Finding Serenity by Eden Butler Read Free Book Online

Vaughn frowns, looks off into the parking lot as though his father isn’t a topic open for discussion. She can relate and can’t help but touch his hand. When her fingers meet his large hand, the electric pulse rises back up and Mollie quickly pulls her hand away. She thinks he feels it too. She thinks there is a moment when Vaughn’s eyes leave her hand and jump to her face where he notices the spark. If he does, he buries his reaction behind a few blinks and the return of his impassive, small frown.
    “Anyway, like I said, I was here to find out who took my stuff,” she says, covering that mild electrical rush by pulling on the hem of her threadbare t-shirt.
    Marco revs the engine and Vaughn looks up. “And that guy is your back up?”
    Mollie waves at Marco, flipping her hand to get him to wait a second. “That guy, is a friend. Another DJ.” When Vaughn’s stoic expression shifts into a grin, Mollie tilts her head, curious. “What?”
    “I just can’t imagine you in a smoky club spinning records. It seems kinda out of character.” His smile is wider, his shoulders shake as though something he keeps to himself is amazingly amusing.
    “And you know about my character how, exactly?”
    “Come on, Mollie. You?” She doesn’t like how his voice has taken on a condensing tone or how his smile widens. “You’re a tiny little thing. You out late with a bunch of drunks, amping up a crowd?”
    “I’m actually pretty good. Don’t make judgments, Vaughn.”
    His laughter flips a switch in her and Mollie decides she doesn’t need to stand around this guy waiting to be ridiculed. She’s got Layla for that shit. She turns, tries not to stomp as she approaches the El Camino, but Vaughn pulls her back, grabbing her wrist to stop her before she reaches the car. “Look, you’re right, I have no idea about your life.”
    “You really don’t.” She meant to jump in the car and leave him standing there by himself. But that niggling little voice in her head tells her that she has to explain herself, that if she doesn’t, Vaughn’s opinion of her as a pathetic kid is going to stay stuck in his mind. She can’t have that. “I didn’t mean to just pop up at your place the other day. I… I thought maybe you’d want your hoodie back.”
    “After months? In the middle of summer?”
    “It wasn’t mine and you GI Joe types tend to be funny about your stuff. My dad always was.”
    Vaughn lifts his eyebrows, his curiosity obvious. “He was in the Corps?”
    That makes her laugh. The idea of her dad in the Marines. “God no. He was a Navy SEAL and wouldn’t let me touch any of the stuff he had from his service.” She notices that his shoulders have relaxed, his humor and condescension now missing. “Anyway, I thought you might want it back. The hoodie.”
    Vaughn leans against Marco’s car when he revs the engine again. “Well, thanks. It was sweet of you.”
    That wasn’t sincere appreciation and Mollie doesn’t know why Vaughn is even still sticking around. “Whatever,” she says, reaching for the door handle.
    Vaughn stops her, slides his hip over the door. “You know, you sure do have a temper.”
    “You got no idea.”
    “Maybe…” he starts, standing closer to her, “maybe you wanna let me find out.”
    “What?”
    He shrugs. “Maybe I’m curious.” Again his gaze moves toward Marco and the loud boom of the stereo that he cranks up. Vaughn couldn’t be jealous, not of Marco anyway, so Mollie figures it’s the burglary. This guy can’t help himself, seems like he has to be the hero. Always.
    “I was, too.” She steps closer to him, but he doesn’t even lean away from her when she invades his personal space. “And then I went to see you, and you acted like I was a first grader with a crush on my teacher.”
    “No I didn’t.”
    “You called me a little girl.” He winces, then laughs. Mollie pushes him back so that she can open the car door. Instantly the quiet parking lot is filled