10
Following King out to the parking lot of the pub, I notice a lot of people still making their way in, cars pulling up, groups laughing and stumbling.
Somewhere off in the distance, two girls are arguing, voices slurred and loud, probably drunk.
King doesn’t turn back once, but I know he’s aware I’m right behind him.
His shoulders are tense, and so are his steps.
“Get in the truck,” he says, opening the passenger door for me, but not looking at me, eyes fixed on some point over my head like he’s too angry to meet my gaze.
“King—”
“In!” he orders in his deep voice, not raised too high.
Well damn.
Hearing his voice drop to that low frequency, almost a growl, combined with the intense look on his face, eyes narrowed, jaw locked, makes me fucking horny.
My stomach flips, heat rushes straight to my clit, and I have to press my thighs together just to walk straight. It’s the way he’s commanding without yelling, the controlled anger rolling off him. I hate that it turns me on this much.
My entire body is hot with anticipation. Is he gonna spank me? I would be down for that too. But the part of me that wants to fight pushes back, I want to stand my ground because nobody asked him to come over here and rescue me.
“I didn’t ask for your help,” I remark.
“ Get… In … the truck.”
“I said I didn’t ask for your help,” I say a little louder.
Still holding the door open, he leans in closer to my face. “Noted,” he articulates condescendingly. “And I said… get in the truck.”
After holding his stare for a beat, I roll my eyes and climb in. He closes the door with a solid thud.
The alcohol is still buzzing through me, making me brave and a lot more emotional, everything feels sharper, anger bubbling right under my skin, tears prickling at the edges but not falling yet. When King gets in on the driver’s side, I look over at him scowling.
“Where are we going?”
“Back to youth camp,” he says, starting the truck. But before he can put it in drive, I lean over to him, my anger flaring again.
“What the hell is the matter with you, bro? I’m not doing anything wrong!” I proclaim.
“Sure. You’re only disgracing yourself in front of strangers and telling people that you’re easy and have no sense of pride! But sure, you can do no wrong,” he states, starting the engine.
I’m still fuming in the passenger seat when King finally speaks again.
“When did I ever say that I can do no wrong?”
“That’s how you behave, Erica. Like a child who hasn’t been raised by good parents,” he states.
“Okay, you better… King, you’re out of line. I was raised well by my parents—”
“I know you were. That’s why I know you’re better than this!” he replies, getting more irate than I feel right now. He pulls the truck forward, and as he drives, I can feel his anger in the way he accelerates and brakes harshly like he’s barely holding it together.
What the fuck is he so angry about?
“All I was—” But before I can finish, he cuts me off again.
“I know if your mother was here right now, you wouldn’t be behaving like this. She would be so disappointed—”
“King! Do not bring my mother into this! My mom is not my fucking boss!”
“Don’t cuss at me!” he says a little louder, which makes me flinch a little.
“Why are you so angry, bro? Like, what is your actual deal?”
“Were you not listening to me the last few minutes? What did you do? Throw sand in your ears?” he blazes.
The both of us argue back and forth. I don’t even understand half of what he’s saying because I’m yelling over him too, and I’m a lot louder. The truck cabin deafens all other sound except for us.
When he takes a breath, I finally let myself be heard. “Why do you care so much?! You distance yourself from me! You avoid me!”
“I was trying to concentrate on God! On my spirit and keeping it clean and holy for Him. It’s not like I was never going to talk to you again. I was just fasting from all of it, something that is impossible for you to understand!”
“Then why do you keep trying to explain it to me! If it is so impossible, then why do you keep trying?” I yell back.
“You know exactly what I mean.”
“No, dude, say exactly what you mean. Don’t say something and then claim you mean something else,” I mock.
“Because I know that you can do better!”
“I do just fine,” I cut in.
“Yeah. I’m sure you do, hanging out with people like Seo-Jun and acting like that,” he bites back.
“Seo… what does he have to do with anything?”
“What do you think it means? Who did you come here with tonight?” he narrows his eyes.
“Are you being serious? We work together! It’s none of your business who I came here with!” My voice cracks.
“It’s not my business? You and I work together too, Erica, and as far as I thought, you and I are still friends.”
“Friends don’t ghost each other!”
“I didn’t ghost you,” he replies a little softer.
“Well, that’s literally what you did.”
“No, it… I did answer you that one time when you asked me a question. And if it makes you feel any better, I was doing it with everybody.”
“I bet you weren’t doing it with your church people,” I point out.
“So because I was fasting after what happened at Christmas, that gives you the excuse to go with the survival guide so you can act like that in front of everybody?!”
As I’m speaking again, I flinch as King raises his voice, talking right over me before he can even hear what I have to say.
“How do you think that makes me feel?!” he yells, his eyes looking a little hurt as much as they look upset.
What the hell?
Softening my voice, I lean back in my chair. “What do you mean ‘makes you feel’? What are you, jealous?” I ask.
His voice softens too, just a little. “N-no. I just… I hate seeing you do that to yourself. I hate seeing you debase yourself like—”
As he drives, King is breathing hard like this whole argument is taking it out of him. I’ve never seen him this emotional to this degree.
Is what I did really that bad?