Catching the Hero

Chapter Eleven: Movie Night

I froze as his icy grey eyes met mine, locking on and drawing me into his trance as the rest of his body twisted to face me. My breath caught in my throat as he let out a small chuckle, one I would’ve never heard if I didn’t have enhanced senses, and immediate dislike for the man overwhelmed me. I reached my hand onto my car for balance, and found that my palms were far too slick to grip the shiny hood as I slipped, crumbling to the ground as the heated pressure in my head increased.

“Ugh,” I groaned. I rolled myself until I was under my car, and peered out to the empty driveway where the man had been. He and his car where gone, which confused me because he’d been leaving his car when I first saw him. I began pondering over possibilities of why he’d left.

“What are you doing down there?”

I let out a shriek and whipped my head up, wincing as it slammed into the bottom of my car. My forehead throbbed as I clutched my head and bent my legs until they were in front of my chest, burying my face into my knees. A few seconds later, the air around me warmed, in a pleasant way, as a body settled next to me under my sports car. Warm hands gripped the backs of my bare calves just below the knee, pulling them down to see my face, and I looked up in utter confusion and surprise to see Trace’s vibrant green eyes staring back at me.

He moved so he was awkwardly leaning on his side in the tiny space, and asked again, “What are you doing under your car?”

I racked my brain for a believable answer, but came up with nothing, “I’m… hiding.”

He raised his brows humorously, trying to hide a smile as he replied, “From what?”

“My neighbor,” I answered vaguely. This time a chuckle escaped from his lips, before I continued, quickly changing the subject, “Why are you here?”

He obviously knew this was my house, and I knew I’d never told him where I lived. I rolled a bit so that I was on my side, facing him as he said, “I was at that café a few minutes away, and my friend’s girlfriend was all jumpy because she thought something was wrong with you. She was asking Chance to come check on you, so I told her I’d do it.”

I sighed as I recalled how motherly Jamie could be; she seemed much more responsible than me most of the time. I tilted my head to the side as I asked, “Why?”

He hesitated, his handsome features scrunching up for a second before he said, “I remembered what happened to you at the track field, so I decided I would.”

I nodded my head, shivering a bit from being in the shade of my car as I realized my skin was no longer hot, and moved one of my legs until my knee was curled almost to my chin to warm my thinly clad torso. Trace noticed and asked me huskily, “Not to sound weird, but why are you barely wearing anything? It’s freezing.”

I wrapped one arm around my leg as I said, “My house was really hot this morning, so I was coming out here to go for a drive. And then I saw my neighbor and… hid under my car.”

He chuckled and reached out, wrapping his warm arm around my waist and pulling me to him, and moved backwards until we were out from beneath my car. He lay there for a moment, rubbing my arms, then stood up and pulled me with him, turning to look at my house before asking, “Did you leave your window open?”

I looked at my house for a moment, before realizing I’d forgotten to close it in my haste to leave. I looked back at him as I replied, “Oh, yeah.” I paused for a moment, summoning a bit of courage to ask, “Do you want to come inside?”

He looked a bit taken aback by my offer, but before I could say anything he smiled and spoke again, “Yeah, actually. I walked here."

I half smiled, shivering again as I gestured for him to follow me to my front door. I jogged quickly across the grass until I reached my door, unlocking it and turning back to see Trace gazing at me with a small smirk as he walked after me. I followed his gaze with my own and realized my small shorts and tank top weren’t as modest as I would have liked, and I blushed slightly as I entered my now freezing house. I rushed through to my hall, leaving the door open for Trace as I moved to the air panel and turned the heat up a significant amount.