Paper Airplane

23

Chapter Twenty-Three

 

 

                I suppose I wasn’t surprised that Harry was going to drive us himself.  It’s not like we were purposely going out to publicize our relationship today; I simply wanted something to drink from the grocery store. 

                The air conditioning felt wonderful as I slid into the passenger seat, quickly yanking the seatbelt over me and clicking it securely into the buckle.  My gaze lingered on the back door of Brady’s building as I waited for Harry to pull out, but after a few moments I realized we weren’t moving.

                “What?” I asked, turning towards him.

                “Where are we actually going, Lexie?”

                I shrugged.  “Anywhere that sells Arizona Sweet Tea in large quantities.”

                And finally, he put the car into drive and we were on our way.

                It soon became apparent that I must have been giving off some sort of overly-friendly vibes, or overly-happy vibes or something, because Harry kept smiling over at me obnoxiously and I just knew he was waiting for me to call him out on it.  But I didn’t, because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he got to me, so I simply reached forward and turned the radio up a little louder.

                But he turned it back down.

                “You know, I heard a really great joke earlier.  Want to hear it?” he asked.

                “No.”

                “You’re welcome for giving you a ride to wherever you need to go, by the way,” he reminded me, raising a brow.  “Anyway, why don’t you want to hear it?  It’s so funny.  I know you’ll like it.  I’m completely confident.”

                “Harry, I swear to God, if you tell a joke at all today, I am calling off our friendship.”

                And I was sure I had said it in my most serious tone, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him break into another massive grin, and I rolled my eyes.  But then his expression became smug, and I got curious.

                “What?”

                “You realize you just acknowledged the reality of our friendship, right?”

                So I shut my mouth for the rest of the ride.

                Minutes later, Harry was parking his car too far away from the entrance to a 7-Eleven.  I frowned a bit at him for that, but then I unbuckled myself.  He was already at my door when I finished, holding it open for me.  When both of my feet were on solid ground, I socked him in the upper arm.

                “Ah, what the hell?”  His expression was so amusing that I had to work to keep a stern face.

                “Quit opening doors for me.”

                “Why?  It’s gentlemanly.”

                “No, it’s not.  It’s annoying.”

                “You’re annoying.  And along with gentlemanly, it’s also chivalrous.  And chivalry is not dead..”