L.W.T.B.B Copyright © 2012-2015 xXMopelXx All Rights Reserved. 

Rewritten version of this chapter posted - July 1st 2015

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                                                     { Chapter 5 } : A Ride To Remember

I drove around aimlessly for an hour.

With no goal or destination, only one thought coursed through my mind, avoid Layla and Gabriela for the entire night. My phone was continuously blinking with texts from Gabby, and missed calls from Layla. I couldn't hear anything, though. The ringer was muted.

I decided to take the longer route back home, passing through Northwind's property and Danny's Grill. When the silence became deafening, I played with the radio dials until soft rock blared through my car, blocking out my thoughts. 

Right when I turned onto the long road, highlighted by tall trees and a small trail leading to a nature park, I saw something unusual.

A figure swaggered – no, limped – down the pathway. I thought nothing of it, fully intent on driving past it, until the silhouette turned to cross the street. It was a guy, and he was blinded by my headlights, raising a defensive hand to shield his eyes. He stopped dead in his tracks.

I slammed on the breaks before I could hit him.

My heart lurched in fear and jack-hammered against my ribcage. I cut the engine and stumbled out of my car, gasping. "Oh, my God!" Holy shit, I nearly killed someone. 

Quickly rounding the curve, I was baffled when I came face-to-face with the almost-victim or my nearly-fatal car accident. Pissed off replaced my initial dumbstruck expression.

Samuel swayed a little on his feet for a moment, before rising to his full staggering height. Our eyes connected and his lips parted in something close to wonderment. "Barbie girl," he breathed.

"Beer boy," I groaned, and stifled a wince at how wrong and out-of-place our reactions to each other sounded.

Of all the people in this entire universe, why, oh-why, did it have to be him? 

"If this is hell... then I'm content staying in it," he mumbled something incoherent under his breath and I barely caught the words.

I dragged my gaze over him, making sure he wasn't injured, taking in his lean cut, broad shoulders and imposing frame. Thank, God. It doesn't look like I gave him a concussion. My eyes stopped roaming when I noticed the black eye he sported. There was a small cut above the arch of his brow and his knuckles were rasped. The sight made me uncomfortable. Surely, I didn't do that?

"You have a death wish or something?" I asked, my voice shaky, failing to sound annoyed. "I almost killed you."

"You want to see the inside of a jail?" he replied, raising his eyebrows in mock-disbelief. "You almost killed me."

I tossed my head back, counting to ten and taking deep, calming breaths. He was staring at me intently when I looked back. 

"Are you okay?" he asked, gruffly.

Me? He asked as if he was worried that I was about to lose my shit. When he is the one who could have died. I had no interest in seeing the inside of a jail. "Are you okay? I'm pretty sure now is the time you go into shock."

A smirk flitted over his lips. "I'm not going into shock anytime soon, and I'm okay. I should have paid attention to where I was going. It's a lot darker than when I started walking."

Guilt clawed at my stomach. He'd been walking this whole time and I could have seriously injured him. I tried to remind myself that this was still the same asshole who tried to get in my pants. Well, shorts. There was no need to feel sorry for him - 

Layla's words echoed in my mind and I paused, squeezing my eyes shut.

Sam shifted his weird to his right leg, looking like he was really, really uncomfortable.

I couldn't believe what I was going to offer him... "You want me to give you a ride?"

He did a double-take, like he couldn't believe it either. "Where?" His tone was suspicious.

A sense of awkwardness crept over me and I gestured my hand in the air, saying, "To wherever it is you're going."

"No, thanks." His eyes narrowed. "I'll walk there myself."

"I'm being nice after nearly hitting you. Let me drop you home." I gritted my teeth. "It's the least I can do."

"After yesterday? I figured I'm better off staying away from you." Like-fucking-wise. "You got a history of harming people or something? First the Pepsi and now this."

I shrugged and played along, even through my embarrassment. "A criminal's got to start somewhere."

Samuel's face broke out into a wide grin. "Lead the way then."

Twirling my keys around my finger, I walked back to my car before quickly realizing that he hadn't followed me. He just stood there, in all his bad boy glory; jaw set and eyes sparking with a calculating look.

Suddenly I felt all nervous about driving with Sam in the passenger seat. Despite our exchange last night, I knew nothing about him. He was a complete stranger, as far as I was concerned. Save for the fact that he reminded me of Joey.

"How do I know you don't have a weapon in your car?" He bit his bruised bottom lip as he assessed me, resuming a leisurely stance with his arms crossed over his chest. 

The way his eyes crawled over me made me feel highly self-conscious and fidgety. I was never self-conscious. Nor fidgety. I always made sure my appearance was impeccable - I was confident in the way I looked. Yet I was struck with the sudden urge to rake my fingers through my hair and adjust my clothes even if I knew I looked just fine.

"How do I know you aren't going to try mauling me in the backseat of my car? After all, you were the one who insinuated being around me for a lay. If there's a criminal here, then it's not me."

His jaw worked irritably. "Taking girls against their will isn't my style." Then a shit-eating grin split his face. "Now watching them beg is more like it."

"You're disgusting." And I'm blushing. Shit.

"So... weapons. What have you got hidden?"

"Nothing."

"A knife?"

"Nope."

"A hammer?"

I carried a toolbox in my trunk. "No."

He clicked his tongue, pondering. "Pepsi?"

"That's not even a weapon." He was wasting my time and his. I waved my hand impatiently towards my car.

Now he started following me, feet gliding smoothly across the street. But I saw the limp he so desperate tried to hide. "I don't know, Barbie. With you, it could easily be considered one."

"Afraid of getting a little wet?" I taunted in a sing-song voice.

A suggestive look crossed his face and he bit his lip again. "Now who's the one talking about backseats and getting wet?"

I froze, color coating my cheeks until I flushed a beetroot red. It was dark so he couldn't see the heat engulfing my face. "You're five seconds away from losing your ride."

"Oh, I want my ride." He grinned boyishly. 

One car ride. One car ride then this guy would be out of my life forever, I thought. Everything was an innuendo to him. I got myself into this mess and I was going to get myself out. 

The ride was relatively quiet. Music filled the empty space with the occasional soft - yet barely audible - pained groans Samuel released as he shifted on the seat. His cuts and wounds kept stealing my attention.

When I asked him directions to his house, he simply retorted with a, "Drop me at Josh's place."

I didn't need instructions to Joshua Brown's massive palace.

He broke the silence a couple of minutes later. "About last night... sorry."

Tension was coiled so deeply in my shoulders that I didn't realize until they sagged a fraction in relief. "What part?" I wouldn't be surprised if he was just messing with me. 

His head lolled back against the headrest. "The panties part. And the part where I mentioned the room upstairs... Jodanna."

My jaw clenched. I couldn't forgive and forget, but I wanted to move on and block out the entire situation. It brought up unwanted memories. "Let's not talk about it, Samuel."

His eyes snapped open. Dark. Thundering. "Don't call me Samuel."

"Don't call me Jodanna," I countered with the same hint of defiance. 

"Fine." His lips twitched. "We'll stick with Barbie Girl then."

"Anna," I corrected. 

"Sam. Just Sam. Not beer boy," he retorted with a small shake of his head. 

A few beats passed. "I'm sorry, too."

Sam didn't say a word. Instead, he waited for me to continue.

I turned into a small street. "For almost hitting you... and for throwing my drink all over you."

He was staring straight ahead, gaze fixed into the distance. The only indication that he heard my words was the telltale tick in his jaw. "It's good," he said calmly. "I deserved it."

This was going to be over soon, I had to keep reminding myself. One ride. Just one ride. There was no need to feel intimidated by his presence in my own car.

From the corner of my eye, I surveyed him. His slender fingers drummed against his thighs to the soft tune blaring through my speakers, despite the battered quality of his knuckles. Just observing the cuts and dried blood made my skin prickle. His knee and head bounced every now and then to the music, and the streetlights played shadows across his face as I drove by. He looked unaffected and relaxed.

For some reason, I thought Sam would be obnoxious, trying to smooth-talk me all the way trough. But he was so quiet - serene, even - that it kind of scared me. Maybe it was my judgmental part that was creating all these assumptions about him. I didn't know the guy.

The silence between us was almost... peaceful.

But I couldn't thank the Lord enough when Joshua's house's iron wrought gates came into view. His red car was in the driveway. "Is it okay if I drop you outside?"

Sam was already unbuckling his seat belt. When I stopped the car, he opened his door and stepped out. With a hand braced over the roof, he bent at the waist until his head was levelled with mine. "Thanks, Anna," he said. "I really appreciate it."

I toyed with the zipper of my thigh-high boots and his eyes caught the motion. His eyes, which were an even darker shade of green than I remembered, danced in amusement. At this proximity, I could even see the specks of amber within the emerald depths. He caught his bottom lip between his teeth when I stuttered with an awkward, "D-Don't worry about it."

Sam was about to close the door when I frantically reached out to stop him. "W-Wait!"

Caught off guard, he leaned down to peer at me again. 

The question had been itching me since he got into my car. "Are you okay?" I held my breath, because I couldn't fathom why it took so much courage to ask him.

"Yeah," he responded a little confusedly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because... Because your hands they... and your leg." I sucked in a breath and flexed my hands on the steering wheel as his expression grew. "You look like you took a beating. Or delivered one. I don't know."

His eyes widened before he laughed huskily, a cute dimple tucking deep in his left cheek. And for some reason that stupid dimple made me soften towards him. God, I was twisted.

"Be careful there, Barbie." He winked, still chuckling. "You're giving yourself away. Could it be that you actually care for my well-being?"

Oddly enough, I was fighting the smile that was threatening to inch upon my face. "You said you wouldn't call me Barbie."

"I'm shitty at promises."

"All right." I nodded, forcing myself to look away from his growing dimple. "If you say you're fine, then I should probably get going."

"Goodnight." He smirked, like he was in on some joke that I wasn't. "I'll see you at school, thanks again."

My smile fell. Sam noticed the change and paused one more time, slanting an eyebrow. "Look, let's completely erase the last two days."

He nodded seriously. "Agreed."

But he wasn't getting it. I never wanted to see him again after tonight. I stumbled upon him by mistake tonight, or else I'd prepped myself to completely forget about him. It wouldn't be possible if I kept bumping into him at school. 

"No." I tried again. My hand moved over my gear shift impatiently. "I mean, let's forget entirely about tonight and yesterday and start on clean slates. Our acquaintance ends here. You apologized and I apologized. That's all."

Sam's shoulders flared as his brows knitted in confusion. "Exactly, clean slates. Then why?"

I shrugged measly. "I'm not that kind of girl." The kind that you sleep with, occasionally hook-up with, frequently make-out with. Those days were done. As Layla would say, 'I'm nobody's booty call'.

Sam's humourless chuckled sliced through the air. "And I'm that kind of guy?"

His gaze bore into mine, seeking, needing an answer, and I saw the same undertone of hurt as yesterday when I mentioned how guy's like him only wanted one thing. I couldn't understand it, so I shook off the feeling telling me that I was missing something - an important piece of puzzle. That I was doing something wrong.

I didn't answer him. In defeat, and maybe a bit of anger, he closed my door and walked away. The quiet sound was louder than if he'd slammed my door shut.

Sam entered Joshua's house through the gates and I drove off without making sure he got inside safely. His stupid, musky cologne still lingered in the space of my car. 

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A/N': So, I'm really digging the new dynamics between Sam and Anna. I want to know what my old and new readers are thinking of it? Let me know what you think of their personalities, characters, exchange and anything else in-between! 

Thank you for twenty-two thousand fans on Wattpad! xo