against the window to peer out at the bright lights of the city we’re entering.

I pull off the exit and bring my car to a slow crawl as she continues to take in the sight coming into view.

“You did not bring me to New York City!” she exclaims, turning to look at me again.

This time there’s nothing but wonder written all over her face when she looks at me. Her eyes dance excitedly as she turns her head back and forth trying to take it all in.

“I can’t fucking believe this!” She can barely stop fidgeting in her seat and the grin on my face is uncontained.

I’ve never seen someone so excited about something so small in my entire life. Who knew a forty-minute drive could mean so much to someone?

Lilah’s smile stretches from ear to ear as I continue driving. And fuck me, but I want to be the reason that smile is on her face more often.

There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s attracted to me. But it never occurred to me that I could do something to bring her so much joy without touching her once.

Suddenly I realize that I’ve never seen her this giddy and the energy is contagious. A foreign emotion is ebbing through my veins and I know that I want to spend my time putting that smile on her face.

Despite the late hour, the streets are still congested in the city that never sleeps.

“Just so you know,” she says and her voice has grown thick. “This is the most amazing thing that’s happened to me in a while.”

Her words are emphatic and I swallow the lump forming in my throat. I’m not sure what that’s about but I know I need to lighten the mood.

“You haven’t seen anything yet, Cupcake.”

***

The plan was to take her dancing.

But as I’m learning, things rarely go according to plan when Lilah is involved.

As soon as we started walking to the club, Lilah’s eyes lit up when she saw a sign for a popular sushi restaurant she’d read about.

So, instead of dancing body to body in a packed nightclub, we’re on a rooftop eating sushi. Well, I’m eating sushi while Lilah tries over and over to get a good grasp on her food with the chopsticks.

She’s so determined not to ask for help and I love the show. Everything she does is downright charming. I have no clue how she does it, but it just works.

I don’t hold in my laugh when her forehead wrinkles as she focuses intently on the task in front of her.

“You can just eat it with your hands. I’m not judging you.”

She makes several more valiant attempts before blowing out a frustrated breath.

“Fuck it,” Lilah says before digging in with her hands.

When she licks her fingertips clean my cock wakes up and goes on full alert, taking in the sensual scene enviously. New York City’s thick and humid night air does nothing to help my rising body temperature.

“This is delicious,” she moans appreciatively.

We eat in silence for a while before Lilah speaks up.

“So you own this building?” she asks drawing from our brief conversation earlier.

“Just the top three floors,” I tell her, finishing up my food.

After grabbing our food I didn’t want to eat it on the busy Manhattan streets so I told her to follow me as I led us a few blocks away to this very building. I inherited the multi-level penthouse on my eighteenth birthday and this rooftop has always been a favorite hideout of mine.

The solitude is comforting and the view is amazing.

Though sharing it with someone is new for me. I’ve never brought anyone here before, but I hadn’t even thought twice about bringing Lilah here.

What the hell does that say?

I’ve never been interested in sharing rooftop views and conversations over sushi, yet here I am.

I tell myself that I’m pulling out all the stops in order to achieve my goal, but another part of me knows that isn’t completely true. I find myself enjoying this a little too much and I know I need to pump the brakes.

“This is incredible,” Lilah says beside me, forcing me to abandon my troubling thoughts.

Still brooding, I don’t say anything as she begins to fill me in on the random day trips she and her mom used to take to New York City during the summers when she was a girl.

I’m only half-listening at first, but in true Lilah fashion her enthusiasm proves to be contagious and pulls me right out of my dark mood.

When I tune back in and focus on the way her lips are moving, I’m reminded of something that has been evident from the start, that Lilah Tucker is fucking trouble.