chapter eleven Inevitable Impending Doom #3
“Wow, sorry.” I raise my hands in mock defence. “You’re telling me that this thing can just disconnect from some wire and lock you inside
the vehicle with no way to get out?”
Lex utters a string of expletives.
He sighs. “That’s what I’m saying, yes.”
“Isn’t there, like, an emergency release button?”
“Of course, there is,” he tuts before reaching under the dash to pull a lever. The windows open a crack.
I blink at him a few times. “That’s it?”
He nods. “Now we have air flow.”
“What’s even the point if we still can’t get out!” I sit back in my seat. I don’t believe this. Actually, I do believe this. The inevitable impending doom of the curse cannot be escaped. Lex told me not to get into his car, and I didn’t
listen, and now we’re stuck in here for who knows how long—with the July sun beating down on us. A bead of sweat trickles
between my breasts. “Are we going to get cooked alive in this thing?”
Fancy Car Guy chuckles, though it’s without humour. “No. I’ll send a message to the McLaren team. They’ll have someone here
in . . .” He opens an app on his phone, presses a few buttons, and then shows me the screen. “Two hours.”
“Two hours!” I screech. It’s way too fucking hot in here. This car is too small. The walls are closing in. I’m soaked in sweat.
I can’t breathe. “I can’t be stuck in here with you for two hours!”
“Two hours?” Lex cries. “Fuck that!” Her AirPod clicks off, which only makes things worse. How am I supposed to get through
this without her?
“Relax, babe,” he says, leaning back and wiping his own sweat from his forehead. “We can get to know each other better.”
This is it—I’m officially in hell. “Can we call the fire department? Or the police? A tow truck? Anything?”
“No way I’m letting any of those people near my car. This baby’s special.” He strokes the dash lovingly. “They don’t know how to handle it. If anything happened
to it—”
“OH MY GOD,” I interrupt, pointing past him to where Lex has appeared with a giant rock in her hands.
Fancy Car Guy looks out his window and screams at such a high pitch I’d have sworn the sound belonged to a teenage girl and
not a full-grown man.
“Cover your eyes!” Lex shouts through the window.
“Don’t you fucking dare!” Fancy Car Guy shouts back.
“I’m breaking the window!” she informs him.
I stare out at her, speechless.
“Do you know how much this window costs?!” Fancy Car Guy shouts.
“I’d rather pay for a new window than have my friend pass out from overheating!” she retorts. And in that moment, I believe
her.
“Just wait! Okay? I’ll—I’ll call the tow truck! The fire department! Anything! Just don’t hurt my car,” he begs, voice hitching.
Slowly, Lex lowers the rock. “You have ten minutes, and if nobody’s on their way I’m breaking down the damn door. Do you understand?”
His bottom lip trembles. “Yes, ma’am.”
Lex drops the rock and makes her way around to my side of the car, reaching her fingers through the crack in the window. I
touch my fingers to hers, and even though it’s the slightest point of contact it makes me feel a hundred times better.
As Fancy Car Guy relays instructions to the 911 operator, Lex holds my gaze through the glass.
“You okay in there? Can I get you some water? A snack? Anything?” she asks, her eyes fiercely protective.
“No, just stay here with me,” I manage. She has no idea how much she’s helping just by being there.
“I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Lex says, and my heart squeezes. I trust her completely. She doesn’t let me go,
even with the sun beating down on her so intensely that a trickle of sweat forms on her brow and drips along the side of her
face.
Thankfully, help arrives fifteen minutes later—the fire department, a tow truck, and the McLaren repair technicians all at the same time. It takes them all of two minutes to pop the hood and reconnect the wire,
which allows the car to start and the doors to open.
I practically leap into Lex’s arms. Both of our bodies are hot and sweaty, but I don’t care. Her clammy grasp may as well be a cold drink of water. I nuzzle my face into her neck and breathe her in as Lex rubs calming circles over my back.
After checking in with the fire department and assuring them that I’m okay, we leave Fancy Car Guy to deal with the chaos
of all the emergency vehicles and walk back to Lex’s car, which, thank god, she’d had the foresight to use her auto-start
function on and cranked the air conditioning.
For the longest moment we just sit there, cold air blasting over us, as the date sinks in. Finally, I ask, “You weren’t really
going to break that guy’s window, were you?”
“Me? No. I knew he’d do the right thing.” Lex rubs the back of her neck, which I’m assuming is her tell. I’ve never known
her to lie before, so it’s good to know that when she does, I can spot it from a mile away.
“Mm-hm, sure.” I nudge her with my elbow.
“Cheeseburgers?” Lex asks, changing the topic. My stomach rumbles in response. Lex gives me a smile before backing out of
the parking lot and navigating us around the chaos of yet another ruined date.