CHAPTER THIRTEEN #2
Ralph covered his speaker as he called something to his parents and climbed into his car. “Great! Dinner at Willa’s. Kole, you want me to swing around and pick you up?”
“Fuck! Yes, please. FOMO is a real thing. Don’t leave me here.”
I swiped a hand across my face. “Okay, my apologies if I’m interrupting you guys making plans at my house, but I need to end the call so I can drive.”
“No, don’t hang up, Wordsmith,” Kolton argued. “Just leave it open.”
“But I’ll lose service when I get moving. The signal is sketchy in the woods. If that happens, do you intend to assume a grenade took me out and call in the National Guard?”
“Fuck, fair point.” Kolton smirked. “Only if we see flames before the call drops.”
I groaned.
“We’ll behave,” Ralph assured me with a tongue-in-cheek grin. “Do what Kolton says. Keep us on the line, lamb, just for peace of mind. Okay?”
“Okay.” I pocketed them, glanced around one more time as I donned my helmet and gloves, then climbed on.
“Wait!” Hunter barked, his voice barely audible through the helmet and from inside my zippered coat pocket. “Check under the four-wheeler for fluids.”
Goosebumps rose along my arms. He didn’t need to explain why. For as long as I lived, I’d never forget peering under the Jeep and seeing the innocuous clear puddles of brake fluid that would have killed me if I’d driven off.
Like Ben.
Shucking the gloves, I pulled the phone from my pocket. Three serious faces reappeared. “Can I use the flashlight with the video on?”
“With this app, yes, unless something’s changed,” Kolton answered. He must use it more than the others.
I held my breath, kneeling on my hands and knees. The four-wheeler was a modest size. It didn’t need to be uber gigantic and powerful to cart me around, so it sat low to the ground. I leaned farther down until the leaves brushed my cheek.
The light cast the underside, dusty and in need of a good wash, in stark contrast. Shadows danced and jumped with every tilted angle of the flashlight.
Apart from the fine layer of dust, the beam didn’t light up any shiny liquids.
The drivetrain was dry. After a few more seconds of searching, my breath escaped in a relieved sigh. “All good, there’s nothing here.”
Thank God.
“Okay, now get your ass home.” Kolton glanced away. “That’s my ride. We’ll meet you there. Don’t fucking forget to leave the call open.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Ralph and Hunter laughed, while Kolton scowled.
I pocketed them, started the engine, and peeled off, breezing down the trail. The rest of my unease melted away. This was my happy place. Dad and I replaced the suspension on the ATV this summer, but I still rose to my knees to help absorb the shock.
Halfway there, I chocked the brakes, nearly going over the handlebars. We’d replaced those as well, and sometimes their touchiness slipped my mind, like now, when Hunter’s massive form blocked the middle of the next turn. With the weak, sickly yellow incandescent lights, he’d appeared from nowhere.
Only my breath escaped as my body struggled to regulate from “Oh my god, oh my god, I’m going to die” to “I’m good, but I need new friends.
” I slumped over, the helmet making a plastic thunk, and my hands shook harder than my heart.
If I tried to speak, my voice would resemble a worn-out squeak toy that needed to be donated, so I stayed quiet and focused on slowing my breath.
When I sat up, Hunter stood next to me, smirking in the headlights.
“I don’t like you very much right now.”
He grinned at that, a crooked smile that softened the hardness of his jawline. “I can see that. Sorry, I decided to meet you. You can end the call. I’m here. Kolton and Ralph will be here in twenty. Mind if I catch a ride?”
Nerves settled in for an entirely different reason. “What? I mean, no problem. Let me scoot back. You can drive.”
“You can too. It’s your quad.”
“But—”
“I’d feel better at your back,” he insisted.
Well, then. “Okay. Wait, what’d you tell my dad?”
“That you fell from the tree house, and I wanted to check on you.”
So the truth. Huh, how novel.
Hunter shook his head, approaching from the left.
Just like the first time I’d rode in front of them, adrenaline mixed with nerves into a potent combination that left me trembling in the seat. With luck, Hunter would assume it was the rumble of the motor.
He climbed on. If we were driving farther, I’d worry about our combined weight. Just a minute from the house, she’d handle us just fine.
My girl was reliable.
Hunter was a massive person, taller than anyone else in the entire school. His size didn’t trip me up as much these days since I’d gotten to know him, but when he wrapped his tree trunk arms around my waist and folded, folded around me to hang on, I felt both small and protected.
It also made driving odd. Not only could I not tune out his presence, but his arms kept me tethered to the seat, restricting my mobility. I had to drive slower around turns, pay attention to bumps, and let off on abrupt hills. Our bodies shifted together over every rut and dip.
If I weren’t concentrating so much on the differences in how the ATV handled under a bigger load, I’d have been a mess.
Thankfully, the house appeared in the middle of the clearing, lit from within in a warm welcome. I navigated us to the garage, the motor sounding louder as it echoed off the enclosed space shortly before I killed it.
My mind ran a million miles a minute, so it was probably just my keyed up nerves that told me Hunter lingered a beat too long before he unwrapped his arms from me.
Yeah, that was it.
Right?