Forever Luminescent

Chapter 14

"What time is it?" Gwenn asked, peeling the comforter off from her. She scrubbed at her cheeks and scrunched her nose. "Gosh, I feel crusty. Aura would murder me if she saw I slept in my makeup."

Ronan folded the discarded comforter. "Who's Aura?"

"My best friend," she answered, struggling to get up to her feet. Her knees buckled when she couldn't find balance, and she tumbled down with a tiny yelp. "I'm not wearing heels for a whole year," she mumbled to herself.

As she took off her heels, still tightly strapped to her feet and ankles, Ronan finished putting away the comforters. When his bag was zipped up, he opened his laptop and placed the device over her lap.

"Wha—?"

"My paper is done," he said as a matter of fact. Her eyes squinted to see his word document with over five pages worth of material. "I sent it to you so you can look it over." He didn't give her enough time to respond before he shut his laptop and shoved it back into his bag. "So that means we're taking a road trip today."

Gwenn blinked as she took in all the new information. "Road trip?"

Ronan turned away from her and jumped out from the side of his truck, not bothering to respond. He waved his hands at her like one would do when summoning a child before they lifted them into the air.

She acted on instinct, following his silent order, and threw her heels out into the dirt path. Her hands found his shoulders as his wrapped around her waist. She suppressed a shiver, though it chilled her like someone ran an ice cube down her spine. Her legs snaked around his body, pressing herself up against him so as not to step on the ground barefooted. He switched his approach and held her by her thighs, his fingers burning holes into the fabric of her dress. Her pulse thrummed in her veins as she looked away.

Ronan sat her down inside his truck, slowly detangling her limbs from him. Gwenn looked up into his eyes as he leaned over her, ducked under the constraints of the door. A second passed. Two. He swallowed hard.

"Let me get your heels, honey," he said, almost breathless. She blinked a few times as he retreated from the door, turning his back to her.

She touched her scalding face, her fingers shaking. Her toes curled as she pressed her legs together, pulling her dress down to cover her thighs.

"Alright," Ronan clambered onto the truck beside her and placed her heels right beside her feet, "let's get some food. We need it for what we're doing today." The truck's engine roared to life after hacking into the early day.

Gwenn cleared her throat. "You never told me where we were going."

He looked at her, eyes gleaming in the sunlight. "We're going to Las Alas. Lisa Carter awaits."

AFTER RONAN TREATED GWENN to breakfast and brought her home to freshen up, they began their trek to Las Alas. She didn't have any knowledge of Las Alas, other than it was an hour and a half away from Lockfell. There was never reason to visit the town.

Ronan's phone spit out directions every couple of minutes from the cupholder. She grew accustomed to the robotic voice, and leaned her head against the window, closing her eyes. The radio played song after song, all of which Ronan hummed to himself. A deep hum that probably came from the depths of his throat.

His voice shouldn't have affected her so much, but every intake of breath she took hitched, and she desperately tried to level it. She feared she made it worse.

The GPS led them into a neighborhood street. Five minutes were left from their destination. Her pulse jumped, and she straightened her spine, drumming her fingers over her biker shorts.