Bad Habits

Chapter 23

The sound of Noah's monstrous truck starting up breaks me from my thoughts as I turn my head to look out the window. Noah's pointing from his truck window and indicating for me to roll the window down in the parked car I'm sitting in.

"What's up?" I ask him as i pull my finger away from the button on the window.

He gestures to Maddox's car and then frowns. "You taking the car back now?" He asks loudly so that I can hear him over the music playing in his truck.

"Yeah, just gonna call him now." I say reaching over and switching the car stereo system on. I lean back and look back up at Noah as he turns the music down so I can hear him better. "What you doing now?"

He jerks his head to Poppy who's sitting next to him watching us.

"She's got a date and a study session with some freshman. Gotta get her back to the house to get ready." He says rubbing the side of his jaw and then ruffling his hair up as he pulls his hat off and tosses it onto the truck dashboard.

"You have a date?" I say leaning forward so I can see her better. She grins and nods her head.

"Yep, a senior on the basketball team." She informs me in an excited tone as she leans across Noah to see me better.

"Well, have fun and don't do anything you don't want to." I say concerned as she waves her hand at me as if I'm a nuisance.

"I'll be fine. He's taking me to the cinema to see that new horror that just came out." She admits biting her lip to stop the smile from spreading.

"Yeah? Well, enjoy and call me
When you're free to let me in on all the details." I say waggling my finger playfully as she laughs at me.

I bring my attention back to Noah who's staring out the front window of his truck distractedly.

"What are you doing when Poppy leaves?" I ask him, breaking him away from his distant staring contest with a trash can.

He shrugs and stretches his arms as wide as he can with a yawn. "Not sure. Might order in food and play some Xbox."

I nod and smile at him as I press the pedal down in the car, a low purring noise coming from it as I rev it. "Right, well I need to go and get this baby cleaned and filled up to return it to its owner."

They both nod their heads in understanding and wave me off as we exchange goodbyes and promises to call each other later if we aren't busy.

I make my way towards a gas station and fill up the tank so that's it full. Then I head towards the car wash and select the deluxe premium wash that costs extra for it to be shined and polished. Maddox is gonna love me for this.

When the wash starts and the car is covered in bubbles and soap, I press my phone to my ear and wait as it rings.

"Hey babe." Maddox's deep voice greets me as I move the car forward slightly.

"Hey," I chirp in response. "Where are you?"

"Uh- hold on a sec," He shouts as the background noises on his end get silent, probably from him placing a hand to the phone.

I tap the steering wheel as I wait for him to come back to the phone, the sounds of water swishing and machinery drowning out the song on the radio that's playing.

"Hey," He breathes as if he's just run a mile. "Think you can come to park street and to the little gym that's there?" He asks with a hopeful tone, not sure that I would actually drive all the way there as it's a little way from our town.

I glance at the time and figure out that it would only take me roughly half hour to get there. I shrug, "Yeah that's fine, I'll see you in a bit then."