Heresy, p.21
Heresy, page 21
“Sh-Shane, p-pleeeeease sloooow d-down. We-We’re going t-to d-die.”
I glance at her this time, only because I don’t think she realizes just how long it took her to make the statement. It was a spattering of words broken up by the deep gulps of air she was struggling to draw in.
“Nah. This ain’t nothing, Brin. Have you ever read how fast they go in rockets to space? They have to train for months just to handle the force of it, and they survived.”
“We’re not astronauts, jackass! Slow down the fucking car!”
“Not until you have fun,” I yell back.
I’d like to assure you I have complete control of the car. I wouldn’t put Brinley in danger, and I definitely wouldn’t travel at this speed with her if I hadn’t already done this a million times. I know this road like the back of my hand.
It’s a popular road for racing because of how straight it is. Where there are curves, they’re wide and not too dangerous.
It’s just us and the empty miles that stretch on endlessly without a shit ton of potholes or other hazards that could cause problems at this rate of speed.
“I’m having fun,” she lies, the sound of her voice pathetic.
“I don’t believe you, Brin. You’re not saying wheee.”
Grimacing as she opens her eyes for a split second to see the landscape fly by, she swallows hard before giving me an even more pathetic, “Wheee.”
At least she made the attempt to fool me, but the color draining from her face gives away her true feelings.
I let off the gas but don’t hit the brake. Beauty’s engine calms down as she slows to a more acceptable speed.
A little time passes before Brinley feels brave enough to open her eyes again, her knuckles white where she’s still clenching her hands. Daring to take a peek at the instrument panel, her eyes widen to see we’re still going just under a hundred.
“What is the speed limit out here?”
I think about telling the truth but decide against it. “Who cares?”
“Me! I care!”
“Why?”
“Because I want to live.”
See, that’s where she’s getting this wrong.
“You are living. Right here. Right now. Stop worrying about what can happen, and just enjoy the ride.”
At this speed, I’m barely pushing Beauty at all. The car is almost as bored as I am, the engine wanting to open up again so we can fly.
Brinley doesn’t see it that way.
“How is this living?”
I smile because I know something she doesn’t. Or at least I’ve seen something she has yet to realize.
“Are you panicking right now? Can you think straight and communicate? Are the walls crashing in?”
She stills in her seat, blood trickling back into her knuckles as her clenching fingers loosen. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still braced for the worst, but a seed has been planted in her thoughts—just a taste of the freedom I’ve been chasing for as long as I can remember.
“No,” she finally answers, “but this car may crash if we don’t slow down.”
I laugh at that since I was planning on slowing down anyway.
We’re nearing a park that the twins and I found years ago while racing down this road. It’s a little over an hour outside of the city, but at the speed we went, we made the trip in half the time.
Approaching the turn, I hit the brake to slow us down more, stealing secret peeks at Brinley to notice her body relax and her hands release the death grip she had on the door handle and seatbelt.
“Thank you,” she says with what sounds like exhaustion in her voice.
We cruise slowly along a narrow road that eventually opens up into a small parking lot.
Beyond that is a large lake and sandy shore with very little illumination except the moon and stars.
When Brinley first notices the landscape, her blue eyes round with surprise and appreciation.
She turns to look at me, her fear of the ride and her hatred of me momentarily forgotten.
“Where are we?”
I unclip my seatbelt then lean across the center console to help her out of hers. She flinches back at first but then relaxes again to see what I’m doing.
With this girl, I’m starting to learn you need to move a little more slowly so that her mind catches up with what’s happening, the instant concern she always feels bleeding away when she understands.
“I get the feeling you’re not happy unless you know everything.”
Her eyes narrow on me, but I didn’t mean what I said as an insult.
Leaning my shoulder against the back of my seat, I remain twisted in her direction. “What I mean by that is you’re not the type who likes surprises.”
Without thinking, she smiles. It’s the first true smile I’ve seen on her in, well, the entire time I’ve known her.
Shaking her head, she blushes. “Is it that noticeable?”
I nod in response.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I think a lot of people like to know what to expect. They can prepare better for whatever’s coming. In a way, that makes you a strategist. A person who, if given the facts ahead of time, would probably be one hell of an opponent.”
Casting me an odd look, she steals those blue eyes from me again to look out at the lake.
“We’re at a park.”
I mean, yeah. I think that’s obvious, but I won’t tease her about it while she is still forgetful of the fact that she can’t stand me.
Settling back in my seat, I stare out the front windshield.
“Yep. The twins and I come out here a lot. For one, to race each other down that long road, but also to get away from the city. They’re a lot like me.”
“And how’s that?” she asks, her voice soft and her attention stolen by the stillness of the lake.
I shrug. “We don’t like the city. I mean, we grew up in it, but it’s too noisy. None of us can stand being attorneys, and it’s like tugging on a straitjacket every time we have to wear a suit. They like motorcycles as much as I love cars. And well…”
Laughing because I know admitting this will bring up memories, I add, “And they love to fight as much as me.”
Her eyes return to mine, her mouth opening just a touch on a small inhalation of breath.
That spark is there again.
I feel it too.
And there is so much that is wrong about me feeling anything.
“Like the fight at Myth?”
Reluctantly, I nod again.
“Yeah. That was far from our first and probably won’t be our last.”
I expect her to press for more information about me, but instead, she returns her attention to the lake.
“Are we just sitting here, or can we get out and go look around the park?”
Opening my door, I step one foot out before looking back at her. “Promise not to run or do anything stupid? I really don’t feel like chasing you down.”
She smiles again, and what the fuck is that? I was expecting one of her cute ass glares. Seems I’ll have to work harder to earn those now.
“Even if I did run, I’d have no idea where I’m going. It’s not like we’re near a place where people could help me.”
She’s not wrong. Satisfied with that, I climb the rest of the way out of the car then round the front to open her door for her. I offer her my hand, but Brinley stares at it without accepting.
“We’re still not there yet, huh?”
Brinley shakes her head. “Not even close.”
“Well, at least you didn’t slap it away that time. I’ll take that as progress.”
She chuckles. “If you say so. I’ll still disagree, but whatever helps you sleep better at night.”
A sense of humor.
That’s new.
Don’t get me wrong. Brinley has it in spades when it comes to arguments and insults.
But this side of her, at least to me, is new.
Allowing her to take the lead, I follow at a snail’s pace behind her so she doesn’t feel threatened. Plus, from where I walk, I can observe her more closely, watch her in an environment where she appears to feel comfortable.
The constant rigidity of her muscles is gone. I can tell that even beneath the baggy clothes she’s wearing.
She steps carefully through the sand as we approach the lake, only stopping at the very edge where the water gently laps at the shore.
It’s like black ice out there for how still it is, the moonlight reflected so that it feels like a different world. A perfect mirror image, really, and even I’m taken by the beauty of it.
“I like this place,” Brinley murmurs.
Ah, hell. I can’t help myself. “Do you like me now too?”
“No,” she answers immediately.
“Damn. It was worth a shot.”
Another quiet burst of laughter. I smile to hear it. She may not admit she likes me, but I like to think she’s warming up.
After staring at the lake for a few minutes, she turns to look at me.
“Why did you take me on that ride? Was it to scare me? Is that funny to you?”
I kick at the ground with the toe of my boot, my hands tucked in my pockets. “Yes and no.”
Brinley tilts her head in question.
“Yes, it was to scare you, but no it’s not funny to me.”
I pause, collecting my thoughts.
Explaining this may be difficult.
“I was showing you that bad things don’t always happen. That it’s okay to take risks. It’s like I said in the shop… You hide and stay in a little safe bubble. I think that bubble needs to be burst. Because there’s nothing to be so scared of all the time.”
She blinks, her brow cocking after, as if what I said was absurd.
“I was run off the road today and abducted. I think that’s something one should be scared of.”
“Not if you knew the reason.”
“I’m not following you, Shane. As far as I know, you’re some volatile stranger who is stalking me and finally decided to just grab me and take me somewhere without concern for what I think about it.”
Okay, when she puts it like that, it’s fucked up.
“I’m not the bad guy. I’m sure Ivy’s dad put all sorts of information in your head to make you believe I am, or that my friends are, but he lied to you.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
She tosses up her arms in frustration and spins back to stare at the lake. “Hell, for that matter, why am I even involved in this? I don’t know anything about my father’s business.”
Brinley turns back to me. “That’s what this is about, right? Something to do with his and John’s business? Why not just ask Luca? She’s John’s daughter.”
Breathing out a heavy breath, I explain, “It’s not that simple.”
It surprises me when Brinley takes a few steps to be standing directly in front of me, the fear she normally wears gone suddenly.
I know somewhere inside her there’s a warrior lingering. But something about her life has subdued it. I want to see that warrior side of her, and I have no fucking clue why.
“If you say I’m wrong about all of this, and that the governor lied, then you need to convince me of that now. Right this second. Because I’m tired of this entire runaround.”
It would be easy to spill everything and hopefully convince her to cooperate, but damn if I’m not an opportunist.
“How about we trade information?”
What am I doing?
Her mouth pulls into a thin line, that glare I love developing just a little. “What kind of information?”
I shouldn’t be doing this.
Holding her stare, I challenge her.
“I want to know more about why you’re so scared of your own shadow. And you want to know more about what’s going on with our families, your father and the governor. I’ll trade you a detail for a detail.”
This is so far outside the reach of my assignment, but I’ve stopped giving a shit. Something about her makes me genuinely curious.
Fuck a favor for a price.
I want more than that. Even though I know I shouldn’t.
I’m just babysitting this chick.
I’m only supposed to find out where her father is.
And I’m also supposed to smooth over what I did earlier today so she doesn’t run to the cops.
But finding out about her?
Figuring out what makes her tick?
That is so far beyond the issues I’m supposed to handle.
The problem is, I can’t help myself. Not with her. And not right now. I want to know.
What’s fucked up is that I want to know so badly that I’m scared for once in my life.
Scared I’m making a mistake.
Scared I’ll probably end up hurting her.
And scared that I’m somehow taking the first fucking step into something I’ve sworn off for as long as I can remember.
Brinley
He’s up to something. And this entire charade is simply a game to knock me off guard.
It makes no sense that Jackass cares about my issues or who I am.
They want something.
It’s that simple.
But a game is a game, so I’ll play along for now.
In the end, I may gather more information about them than Shane can ever pull from me.
“Okay,” I agree, hoping like hell the tremor that’s still in my voice from the events of the day isn’t easily heard. “Detail for detail. You go first.”
Shane nods his head then catches his bottom lip between his teeth. He’s thinking a little too hard, and I turn back to the lake, refusing to watch the act he’s putting on.
“We’re looking for your father.”
Pausing, he waits for a response. When I don’t give him one, he prods further.
“And we’re hoping you can tell us where to find him.”
A bark of quiet laughter shakes my shoulders.
“Even if I had that information, I wouldn’t give it to you. I know what your fathers did to Luca’s dad.”
Shane is a little too silent. I glance over my shoulder at him.
Flashing him a sardonic grin, I ask, “What’s wrong? Was that something you didn’t expect me to know?”
Guilt flickers through his expression, there and then gone again. It was so quick a change that I’m impressed at his ability to wipe it away so quickly.
My eyes go back to watching the lake.
Nothing moves in those dark waters, not even a ripple to disrupt the mirrored reflection of the sky. “That’s what I thought.”
Silence blankets us for another few minutes before he speaks again, his voice careful.
“We’re looking for your father because of what happened to Luca’s dad. We don’t exactly get along with our families. And by exactly, I mean we hate them.”
Likely story.
Of course, he’d deny being on the same side as the people who raised him.
Turning to him, I cross my arms over my body. It’s not enough to protect myself against the temperature drop from a small gust of wind.
When my eyes meet his, Shane dips his head, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck.
Shrugging a shoulder, he lets out a heavy breath and looks up at me. “Honestly—”
“Do you know when someone starts a sentence with ‘honestly’, that it’s a good indication they’re about to lie?”
Shane stammers over an attempted response but gives up, his lips curling into a grin as he kicks at the sand with his foot. He’s probably attempting to regain his footing now that I called him out before he could even start his bullshit.
Our eyes meet.
I hate that my heart jumps in that moment.
Only a stupid girl would fall for him.
“Yeah, so, you’re not as helpless as you seem. Maybe I was wrong about some of my observations of you.”
I blink in response, long and slow, my expression neutral because I’m not giving him a reaction.
“And you’re charming,” I answer. “When you’re not being a jackass, spilling stuff on me, blaming me, starting fights, stealing my car, abducting me or scaring the shit out of me.”
“Thanks? I think.”
My expression doesn’t so much as twitch. “You’re welcome. But it won’t get you anywhere. Just so you know.”
Unsure where this newfound inner strength is coming from, I continue to watch him. He’s fidgeting in place. Nervous. It’s an interesting shift in power.
“What else you got?”
Shaking his head, he motions with his hand that he’s zipping his lips. It’s a shame he doesn’t actually shut up.
“Your turn. I gave a detail.”
“That you’re looking for my dad?”
He nods.
“Okay, fine. I’m looking for my dad too. Your turn again.”
He opens his mouth to argue, but then that sculpted mouth tugs into a smile.
“You are such a pain in the ass.”
“I’m not the one with the lengthy list of transgressions between us. Would you like me to go over the list again?”
He laughs. “No. I’m good. I got the picture the first time.”
Tired of this back and forth, I walk toward him and stop when we’re toe to toe.
“Are you done pretending like everything is okay with this situation now? It’s getting old. Just tell me what you want so I can think about giving it to you—if I’m able—and then I can go home.”
And call the cops, I don’t add.
Shane runs a hand through his hair, that damn dimple indenting his cheek as he looks up at the sky instead of me.
I watch him struggle with what to say or do. Like he’s never been called out before. Like no other person has been able to actually see the man standing in front of me.
How many people? I wonder.
How many souls have been put through the wringer because this jackass wanted something they weren’t willing to give him?
Shane doesn’t present himself as what he truly is. Even now, he’s wearing a simple black T-shirt with a pair of torn and stained jeans. The bottom cuffs look like they were intentionally walked on, certain places fraying from the length being a bit too long.
I glance at her this time, only because I don’t think she realizes just how long it took her to make the statement. It was a spattering of words broken up by the deep gulps of air she was struggling to draw in.
“Nah. This ain’t nothing, Brin. Have you ever read how fast they go in rockets to space? They have to train for months just to handle the force of it, and they survived.”
“We’re not astronauts, jackass! Slow down the fucking car!”
“Not until you have fun,” I yell back.
I’d like to assure you I have complete control of the car. I wouldn’t put Brinley in danger, and I definitely wouldn’t travel at this speed with her if I hadn’t already done this a million times. I know this road like the back of my hand.
It’s a popular road for racing because of how straight it is. Where there are curves, they’re wide and not too dangerous.
It’s just us and the empty miles that stretch on endlessly without a shit ton of potholes or other hazards that could cause problems at this rate of speed.
“I’m having fun,” she lies, the sound of her voice pathetic.
“I don’t believe you, Brin. You’re not saying wheee.”
Grimacing as she opens her eyes for a split second to see the landscape fly by, she swallows hard before giving me an even more pathetic, “Wheee.”
At least she made the attempt to fool me, but the color draining from her face gives away her true feelings.
I let off the gas but don’t hit the brake. Beauty’s engine calms down as she slows to a more acceptable speed.
A little time passes before Brinley feels brave enough to open her eyes again, her knuckles white where she’s still clenching her hands. Daring to take a peek at the instrument panel, her eyes widen to see we’re still going just under a hundred.
“What is the speed limit out here?”
I think about telling the truth but decide against it. “Who cares?”
“Me! I care!”
“Why?”
“Because I want to live.”
See, that’s where she’s getting this wrong.
“You are living. Right here. Right now. Stop worrying about what can happen, and just enjoy the ride.”
At this speed, I’m barely pushing Beauty at all. The car is almost as bored as I am, the engine wanting to open up again so we can fly.
Brinley doesn’t see it that way.
“How is this living?”
I smile because I know something she doesn’t. Or at least I’ve seen something she has yet to realize.
“Are you panicking right now? Can you think straight and communicate? Are the walls crashing in?”
She stills in her seat, blood trickling back into her knuckles as her clenching fingers loosen. Don’t get me wrong, she’s still braced for the worst, but a seed has been planted in her thoughts—just a taste of the freedom I’ve been chasing for as long as I can remember.
“No,” she finally answers, “but this car may crash if we don’t slow down.”
I laugh at that since I was planning on slowing down anyway.
We’re nearing a park that the twins and I found years ago while racing down this road. It’s a little over an hour outside of the city, but at the speed we went, we made the trip in half the time.
Approaching the turn, I hit the brake to slow us down more, stealing secret peeks at Brinley to notice her body relax and her hands release the death grip she had on the door handle and seatbelt.
“Thank you,” she says with what sounds like exhaustion in her voice.
We cruise slowly along a narrow road that eventually opens up into a small parking lot.
Beyond that is a large lake and sandy shore with very little illumination except the moon and stars.
When Brinley first notices the landscape, her blue eyes round with surprise and appreciation.
She turns to look at me, her fear of the ride and her hatred of me momentarily forgotten.
“Where are we?”
I unclip my seatbelt then lean across the center console to help her out of hers. She flinches back at first but then relaxes again to see what I’m doing.
With this girl, I’m starting to learn you need to move a little more slowly so that her mind catches up with what’s happening, the instant concern she always feels bleeding away when she understands.
“I get the feeling you’re not happy unless you know everything.”
Her eyes narrow on me, but I didn’t mean what I said as an insult.
Leaning my shoulder against the back of my seat, I remain twisted in her direction. “What I mean by that is you’re not the type who likes surprises.”
Without thinking, she smiles. It’s the first true smile I’ve seen on her in, well, the entire time I’ve known her.
Shaking her head, she blushes. “Is it that noticeable?”
I nod in response.
“I’m not saying it’s a bad thing. I think a lot of people like to know what to expect. They can prepare better for whatever’s coming. In a way, that makes you a strategist. A person who, if given the facts ahead of time, would probably be one hell of an opponent.”
Casting me an odd look, she steals those blue eyes from me again to look out at the lake.
“We’re at a park.”
I mean, yeah. I think that’s obvious, but I won’t tease her about it while she is still forgetful of the fact that she can’t stand me.
Settling back in my seat, I stare out the front windshield.
“Yep. The twins and I come out here a lot. For one, to race each other down that long road, but also to get away from the city. They’re a lot like me.”
“And how’s that?” she asks, her voice soft and her attention stolen by the stillness of the lake.
I shrug. “We don’t like the city. I mean, we grew up in it, but it’s too noisy. None of us can stand being attorneys, and it’s like tugging on a straitjacket every time we have to wear a suit. They like motorcycles as much as I love cars. And well…”
Laughing because I know admitting this will bring up memories, I add, “And they love to fight as much as me.”
Her eyes return to mine, her mouth opening just a touch on a small inhalation of breath.
That spark is there again.
I feel it too.
And there is so much that is wrong about me feeling anything.
“Like the fight at Myth?”
Reluctantly, I nod again.
“Yeah. That was far from our first and probably won’t be our last.”
I expect her to press for more information about me, but instead, she returns her attention to the lake.
“Are we just sitting here, or can we get out and go look around the park?”
Opening my door, I step one foot out before looking back at her. “Promise not to run or do anything stupid? I really don’t feel like chasing you down.”
She smiles again, and what the fuck is that? I was expecting one of her cute ass glares. Seems I’ll have to work harder to earn those now.
“Even if I did run, I’d have no idea where I’m going. It’s not like we’re near a place where people could help me.”
She’s not wrong. Satisfied with that, I climb the rest of the way out of the car then round the front to open her door for her. I offer her my hand, but Brinley stares at it without accepting.
“We’re still not there yet, huh?”
Brinley shakes her head. “Not even close.”
“Well, at least you didn’t slap it away that time. I’ll take that as progress.”
She chuckles. “If you say so. I’ll still disagree, but whatever helps you sleep better at night.”
A sense of humor.
That’s new.
Don’t get me wrong. Brinley has it in spades when it comes to arguments and insults.
But this side of her, at least to me, is new.
Allowing her to take the lead, I follow at a snail’s pace behind her so she doesn’t feel threatened. Plus, from where I walk, I can observe her more closely, watch her in an environment where she appears to feel comfortable.
The constant rigidity of her muscles is gone. I can tell that even beneath the baggy clothes she’s wearing.
She steps carefully through the sand as we approach the lake, only stopping at the very edge where the water gently laps at the shore.
It’s like black ice out there for how still it is, the moonlight reflected so that it feels like a different world. A perfect mirror image, really, and even I’m taken by the beauty of it.
“I like this place,” Brinley murmurs.
Ah, hell. I can’t help myself. “Do you like me now too?”
“No,” she answers immediately.
“Damn. It was worth a shot.”
Another quiet burst of laughter. I smile to hear it. She may not admit she likes me, but I like to think she’s warming up.
After staring at the lake for a few minutes, she turns to look at me.
“Why did you take me on that ride? Was it to scare me? Is that funny to you?”
I kick at the ground with the toe of my boot, my hands tucked in my pockets. “Yes and no.”
Brinley tilts her head in question.
“Yes, it was to scare you, but no it’s not funny to me.”
I pause, collecting my thoughts.
Explaining this may be difficult.
“I was showing you that bad things don’t always happen. That it’s okay to take risks. It’s like I said in the shop… You hide and stay in a little safe bubble. I think that bubble needs to be burst. Because there’s nothing to be so scared of all the time.”
She blinks, her brow cocking after, as if what I said was absurd.
“I was run off the road today and abducted. I think that’s something one should be scared of.”
“Not if you knew the reason.”
“I’m not following you, Shane. As far as I know, you’re some volatile stranger who is stalking me and finally decided to just grab me and take me somewhere without concern for what I think about it.”
Okay, when she puts it like that, it’s fucked up.
“I’m not the bad guy. I’m sure Ivy’s dad put all sorts of information in your head to make you believe I am, or that my friends are, but he lied to you.”
“How do I know you’re not lying?”
She tosses up her arms in frustration and spins back to stare at the lake. “Hell, for that matter, why am I even involved in this? I don’t know anything about my father’s business.”
Brinley turns back to me. “That’s what this is about, right? Something to do with his and John’s business? Why not just ask Luca? She’s John’s daughter.”
Breathing out a heavy breath, I explain, “It’s not that simple.”
It surprises me when Brinley takes a few steps to be standing directly in front of me, the fear she normally wears gone suddenly.
I know somewhere inside her there’s a warrior lingering. But something about her life has subdued it. I want to see that warrior side of her, and I have no fucking clue why.
“If you say I’m wrong about all of this, and that the governor lied, then you need to convince me of that now. Right this second. Because I’m tired of this entire runaround.”
It would be easy to spill everything and hopefully convince her to cooperate, but damn if I’m not an opportunist.
“How about we trade information?”
What am I doing?
Her mouth pulls into a thin line, that glare I love developing just a little. “What kind of information?”
I shouldn’t be doing this.
Holding her stare, I challenge her.
“I want to know more about why you’re so scared of your own shadow. And you want to know more about what’s going on with our families, your father and the governor. I’ll trade you a detail for a detail.”
This is so far outside the reach of my assignment, but I’ve stopped giving a shit. Something about her makes me genuinely curious.
Fuck a favor for a price.
I want more than that. Even though I know I shouldn’t.
I’m just babysitting this chick.
I’m only supposed to find out where her father is.
And I’m also supposed to smooth over what I did earlier today so she doesn’t run to the cops.
But finding out about her?
Figuring out what makes her tick?
That is so far beyond the issues I’m supposed to handle.
The problem is, I can’t help myself. Not with her. And not right now. I want to know.
What’s fucked up is that I want to know so badly that I’m scared for once in my life.
Scared I’m making a mistake.
Scared I’ll probably end up hurting her.
And scared that I’m somehow taking the first fucking step into something I’ve sworn off for as long as I can remember.
Brinley
He’s up to something. And this entire charade is simply a game to knock me off guard.
It makes no sense that Jackass cares about my issues or who I am.
They want something.
It’s that simple.
But a game is a game, so I’ll play along for now.
In the end, I may gather more information about them than Shane can ever pull from me.
“Okay,” I agree, hoping like hell the tremor that’s still in my voice from the events of the day isn’t easily heard. “Detail for detail. You go first.”
Shane nods his head then catches his bottom lip between his teeth. He’s thinking a little too hard, and I turn back to the lake, refusing to watch the act he’s putting on.
“We’re looking for your father.”
Pausing, he waits for a response. When I don’t give him one, he prods further.
“And we’re hoping you can tell us where to find him.”
A bark of quiet laughter shakes my shoulders.
“Even if I had that information, I wouldn’t give it to you. I know what your fathers did to Luca’s dad.”
Shane is a little too silent. I glance over my shoulder at him.
Flashing him a sardonic grin, I ask, “What’s wrong? Was that something you didn’t expect me to know?”
Guilt flickers through his expression, there and then gone again. It was so quick a change that I’m impressed at his ability to wipe it away so quickly.
My eyes go back to watching the lake.
Nothing moves in those dark waters, not even a ripple to disrupt the mirrored reflection of the sky. “That’s what I thought.”
Silence blankets us for another few minutes before he speaks again, his voice careful.
“We’re looking for your father because of what happened to Luca’s dad. We don’t exactly get along with our families. And by exactly, I mean we hate them.”
Likely story.
Of course, he’d deny being on the same side as the people who raised him.
Turning to him, I cross my arms over my body. It’s not enough to protect myself against the temperature drop from a small gust of wind.
When my eyes meet his, Shane dips his head, his hand rubbing at the back of his neck.
Shrugging a shoulder, he lets out a heavy breath and looks up at me. “Honestly—”
“Do you know when someone starts a sentence with ‘honestly’, that it’s a good indication they’re about to lie?”
Shane stammers over an attempted response but gives up, his lips curling into a grin as he kicks at the sand with his foot. He’s probably attempting to regain his footing now that I called him out before he could even start his bullshit.
Our eyes meet.
I hate that my heart jumps in that moment.
Only a stupid girl would fall for him.
“Yeah, so, you’re not as helpless as you seem. Maybe I was wrong about some of my observations of you.”
I blink in response, long and slow, my expression neutral because I’m not giving him a reaction.
“And you’re charming,” I answer. “When you’re not being a jackass, spilling stuff on me, blaming me, starting fights, stealing my car, abducting me or scaring the shit out of me.”
“Thanks? I think.”
My expression doesn’t so much as twitch. “You’re welcome. But it won’t get you anywhere. Just so you know.”
Unsure where this newfound inner strength is coming from, I continue to watch him. He’s fidgeting in place. Nervous. It’s an interesting shift in power.
“What else you got?”
Shaking his head, he motions with his hand that he’s zipping his lips. It’s a shame he doesn’t actually shut up.
“Your turn. I gave a detail.”
“That you’re looking for my dad?”
He nods.
“Okay, fine. I’m looking for my dad too. Your turn again.”
He opens his mouth to argue, but then that sculpted mouth tugs into a smile.
“You are such a pain in the ass.”
“I’m not the one with the lengthy list of transgressions between us. Would you like me to go over the list again?”
He laughs. “No. I’m good. I got the picture the first time.”
Tired of this back and forth, I walk toward him and stop when we’re toe to toe.
“Are you done pretending like everything is okay with this situation now? It’s getting old. Just tell me what you want so I can think about giving it to you—if I’m able—and then I can go home.”
And call the cops, I don’t add.
Shane runs a hand through his hair, that damn dimple indenting his cheek as he looks up at the sky instead of me.
I watch him struggle with what to say or do. Like he’s never been called out before. Like no other person has been able to actually see the man standing in front of me.
How many people? I wonder.
How many souls have been put through the wringer because this jackass wanted something they weren’t willing to give him?
Shane doesn’t present himself as what he truly is. Even now, he’s wearing a simple black T-shirt with a pair of torn and stained jeans. The bottom cuffs look like they were intentionally walked on, certain places fraying from the length being a bit too long.
