Classified ☑

[ chapter 09 ]

He opened the door and peered inside at where the keys hung. "What's the problem?"

"It won't start," I said dumbly.

The look he gave me told me he already knew that much. "I assumed that's why you were still here," he said, chuckling. He reached inside and placed his hands on the keys, causing me to press my back into the seat.

"Do you want me to get out?" He'd be able to reach it better if I wasn't in the way. My legs were long, but he also wasn't a small guy.

He turned his head to look at me and we were inches apart. The only thing between us was the condensation that came from our mouths as we breathed. His eyes flickered to my lips as my heart started to pound in my chest. Even with it freezing outside it felt like my palms were sweating.

Cole visibly gulped before shaking his head and backing out of the cab, holding the door open for me to climb out. I did and he ducked back into the truck, trying to turn the key over.

Sadly, no luck.

I was starting to think I imagined the whole thing as he popped the hood, casually working on my truck like nothing happened. If I hadn't imagined it, why didn't he kiss me?

When he wasn't looking as he ducked behind the hood, I turned around and blew my breath onto my hand to see if it smelled. It smelled like my toothpaste, so that couldn't have been why he didn't kiss me. I must've imagined the moment I decided.

"Hey, Ace."

His voice startled me, causing me to jump. Irritation at the nickname made me narrow my eyes at him as he came into view. He hadn't called me that since the first day of school. "It's Nina."

He smirked, ignoring my comment, and pointed at the dusty battery. "I'm guessing your battery is dead. Do you happen to have jumper cables?"

"Why would I have those?" I asked him, placing my hands on my hips. "I'm not a mechanic."

He laughed lightly before walking to the driver's side door. "I mean, you do have an old truck so I assumed you would," he said before looking behind the seats to see if I possibly had jumper cables.

I couldn't help but tilt my head side to side at his logic.

He backed out and placed the seat back into its original position. "Would they happen to be in the glove compartment by chance?"

I glanced in the truck and by the size of it, I doubted the cables would be in the glove compartment. "Be my guest." I waved my hand at the glove compartment and he rummaged through it, finding nothing. "I'm guessing you don't happen to have any jumper cables yourself?"

His head popped up with a half smile on his face. "If I did, I wouldn't be wasting my time searching for them in your truck."

My cheeks warmed at his words. He was right. Here I was being a jackass while he helped me after he played a basketball game. "Uh, thanks for helping me out," I muttered.

He closed the passenger door, but not before locking it by hand, and walked back around the truck over to me. "Nina, I'm messing with you," he said as he lifted his hand and flicked me on the nose.

"Ouch!" I grumbled as my hand covered my nose. With it being cold outside it made my nose hurt even more. So I did the only thing any normal person would do. I punched him.

He grabbed his arm in mock hurt. "Hey!"

"Now we're even," I stated.

Cole rolled his eyes before grabbing the keys from the ignition and locking the driver's side door. "I would say we were even before you punched me since I am helping you."