Keeping Her Love Read Online Free

huh?”
    “Yeah. Sorry about that. My mom is really flipping out right now. She can get a little antsy when stuff like this happens. One time, she actually crashed her car into a pond. Oh my god, that was really traumatic for me when she called on her cell phone! She was panicking throughout the whole thing, thinking that she was going to drown. When I told her that I had to hang up the phone to drive to her, I felt so guilty. Luckily, she had Max to talk her through it.”
    “Well, we can’t keep her waiting, can we?”  
    Rhett sped through the night to get back to Tula’s house. He was being a little reckless as he drove down the highway—often surpassing a hundred miles per hour—but he figured that the built-up testosterone probably had something to do with it. Where Tula’s mother would become upset at any disturbance to her safety, Tula herself was giddy to go fast on the pavement as they passed cars and trucks. Rhett could always tell that his girlfriend was a little scared when he hit the throttle, but the way Tula screamed and laughed only encouraged Rhett to act like an obnoxious speedster.
    When they pulled up in front of Tula’s house, full of adrenaline and joy from breaking the rules of the road, a loud ‘SCREEECH’ sounded throughout the peaceful neighborhood.
    “Oh, shit!” They giggled to each other, realizing that they had probably woken up the entire neighborhood.  
    A few firemen eyed them warily from their large trucks across the street. Once Rhett had gotten their attention, the men seemed to stare in wonder at the little piece of heaven that had driven in front of their eyes. The Camaro always got the attention of passersby, particularly of men who knew a priceless classic car when they saw one. Moments later, the curtains behind the large windows in Tula’s house parted. Mrs. Florian had a small scowl on her cherubic face.
    “Oh, man. I better go,” said Tula, planting a kiss on Rhett’s cheek.  
    “You don’t want me to go with you at all?”
    “No, don’t bother. It’s going to be a drama-fest, I can guarantee that. You don’t want to be there. Besides, my parents probably won’t be too happy with the entrance we performed after being out after-hours. You don’t want to get yourself involved in all of this.”
    Rhett immediately felt guilty, thinking that he had perhaps let Tula’s parents down in some way by being reckless.  
    “Don’t worry about it,” Tula added, forcing a smile. “We’ll talk tomorrow, okay? I’ll let you know all the gory details.”
    “If you say so.” Rhett returned the kiss on her cheek. “Talk to you tomorrow, love.”
    “Bye, darling.”
    Tula got out and went to the front door while Rhett made the drive back home. It was only around ten minutes away from his girlfriend’s neighborhood, but all the same, it seemed like a long time to get to his residence. He missed Tula the moment the woman was out of sight, the way he would have missed his left leg if it ever disappeared. Rhett wanted nothing more than to be around his lover for every hour of the day, seven days a week. He didn’t know whether it was just dumb love or something much deeper. Regardless, his dumb, young head wanted to act on his feelings.
    As he pulled into his parking spot at the apartment complex his lived at, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. He pulled it open and stared at the shining silver band presented on the little pillow. There was a large round ruby mounted, Tula’s favorite gem, with small diamonds acting as a halo around the jewel. All he could do was sigh when he looked at it. It’d been two weeks since he bought it, and he felt as compelled as ever to make his engagement with Tula come true. But he hadn’t.
    Cold feet wasn’t the issue. If Rhett knew that his girlfriend would respond positively to him getting down on one knee, he would do it right away. He was simply scared that Tula would reject a proposal made so soon