Little Talks ☇ C. Evans

38 ) drive

[ disclaimer: I obviously don't know the details of Chris and Minka Kelly's past relationship, and I really don't know anything about her, so if you're a fan of her, don't take anything in this book too seriously. I'm just writing it for the sake of the plot. ]

As Poppy descended the stairs of her apartment building, she sucked in a breath. In all honesty, she really wasn't angry with Chris about the whole Minka situation.

She was devastated.

Though she knew Chris was her friend, and only her friend at the moment, she wanted more—much, much more. He'd somehow snuck his way into her very soul and now he continued to torment her; she couldn't get him out of her mind, no matter how hard she tried.

All of him had such an affect on her—his smile, his laugh, their little talks—she wanted to be with Chris more than she'd ever intended to. Their friendship meant so much to her, though; that was why she never could tell him. She could barely admit it to herself, because the thought of telling him only to have him reject her scared her to death. If she couldn't be with him in the way that she wanted to, she would settle for their friendship. That would not be enough for her, but she had to be in his life somehow, and if that was the only way. . .she'd deal with it.

As she exited the apartment building, her eyes scanned the street side in search of his car. Once she'd found it, she hurried over to the passenger side and pulled the door open. She then removed her sunglasses and placed them in her Nike bag, looking over at him.

"Hey," she said, letting out a breath as she buckled in.

"Hey, Pop-tart." Chris forced a small smile, though it still bothered him knowing she was irritated with him.

He looked over her once more before putting the black, 2013 Range Rover in drive and pulling out into the street. One hand firmly on the wheel, the other resting outside of the window, he felt himself tensing up. He wasn't exactly sure what to say; she was being unusually quiet, and silence had never really been an issue between them.

"Chris," she finally said, breaking the silence but doing nothing in subduing the tension in the air.

"Yeah?" Chris's jaw muscle twitches as he glanced over at her, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"Can you tell me why you were at Minka's?" She shifted in her seat as she peered over at him, wishing he didn't have his sunglasses shielding the emotion in his eyes.

One thing that she really did love about Chris was how he displayed his emotions through those crystal clear, blue eyes of his. She could look into them and tell what he was feeling, usually. However, with his sunglasses on, he wasn't the open book he normally was.

"I told you; she was drunk and wanted to talk. So, we talked, I left, and the paparazzi blew everything up out of proportion in order to put meals on their tables." He explained, letting out a sigh.

"I know. I mean, what did she want to talk about?" Poppy questioned, running a hand through her blonde locks.

Chris cleared his throat, turning the wheel as they neared the studio.

A minute went by and he still hasn't said anything, and she leaned back in her seat with the roll of her eyes. She didn't see why he couldn't tell her, after all, they were 'friends.'