Arlo #6
“No, and that’s what’s helping to piss her off. You were straightforward with her, honest, earnest, and didn’t let her get under your skin. All that will have infuriated her when she was trying to dominate that conversation. But you are incapable of being dominated.”
My mouth crooked at one corner. “Don’t be so sure.”
The last of his anger disappeared in a flash of lust. “You know, you’re right. We need to get out of here. The sooner, the better.”
“That works for me,” I said, standing up. “But we should at least say goodbye to Eleanor. She was a delight, and I don’t want to leave without properly saying goodbye.”
“Come on then,” he said, a new hunger in his voice as he looped his arm through mine. “She was at the bar last I saw.”
She was at the bar, her cheeks flushed and her smile bright when she saw us coming. “Well, hello, you look like two people with more interesting places to be and far more fun things to do.”
“It’s time for us to leave,” Ward told her, bending down to kiss her cheek.
“I don’t doubt that for a minute,” she said with a laugh, kissing him back. “How nice of you to stop and give this old woman a goodbye.”
“Of course,” I said, pleased by her warmth. I bent down to give her a light hug and a kiss on the cheek, and she squeezed me back.
“Seduced yet?” she asked with a light chuckle.
“At least let me get home first,” I teased, pulling away.
“Let it never be said that you only choose the classless and tasteless,” Eleanor told Ward. “I hope you’ve grown up enough to see the potential in this one, Warden. And if you don’t, more fool you.”
“We’ll see,” Ward said, glancing nervously at me. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I said, amused by the sudden awkwardness from a man who was usually so confident; nothing fazed him.
“Quit looking at me like that,” Ward grumbled as we entered the grand foyer.
“Like what?”
“Like you’re going to laugh your ass off any second.”
“You’re the one acting bashful. Weren’t you the one talking about potentially making things me and you?”
“That is...a subject for another night,” he said evasively as we descended the stairs. “Now let’s see where...oh for the love of…William!”
I looked over and found the man near a row of hedges, talking with one of the valets. They were passing a cigarette and standing entirely too close for a casual conversation. Will jumped at the sound of his name, looking nervous until he spotted who was shouting.
“Quit trying to get your dick wet and go get the damn car,” Ward barked, gesturing angrily.
“Like you aren’t doing the same thing,” Will shouted back, giving him the finger and waving us on. “Come on already, it’s just over here. I’m not pulling it around, so princess doesn’t have to walk.”
“I’m guessing he means you,” I said.
“He does. Prick.”
“You’re like brothers.”
“I’ve slept with him!”
“Hmm, remind me to tell you the story of my brothers Milo and Eli one of these days.”
“W-what?”
“Come on,” I said, taking his arm again and leading him after Will, who had taken his phone back from the valet and walked off. The car was a little down the path, and I breathed the fresh air. “So, why would you want to come to my place?”
“I hope that’s not self-consciousness,” he said, putting his other hand over my arm.
I laughed softly. “I’m not worried that you’ll see my tiny house and suddenly decide you don’t want anything to do with me because I’m not obscenely rich.”
“The only thing obscene about me is the thoughts I’ve been having for the past couple of hours, but that would be in poor taste.”
“Maybe, but not exactly unwelcome,” I assured him. “I’m merely curious as to why.”
“Because I’m curious about you,” he said as we reached the car.
“Because I’ve been interested in you from the moment I saw you, and I haven’t stopped since.
I don’t care if you have a little house, secondhand furniture, and dust on the bookshelf.
I don’t care if you have a scratchy blanket or a flat pillow because you can’t bring yourself to buy new things.
I want to see more of you, and what else can show who or what a man is than their home? ”
“I suppose. I never really gave it much thought,” I admitted as Will drove off, making for the driveway on the hill leading toward the main road.
“You didn’t judge me based on my home?”
“It’s clear that you care about your things, at least some things, like your props, some of your art, and you’ve put thought into it.”
“Maybe I just think a lot about the nature of homes and their owners because I remember my own home growing up. It was filled with expensive art, top-of-the-line technology, and beautiful,” he said as we coasted down the hill.
“My mother owned this...box, I guess—large, monstrous thing, covered in beautiful artwork, almost like stained glass. I was entranced by it, and my mother always warned me off, but I was convinced there was treasure in it. I’d seen Indiana Jones and the Ark of the Covenant, and I was convinced there was something inside it.
One day, a cousin of mine and I were playing, and we knocked it over, well, he did, but I took the blame, and guess what? ”
“It was empty,” I said as we reached the bottom of the long drive.
“Completely. That stuck with me. That was how my childhood home felt when I got older, and I could see it for what it was.”
“Are you afraid your own home is the same?”
He stared at me, his mouth opening, and then he frowned when he heard Will curse from the front. “Hey, Will, slow down.”
“I can’t!” Will snapped, and I could hear the thumping as his foot stomped the pedal, which wasn’t working since the car continued to pick up speed. “Fuck, brace yourself!”
“Hell,” I hissed as I yanked him back, snapping his seat belt into place.
Will gave the steering wheel a yank, away from the road where cars were flying by and toward the shoulder.
The limo lurched, bouncing and making me crash to the floor and roll toward the front when a crunch made the whole thing suddenly stop.
I was forced into a corner, groaning as my shoulder ached and a throb came from my ankle. Nothing seemed broken, and the interior wasn’t spinning, so I took that as a good sign. “Ward?”
He was there in a flash. After some thumps and curses, I figured he was battling the seat belt. “Don’t move.”
“I’m okay,” I said with a groan, rolling over to peer up at him. “Might have twisted my ankle and banged my shoulder, but everything seems alright.”
“Good God, you’re an…” he growled, cutting himself off and straightening. “Will?”
“Motherfucker,” Will groaned. “Why the hell do these damn things have to hurt so bad?”
“Will?” Ward repeated, his worry getting stronger.
“Probably the air bag,” I told him as I sat up. “Those things are hard as a rock when you hit them, and as smooth as sandpaper.”
“Fuck,” Will grumbled. “Are you two okay back there?”
“Fine,” I said, and sat up until a hand pushed against my chest.
Peering up, I saw Ward hovering above me, a frown etched into the stoniness of his face. “Stay down. We don’t know what state you’re in.”
“I’m quite aware of what state I’m in,” I protested, but I didn’t move, slumping back against the front seat and huffing. “I’m in full possession of my—”
“Just stay the fuck put,” he said firmly, and I sighed. “Thank you. Will?”
“I’m still breathing, Jesus Christ, say my name one more time and I’m going to figure out if this fucking limo can still drive and find the nearest cliff!”
Ward rolled his eyes. “You stay put. Hold on a second.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I told him, resisting the urge to roll my eyes when he stared at me meaningfully.
“Good,” Ward said as he reached the door and got out. I watched as he approached the limo’s front, opening the door.
“Damn it, quit!” Will protested as I heard a couple of thumps and a sliding sound.
Apparently, Will’s good-natured personality went right out of the building when he was hurt or there was a problem.
Not uncommon, but from the almost disinterested way Ward was telling him to calm down and hold still, he obviously wasn’t bothered by Will’s bad attitude. “Ow!”
“Well, if you stopped wriggling, it wouldn’t hurt as much,” Ward told him calmly.
“No, the friction burns on my face and arms will still be there, and they’ll still hurt when you touch them!”
“It’s nice to see you’re not in the least dramatic or sensitive in a moment of need.”
“Eat me, Ward.”
“I hardly think this is an appropriate time when my date is in the back seat and we’re dealing with a car crash.”
“It was a tactical car crash.”
“True. Thank you for ensuring we just got bumped around rather than risking a head-on collision with another vehicle. I’ll be sure to get you a raise.”
“Yeah, well, make sure your mom doesn’t fire my ass for this. I might be your driver, but my pay comes from her bank account.”
“My mother doesn’t pay your salary; I do. She just owns this car.”
“Great.”
“We’ll get you a new one. She can’t fire you, calm down.”
Sighing at their bickering, I slid into the seat rather than sitting on the floor, listening to them. They sounded like brothers. At some point, I heard Ward, and assumed he was talking to emergency services. Which meant my night just got a whole lot longer because I doubted I could just go home.
After a few minutes, Ward appeared, frowning. “I thought I said not to move.”
“The only reason not to move is not to exacerbate a dangerous injury. I have a sprain and a bruise. If I have a concussion, moving isn’t going to bother it much, and if I had broken my neck, I would have been dead before you came back to scold me for moving,” I told him calmly.
“Sitting on this seat while I wait for the EMTs to check me over unnecessarily is far more comfortable than the floor.”
“You are absolutely terrible at making someone feel better,” Ward grumbled as he sat down. “Will is okay. Some scrapes and bruising, but he didn’t hit much.”
“I assumed as much from all the complaining,” I said with a smile.
“You can eat me too,” Will called. “I was going to apologize for saying I would take you with us off a cliff, but you know what? You can come with us.”
“Yeah, he’s fine,” Ward said. “I can’t believe the brakes went. I know Will is better about having this thing serviced than I ever would be.
I stared at him. “I warned you. You’re the one who refuses to believe or listen.”
“A minor car accident and terrible electricians are not compelling proof of your theory,” he said with a snort.
“I do have several years’ worth of proof.”
“You have anecdotes. And anyone with a passing knowledge of psychology knows that people will instinctively look for evidence proving their beliefs. If we took those anecdotes and had someone else go through them, without your belief in a curse, I doubt they would come to the same conclusion.”
“One day, I will need to tell you those anecdotes, and we’ll see how strongly you stick to your skepticism.”
“Maybe that’s a conversation for another time.”
“Would you prefer I tell you what I wish we could be doing tonight instead of waiting for the EMTs?”
Will groaned. “Don’t start dirty talking while I can hear you.”
“Since when do you complain about that?” Ward asked with a laugh.
“A car accident, and I don’t care how small it was, is not the most sexy thing,” Will grumbled.
“Any time can be sexy,” Ward admonished.
“The fuck it can,” Will complained.
I chuckled. “So, when the EMTs show up and discover none of us need the hospital, and we’re cleared to leave...your place, or mine?”
“I want to say yours, but how the hell would we get there?”
I smiled. “If you’re prepared to get a taste of living on the other side, there are scores of ride-share drivers out there more than willing to come and get us.”
“Okay... if you’re given the clear. Not because you refused medical attention.”
That was fine by me. I knew I wouldn’t need medical attention; that was how things went in my life.