Deity (Boys of Winter 4)

I shake my head. “No, I want to be in the driver’s seat when Carver and Cruz come out to see what took so long. At least this way I can run them over before they figure it out and make us pay for it.”

“Babe,” King laughs, spreading out on the backseat, his arms hooked over both headrests and his knees wide, more than satisfied to even pretend to care about showing a little class. “We’ve been gone for nearly three hours, trust me, they don’t need to see your thoroughly fucked face and sex hair to know what went down in here. They already know and I can promise that Cruz has been pacing the front steps for at least an hour, thinking of all the ways he can punish you.”

Grayson laughs. “Fuck, that dude gets jealous over the funniest things. It’s so fucking easy to get under his skin.”

“Hey,” I snap at them both. “Leave him alone. He can’t help it that he still has a shred of humanity left, unlike you dark fuckers. You two wouldn’t even be able to find your hearts inside those big ass bodies.”

“Good point,” Grayson mutters darkly.

I get the car started, dreaming about the way Carver’s going to stare at me as I creep onto my long driveway. His eyes will narrow and despite the boys being a bad influence in this particular scenario, he’ll look at me as though I had planned it all along. Then I’ll hit the gas and it’ll turn into a game of chicken with me inevitably being the loser. I don't know why I even bother at this point. He wins every time without fail, but if I stick with it, eventually I’m going to beat his ass.

The Escalade rumbles to life beneath me, the soft hum below my seat making my ass clench as I try to pull up just a bit, needing to avoid any kind of vibrations against it. Grayson isn’t the kind to leave a girl needing more, and damn it, today isn’t any different. He pushed me to my limits and despite how fucking delicious it was, I don’t want to sit down for a week. You know, after this of course.

I ease on to the gas and just as before, I quickly get back into it, my heart racing with fear as I creep toward the exit of the parking lot and force myself to have to face traffic. Those first few seconds will be terrifying but once I get into it, I’m sure I’ll be fine.

I get out onto the main road without killing anyone and within just a few moments, I’m keeping up with the traffic and sailing back toward Ravenwood Heights. My chair is pulled up as close to the steering wheel as possible and I look like an old granny, my eyes wide as I try to concentrate on absolutely everything coming my way.

I take a right-hand turn, trying to take as many backstreets as possible to avoid having to deal with too much traffic. The boys encourage me, offering little bits of advice here and there, and after a few minutes, I think I’ve really got the hang of it.

We approach an intersection and just as I finally feel myself starting to relax, Grayson’s body hardens beside me. He leans forward and studies the side mirror. “Turn left back onto the main road,” he tells me, nodding up ahead.

I change lanes and pull up to a stop at the light. “What is it?” I ask as King discreetly looks at the car pulling up behind us at the light.

“Don’t know yet,” Grayson says, eyeing the black SUV. “Could be something, could be nothing.”

I watch it through the mirror, cursing the tinted windows as I come up blank, not even a brief outline. There are no distinguishing features on the SUV, but it's a different style than the fleet Paris hired to chase us through the streets before we made it to King’s cabin.

This isn’t her, she’s still licking her wounds from the ginormous hole I left in her shoulder, though that doesn’t mean that it’s not Ember, and after I knocked her out cold, I’m sure she has a score that she wants to settle.

I clench my jaw, hating the fear of not knowing. I love to be prepared, and right now, we’re at a loss. The light turns green and I sneak forward, my nerves getting the better of me as I turn the corner. I peer up into the rearview mirror and watch as the SUV follows us around. “Alright, change lanes,” Grayson says.

I do as I’m told and sure enough, the SUV copies our movements. Coincidence? It could be, but where my life is concerned, the probability of someone casually wanting to change lanes is a lot lower than the possibility of someone wanting to slaughter me, so yeah, I’m not about to take any risks.