Chapter 19 #2
He begins slipping his arms through the fabric, and I immediately lunge at him to keep his abs tucked away. “Don’t!”
Panicking, I firmly yank the steering wheel to stop us from driving straight into the wall. “Jesus.”
“Maybe you should keep your eyes on the road instead of my abs.”
“You don’t say.” I scoff.
“What is it with you and my abs anyway?”
“There’s nothing,” I retort. “Nothing at all.”
“Right …” He keeps looking at me from the side like he’s suspicious of me, and I don’t like it one bit. “Tell me you’re having gay panic without telling me you’re having gay panic.”
I scowl at him. “What are you on?”
“Nothing. I’m simply stating facts. It’s obvious, and you can’t handle it.” He’s biting his finger, and it’s pissing me off.
I roll my eyes and kick the gear up so I can race down the mountain faster and we can get this over with. “In your dreams.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
“I’m only interested in one person,” I say.
“Yeah, you’ve made that abundantly clear to yourself.”
Always trying to egg me on.
“What is your problem?”
He folds his arms, ample pecs pushing out through the robe, even beyond his thick biceps, and I don’t know why I notice, but I do. “You are. You pretend you’re not interested in being my friend, yet you keep gawking at me like you’re going to slur your words.”
“Can you just shut up for one second?”
“No. Not when you keep avoiding my questions.”
“We have a dead man in my trunk, and you’re arguing with me about whether I’m looking at your man-titties.”
He snorts. “Yes. It’s called having priorities.”
“You’re ridiculous. You know that, right?”
“No, but thank you for the compliment.”
“It wasn’t one.”
“I’m taking it as such.”
Fuck this dude.
I’m amazed no one has decided to kill him yet out of sheer annoyance.
“You’re doing your awful best to make me want to drive this car into the ditch beyond the road.”
“Good. Do it then and end my suffering.”
“No. Sunny needs me,” I growl. “And it’s about time you realized what’s at stake here.”
“You’re the one who killed that officer, not me. I’m just trying to be a good friend and help you out.”
“So you can get a couple of bonus points with her, and she’ll let you lick her pussy again, is that it?” I growl.
“No. But it would be nice.”
My hands ball into fists while I hold the steering wheel for dear life as we wait for the traffic light to turn green.
“What? You’re not the only one who’s obsessed.”
I abruptly turn my head. “She’s. Not. Yours.”
He tilts his head and raises a brow. “She’s not yours either.”
We engage in a stare down until the light finally turns green, and I hit the gas so hard he’s knocked back into his seat.
“Jesus, can you slow it down a little?”
“No,” I grit.
I need to get this over with as soon as possible, before I kill someone else.
As we turn the corner, a motorcycle zooms past the window, and we both turn our heads like roosting chickens seeing a fox run by.
That brand, the helmet … the hair.
“It’s her,” Orion mutters, as he slowly turns his head in abject horror. “DRIVE!”
I hit the gas, racing past several traffic lights so I could get as far away from that motorcycle as fast as possible, hoping she hadn’t spotted us.
When I’ve finally arrived at the location at the edge of town, near a recycling business that has narrow ties with my family, I park the car outside the gates and get out of the car.
It’s started to rain, and I’m pretty sure I’ll be soaked by the time I return, as I press the number I memorized into the pad near the gate.
My car window rolls down. “Where the hell are we?” Orion blares.
“Nowhere important.”
He looks around. “It’s a scrap heap.”
The gates open, and I hop back inside the car.
He glares at me like I don’t know exactly what I’m doing. “What do you want to do? Bury him in the trash?”
“How do you think our family got rid of all the bodies piling up after each fight?” I retort as I drive inside and park the car.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“You wanted to help, so help.” I slam the door shut.
He hops out, hiding from the rain using his robe, and follows me to the trunk.
“If you think I’m going to dig through garbage with these precious hands, you’re sorely mistaken.”
“Then don’t,” I growl back, rain droplets rolling down my cheeks. “I didn’t ask for help. You offered.” I drag the body out, and it flops onto the pavement. “And if you’re not willing to do the dirty work, then why are you here?”
He winces at the sight of all the blood pouring out onto the wet ground.
“Fine, but I’m only doing this because she’d want me to help you,” he grumbles and finally decides to bend over and grab the guy by the legs. “You do the front. I can’t stomach looking at those ghastly wounds.”
We pick him up and carry him toward the back, past all the broken-down metal and scrap heaps.
“Where do you want him?” he asks, shivering from the cold rain pouring down on us.
“The big oven.”
His eyes widen. “You what? You want to burn him?”
“How else do you think we’d get rid of a dead body? Stop complaining and keep walking.”
When we’re finally there, we nod at each other, and I count to three before we throw the body onto the conveyor belt.
The machine turns on automatically, and Orion lets out a little shriek. “What was that?”
“The operator.” I turn around and signal the man inside the little hut, who my parents employ to be here 24/7 in case of emergency disposal. No questions asked.
“He’s implicated now,” Orion hisses.
“We pay them well to shut up,” I hiss back. “Should I pay you too just for the bonus of silence?”
“Maybe it would be wise not to anger the only person trying to help you out, my friend.”
“I am not your friend.”
We’re so close now, we’re nearly bumping foreheads over the body. I’m fuming, yet my eyes still wander off to those maddening lips of his as they get thinner the more upset he gets, and it pisses me off.
I lean sideways and press the button while we’re still head-to-head.
“You just say that because you don’t know how to share and feel threatened by my presence. Which I can understand. It’s a lot to take in.”
The fucking arrogance of this guy.
“I don’t fucking care about your presence, Oreo.”
The body slowly rolls toward its doom.
“Oreo?” he scowls. “Did you just compare me to a cookie?”
“Yeah, you’re just as gooey.”
The fire roars as the body rolls inside.
He snorts, closing the gap between us. “Oreos aren’t gooey. Have you even eaten one in your whole damn life?”
“I might after today.” I open my jaws and bite down on my own teeth. “Chomp, chomp, fucker.”
He grinds his teeth just as badly as I am, just as unwilling to back down from the impending fight. But when his tongue darts out to lick his lips, I lose focus and slip on the mud.
Right into his fucking arms.
“Watch it,” I growl, shoving him away.
“Watch yourself. You fell into me,” he rebukes, swatting the wet droplets off his chiseled body. “You got me all wet now.”
My eyes home in on the one droplet rolling down to his V-line, and I smash my hand into my face and turn around. “Let’s just get the fuck out of here before anyone sees us.”
I march toward the little hut, and the window slides open. “I see you’re back again,” Otto says.
I slide a whole damn wad of cash his way, much more than the usual cost. “Don’t tell my family, please. I don’t want more problems.”
He makes a lock-and-key gesture near his mouth as he takes the money and puts it in his little box.
“Thanks,” I say.
I walk back to my car with Orion, who opens the door, while I shut the trunk.
As I turn, a big, bright light filters through the rain as it beams down on my face, and I freeze immediately.
The person in the full black bodysuit on the motorcycle that’s revving up ahead has all the hairs on the back of my neck standing up as it closes in on me.
Sunny.
“Oh fuck,” Orion mutters.
And I scream, “RUN!”