Chapter Fiftee #2
My gaze drifted to the male who probably knew too much. He was sitting with his wife, but he did keep looking in our direction, raising his eyebrows in question when our gaze met.
Clearing my throat, I cast my eyes down. He was clearly concerned after my confession earlier, which was actually quite nice. Too many men were out for themselves, it felt good to have a stranger care.
“Be careful.” Moth looked over his shoulder to where the man sat. “He probably wants to fuck you.”
Spluttering, I reached for his knee and squeezed it. “Don't be stupid, he's got a beautiful wife.”
“Trust me,” he said, taking a swig of his beer, “that wouldn't stop him. And if he dared to go near you…”
His sentence trailed off and I leaned closer. “What? What would you do? And why do you care?”
“I don't.” His snapped response was accompanied by the shrug of his broad shoulders. “I just don't agree with cheaters, that's all.”
My whole mood deflated, even if I did agree with him. The faster we got our business completed, the better it would be for my emotional health.
“You wanted to talk about Brandon.” I turned towards the bar and drank from the coffee cup, trying to hide my ick when the cool liquid hit my tongue.
Moth placed his hand near mine and drummed his fingers on the wooden surface. “The guys have agreed to help, on one condition.”
“What?” I didn't even look in his direction, too scared to see what was in his eyes.
He took a moment to reply, but when he did, the amused tone drew my attention to his face.
“They want to speak to you again.” He sighed heavily. “At our home. I don't know why or what they'll do.”
Why would they want to speak to me? Would I be safe? Or would they take me down, despite Moth's assurance that I would be protected?
“Do they want to kill me?”
He scoffed, only sobering when he looked into my eyes. “Oh wait, you're serious? Your paranoia will get you one day, you need to be careful.”
“Says the asshole who threatened to kill me when I was thirteen.” I resisted the urge to punch him as heat burned my skin.
He had been the one to start my spiral, albeit fueled by my own actions.
“And then threatened me once again, years later. Oh, and after my stalker had been tormenting me for two years.”
Checking around, Moth placed a hand on my arm. “Don’t speak too loud, someone might hear us.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “And you say I’m paranoid?
We’re similar, you and I,” I said, holding up both forefingers when he went to protest. “Don’t deny it.
We’re both fucked up and that’s why we can’t help but fuck one another.
You’re right though…” Standing, I swung my jacket on.
“…we need to part ways as soon as this is done.”
Storming from the bar, I inhaled the fresh air as soon as I was out the door. No matter where I was with Moth, my emotions became confused and my head cloudy.
“What was that about?” Moth barked, coming through the door behind me. “I thought we were having a discussion about our plan.”
Spinning, I held my arms out to the sides. “Is this how you live? Spending your days planning someone’s demise? Ticking people off a list and then just moving onto the next? I just don’t understand how you can live like that.”
Moth grabbed my upper arms and maneuvered me into a side alley. I tried to resist, pushing against him. I knew what happened when we got like this, and tonight, I really didn’t want it to escalate to fucking.
“I mean it!” I shoved him off me. “I want to know. If you can give me a reasonable explanation, I’ll leave you alone as soon as we’re done here.”
Huffing, he paced down into the alley and back again. “You drive me insane, do you know that?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him, not prepared to be waylaid this time. The light from a nearby streetlamp illuminated his chiseled jaw but obscured his eyes in shadow. I didn’t bother to reply to his statement. We both knew where it could lead.
“Fine.” He spat the word as if it tasted like spoiled milk. “You want the truth of why I don’t give a shit about anyone who hurt me?”
Coming close, he looked down at me. My spine hit the cold wall behind me, but I kept still, not moving or bending under his intimidation. “Yes, I want to know.”
When he realized that his intimidation wasn’t working, he ran a hand over his hair and huffed. “Not here. Let’s go somewhere in your car.”
“Where?” I wasn’t about to be distracted again.
“To the bridge. I think clearer there.”
He was gone, striding out of the alley and across the road, to where my car was parked.
I’d braved the bar again, since Brandon wouldn’t think to check for me here.
I hadn’t been at the place for a few weeks, and rarely went anyway, so I hadn’t seen much of a risk.
Especially since the cops were meant to have warned him off again.
Following Moth across the street, I unlocked the car and jumped in the driver’s side. He climbed in beside me, his leathers creaking when he put his seatbelt on. I stifled a smile when I glanced sideways at the huge man, stuffed into the front seat of my small car.
“You’re not used to being in a car, are you?” I asked, starting the engine.
“Wait.” He put a hand on my arm. “You’re too drunk to drive. Let me.”
Huffing, I paused, looking down the street. He was right, my head was still swimming a little. It wasn’t safe for me to drive. I climbed out of the car when he opened the driver’s door, going round to the passenger’s side and sinking into the seat.
Moth started the engine and we sat in silence as he pulled away from the curb.
He didn’t need directions to the bridge, he knew it too well.
It wasn’t that far from the bar, and although it felt like we’d been involved in this weird reunion for years, it hadn’t been that long ago that I’d stopped him from jumping over.
“I prefer the bike,” he muttered, “There’s more space around me.”
The smile could no longer be forced to stay away. My lips stretched as I glanced at him, trying not to laugh. He rolled his eyes and stared straight ahead.
“Don’t get cocky just because we’re in your car.” He rested his hand on his knee. “Or I’ll walk back to my bike after throwing you off the bridge.”
He shifted his body uncomfortably. I hadn’t invested in a big car when I’d passed my driver’s test, there’d been no need. It was just little old me. The truck had been borrowed from my father for the convention, but in general, I drove my little car.
It was my turn to roll my eyes as I checked the side mirror automatically. “Yeah, well…”
My sentence trailed off when headlights appeared behind us. It wasn’t unusual for a car to drive along the road, that’s what the fuck they were for. However, I recognized the dark blue shape of Brandon’s car.
“I think Brandon’s behind us,” I murmured, wringing my hands in my lap.
Wrenching the rearview mirror, Moth exclaimed. “Yeah, that’s him.”
“Put your foot down!” I said, “He’s dangerous on the road.”
My heartbeat increased as he pressed his foot on the accelerator and almost drove straight into a parked car. Swerving, he swore and I panicked as he narrowly avoided a lamp post.
“Jeez,” I exclaimed, “try not to kill us in the process.”
“I'm better on a motorbike,” he growled, “This thing is a racing cart. You want to take over?”
Holding onto the handle above my window, I glanced in the passenger’s mirror. “He’s gaining on us.”
“Let’s have a little race.”
He squeezed the steering wheel and pressed the accelerator even harder.
I closed my eyes as we sped out of the street, unable to watch until Moth grunted.
Checking the mirror again, I hugged myself as the houses fell away and the trees grew thicker, dark and shadowy in the illumination of the car’s headlights.
“What are we going to do?” I squeaked.
“You are going to trust me.” Moth’s hand landed on my knee.
Taking a deep breath, I pursed my lips and decided that I had to trust him. He was an experienced biker, he could navigate the windy roads out of the city.
Moth’s boy racer kicked in and he threw the car around a corner, turning left to go into the thicker part of the forest. Brandon was clearly disorientated by our sudden change of direction, falling back slightly.
As his lights grew weaker, I smiled and we pushed on, trying to get some distance between us.
“I’m turning the lights off.” Moth flicked the switch and the road ahead grew dark.
I screamed as the inky blackness enveloped us and the car veered towards the trees. “What are you doing?”
“I’m finding a gap in the trees.”
“You’re crazy!”
He leaned forward, squinting. “His lights are far away enough not to illuminate the car but they won’t be for long.”
Pulling up, he reversed the car onto the grass verge. I gritted my teeth as we bumped nearer to the trees.
“Try to hide in the bushes.” I stretched to look over my shoulder.
Moth drove as far as he could go, just about tucking the vehicle in the gap. As soon as we were stationary, Moth cut the engine.
“This is suicide!”
Huh, my choice of words was ironic considering we were fairly near the infamous bridge.
Moth leaned forward, watching as the headlights of Brandon’s car approached. I held my breath, hoping he would pass without issue.
The roar of my car engine echoed in my ears suddenly, the tires skidding on the forest floor as Moth forced down the accelerator.
“Brace!” he shouted.
I screamed, holding the dashboard as we drove straight for Brandon. Metal screeched on metal as we crashed into the rear left side, spinning his car. I jerked as we jolted to a stop and Moth unclipped his seat beat, looking over at me with a frown.
“You okay?”
When I nodded, he tugged on the door handle. “Good. Then stay here.”
He was gone before I could protest, shooting out of the car and slamming the door behind him. I unclipped myself and jumped out of the car, rubbing my neck where the seat belt had restrained me.