Chapter Forty
Rolling my neck, I stare at the endless road through half-lidded eyes.
The engine rumbles beneath my grip on the steering wheel, my legs becoming restless.
I’d been anxious to cover as much ground as possible, hence I’ve driven through the night while the back-seat princess switched between snoozing and scowling at me in the rearview mirror.
“You know, most girls would kill for a ride in my Lexus,” I comment, eager to break the stilted silence. Meg has barely spoken other than to tell me when she needs a restroom stop.
“Most girls don’t care for your little-dick-syndrome,” Meg shoots back. I bark a laugh.
“We both know that’s not true,” I chuckle, which soon comes a yawn. My stomach rumbles in unison, but I shake it all off.
Meg shifts in the back seat, the leather creaking as she stretches her legs out across the cushions like she owns the damn car.
In the rearview mirror, her eyes flick up to meet mine, unimpressed and wide awake after her on and off slumber.
I bite down on my tongue, withholding the sly remark I want to make about her goading me.
Afterall, I did ambush her and drag her on a mission just to prove something I’m not sure of anymore.
The past several hours of driving has given me plenty of time to think. Meg’s reaction in the library has replayed in my mind’s eye on a loop. Naturally, she was beyond shaken at the prospect of seeing Harrison again, but I’d been curious about her mindset after I left, so I hung around.
The way she was with Thiago, curled up in his lap, tenderly kissing him.
How gentle he is, able to soothe her with hardly any words, has me thinking I might have been wrong.
The tenacious Meg might actually be gone for good, and without our back-and-forth rivalry, I’m not sure where that would leave me.
Although, right now, there’s still a stubborn set to her jaw and a glint of resentment in her eyes. Maybe I’m the one who needs to deal with my demons, but that fire within her stokes the one inside me.
The road stretches on, the asphalt becoming slightly blurred around the edges.
Another yawn claws its way up my throat, wider this time and much harder to ignore.
I glance toward the next exit sign in the distance, weighing up my options.
Pushing through is tempting, covering more ground and getting to our destination faster, but I’m not stupid enough to ignore the warning signs my body’s throwing at me.
Not with Meg in the car. Not with what’s at stake on the other side of this mission.
Shocked isn’t a strong enough word for how I felt when Thiago dragged Harrison’s location up in merely one afternoon.
Uneasy might be a more apt description. I bought him his damn coffee as requested and headed back to the IT block, shadowing his every movement.
However, as soon as his fingers touched the keyboard, I was lost. Numbers and windows flew across the monitor, firewalls that are supposed to keep entire teams out presenting him merely minutes of trouble before he cracked it.
Personally, when I approached him with the idea, I thought we had at least days, if not weeks, before he caught a glimpse of Harrison’s movements.
Within a few hours, I had the location flashing on my phone and a lump permanently lodged in my throat.
No wonder Meg is struggling to process the shift in dynamics.
I developed a newfound respect for Thiago and, after Meg’s reaction to the news, a new burning hatred for Harrison.
No one should have been able to break Meg’s tough exterior. Fuck knows I’ve tried for years.
Eventually, I stop battling with myself, easing my foot off the accelerator as I turn off the freeway. The sky ahead is bleak, a wash of gray-blue bleeding into the horizon. Rain is coming, and I’m already struggling to keep my eyes focused.
Adding to the state of my current problems, my phone buzzes in the cupholder.
I ignore it, hunting for a place to rest that doesn’t look like I’ll catch some sort of disease.
I’ll be the first to admit my childhood hasn’t prepared me for the lowkey lifestyle of a sleuth, but my body has activated shut-down mode.
Finally, I pull into the parking lot of a motel consisting of merely grubby windows and concrete, just as my phone buzzes again.
“Someone wants your attention,” Meg comments dryly.
I don’t bother reaching for the device, switching off the engine and pushing back my shoulders.
A satisfying crack runs down the length of my back.
This time, I barely hear the vibration within the plastic holder, but apparently Meg latches onto it like a beacon.
“It’s rude to leave people hanging,” she remarks, and the next thing I know, she’s launched herself through the front two seats.
Before I’ve registered the movement, her elbow thuds against my jaw as she stretches over the console, fingers snatching my phone straight out of the holder.
“No! Put that back!” I start, but it’s already too late. Meg lands half in my lap, half braced against the dash, her hair slapping me across the face. She twists just enough to put space between us, the device held at arm’s length across the passenger seat.
“Come on Everest, no need to be shy. Who wants to speak to you so badly?” Not waiting for a response, Meg double taps the screen. I struggle against my own seatbelt, which has inconveniently locked me into place, grunting and bucking beneath her. “Oooo, who is Cody?”
“Give it back,” I yell, grabbing her waist and yanking her off-balance. Meg laughs in my face, all too pleased with the reaction she’s getting.
“Oh, absolutely not,” she shoots back, twisting her body from my grip.
Her knee digs into my thigh as she tries to pull free, keeping the phone held across the car at all times.
“I don’t know of any Cody’s at Hollowbrook.
Is this a fancy friend from your home life?
” My nostrils flare and Meg’s smile grows wider.
“Oh, it is. And I’m going to guess Cody is an alias?
” I put my features on lockdown, careful not to give her anything but she sees straight through me anyway.
“Tsk, tsk, Captain Calloway. And here I was, thinking you were too shallow to keep secrets.”
I lean forward, closing the already minimal space between us, and hold out my hand palm up.
“This is your last chance to give it back,” I state evenly.
Meg snorts, angling the phone towards my face.
The padlock on the screen unlocks, causing Meg to squeal in triumph and attempt to throw herself into the back seat again.
I’m faster this time, unplugging my seat belt in time to grab her around the middle.
It takes more strength than expected, given that I’m working against her burst of adrenaline, but I manage to haul her back against me before she can make her escape.
The movement knocks the air from her lungs with a soft oof, but it doesn’t stop her from howling with laughter, desperately trying to keep the phone just out of my reach.
I still at the sound, almost forgetting myself as I realize I did that.
I made her laugh, and like the spoiled brat I am, I want more of it.
That’s the only reason I can think of for my fingers curling around Meg’s ribs. Luckily, it appears Meg is prone to being ticklish, otherwise that would have been a very awkward moment.
“Wait, wait!” Meg wheezes, her hilarity filling the confined space.
She twists against me in all the wrong and deliciously right ways, somehow managing to peer at my messages through her hysterics.
“This Cody is so demanding. You were supposed to check in hours ago,” Meg chuckles, and I double the assault on her ribs.
She tries to scramble backward, but I don’t let her escape my lap.
Her hair is everywhere, across my face, in my mouth.
I have to turn my head just to breathe properly as I reach for the phone again.
She isn’t as quick this time, my hand closing firmly around hers as I finally wrench the phone free.
The victory is short-lived as Meg immediately lunges for it, half climbing over me and completely disregarding personal space.
My seat creaks as I’m effectively shoved back into it, Meg’s hands flying onto my shoulders before she catches herself braced against me and panting.
Gone is my earlier exhaustion, replaced by an acute awareness of Meg straddling me, her hair a mess around us, her parted lips inches from my face.
For a second, neither of us moves, halting the tug-of-war in favor of a breathless pause. Licking her lips, which I really wish she hadn’t done because that’s going to reappear in my dreams later, Meg blows a strand of hair out of her face.
“Fine, keep your secrets.” She pushes off me, remembering that we’re not friends. Not even close.
Dropping into the passenger seat, Meg exits, pausing long enough to grab her bag from the trunk before heading towards the reception building.
I remain seated, breathing tensely and picturing my grandmother naked in an effort to lessen the tent in my sweatpants.
Given that she’s a bag of wrinkles with a vicious scowl that I’ve only had to endure a few times in my life, the trick works instantly.
I remain there for far too long before I glance back down at my phone. Firing off a quick message, I power off the device and chuck it into the glove box. I don’t have the mental capacity to deal with any more drama right now.
Meg is gone for an especially long time, to the point that I’m about to go looking for her when she appears again.
Holding a large paper bag and a set of keys, she walks the length of the motel and starts up the staircase.
I retrieve my bag and follow, joining her just as she’s twisting the key in the second story, central room.