But what’s the worst that can happen?
I’ve seen Aftyn angry. His rage is unmatched by anything else I’ve ever seen, though I don’t know him to be violent.
I can take a verbal lashing; hell, I’m used to it by now.
“I already told you what I suspect, Meyer,” she tells him slowly, “and I didn’t want to come back to him being starved to death because I wasn’t around to open the goddamn door.”
“Chicks,” he snarls.
Willa laughs and Aftyn reclines his chair so that it’s against my knees. Almost like he wants to make sure I can’t get away from him, but where exactly can I go?
I’m at the mercy of the two people that know how to love and hate more than anyone else on this planet and I’m caught in the middle of whatever wave comes crashing next in the raging waters of their turmoil.
Ten
Legends and the People that Make Them
Aftyn
Once we’ve spent about three hours trying to get out of Pennsylvania, I’ve decided that I’ve had enough of sitting shotgun for a while. I refused to take over when Wills asked me to because I needed the extra time to think about things and I know that I couldn’t do that if I had to concentrate on the road. However, I think now is as good a time as any to finally swap out.
“Pull over at the next rest stop,” I tell her as I sit up and run a hand back through my hair. The incessant feeling of my phone vibrating in my pocket has been driving me fucking nuts and I know I can use that rage to put the pedal to the metal and cut some fucking time off this already too long drive.
Twenty minutes later, we’re in a rest area with a couple of mom and pop cars parked and empty. I glance at Willa when she cuts the engine, then pull off my seat belt and turn to look at Dexter. He looks gaunt, a little pale, and sweatier than someone should be from just being in a goddamn car.
“You come with me,” I say to him before I turn to look at Willa again. “We’ll be back in little bit.”
“Aftyn—”
“Chill out,” I cut her off with an eye roll. “I promise not to hurt him.”
Before she can shoot anything else out of her pie-hole, I hop out and stretch my arms over my head. When I turn around, I expect to see Dexter outside of the truck too, but he isn’t.
I smirk as I press my nose against the window, then splay the palms of my hands on either side of my face.
He had his chance to come out the nice way, now I think I’ll play a little game to see if he has enough balls to step out or if I have to drag him out.
I chuckle when I can see how rigid he is inside. Willa leans over and smacks the window to get me to move, but I don’t turn my eyes away from Dexter.
I curve one of my fingers and tap at the pane of thick glass. He steals a look in my direction, but quickly turns his face forward again when our eyes meet.
“Come out and play with me, Dex,” I say through the window.
Apparently Willa has had enough of my bullshit, because she uses one of the buttons on her console to lower the window causing me to grunt when the unexpected movement burns the skin on my nose.
I recover quickly because I know she wants to shit all over my mood right now and I refuse to give her that little victory.
I lean into the truck, resting my arms on the windowpane before I reach in and tuck Dexter’s hair behind his ears.
“I’ll let you blow me,” I tell him.
When he turns his eyes toward me again, I bite my lower lip seductively. Granted, I’m not into guys, but a blow job is a blow job regardless of who it comes from and Ms. Frigid in the driver’s seat obviously isn’t feeling frisky these days.
“Um…”
His voice trails off as he darts his eyes toward Wills for help, but I look at her too and she can see the rage building if she tries to interfere right now. She wanted me to play nice? Then she’s going to have to learn to play by my fucking rules.
“You don’t have to get out of the car, Dexter,” she tells him, glaring at me defiantly.
“You know what? She’s right,” I tell him as I reach into my front jacket pocket for my pack of smokes. Once I’ve got one firmly between my teeth and lit, I reach past him and grab the shirt she gave him to help stop the bleeding. I take a few steps to the left and open the gas tank, shoving the fucking rag inside. “You can stay inside and I can blow us all to hell, or you can get out and follow me into the bathroom. Your choice.”
“Are you fucking crazy?” Willa shouts as she frantically pushes open the driver’s side door and leaps out of the truck. When she makes her way around to where I’m standing, I hold up a warning finger, my nostrils flaring, and she knows that she doesn’t have a chance to stand against me right now.
I’m not in the mood for anymore kiddie bullshit. I’m ready to fucking play and get my goddamn rocks off.
“Get back in the truck, princess,” I warn her through grit teeth. “Otherwise you’re going to see a side of me that you won’t be able to fucking handle.”
“It’s okay,” Dexter finally says. I turn in time to see his door opening, followed by him stepping out. He walks over to the shirt and pulls it carefully out of the tank. “I’ll toss this,” he tells Willa as he begins to move his mopey ass up the walkway.
“Don’t be jealous. If he’s not good at this, you get to finish what he’s about to start,” I tell her with a smirk as I take a drag off my smoke.
“Why are you acting like this all of a sudden? This isn’t like you at all,” she says in disbelief.
I drop my cigarette to the gravel and crush it with my sneaker. “Don’t pretend that you know me, Willa. You don’t—no one fucking does. Get your ass in the passenger seat, I’ll pick up the driving when we get back.”
Before she has a chance to say anything else, I run a hand back through my hair, then shove them into my pockets as I take the same path that Dexter just took. I fish my vibrating phone out of my pocket and tap on the new text message that’s been waiting calmly for the past few hours, read it, then scoff and put my phone away.
If anyone is in the bathroom, they’re going to get a free show, and if they try to object.
Well…
Then I guess it’ll be a chance for me to see just how much of bastard I can really be.
Eleven
Culling the Devil
The Agitator
Ever since this began, I’ve wondered if it was the right thing to do. Another life will be ruined at the behest of Lakyn Meyer—but as he says, he’s something that should be experienced at least once.
I guess it’s not so much that I want to ruin the life of a young kid, but rather throw something at Lakyn that he can’t fuck or kill his way out of.
There’s a part of him that’s human—no matter how hard he tries not to be—I know it has to be there.
I do my best to avoid him at all costs, though sometimes he crosses my thoughts in more ways than one, and I find myself wondering if he’s been coping with life okay.