Flock (The Ravenhood)

I nod and she laughs. “Lighten up, girl, it’s a party and you have the attention of two of the finest brothers. Come on.”

We’re in the midst of crossing the gravel walk when a rumble sounds at the mouth of the driveway and headlights shroud us in light. Bass rumbles from the sleek black car as my eyes drift to the driver. Dominic’s gaze paralyzes me, making me a literal deer in his headlights. He greets me by the twitch of his lips, his eyes sweeping me.

“Damn, to go back to the beginning again,” Layla sighs wistfully. “I envy you.”

Dominic stays in his car and with another rev of his engine the party disperses. Shortly after, engines fire up in every direction.

“Go with him,” Sean speaks up joining me where I stand. I glance his way, frowning.

“With him?”

He presses a kiss to my temple. “I’ll see you there. And don’t you dare smudge that fucking lipstick. That’s for me.”

I nod as he saunters off and round Dominic’s Camaro. He leans over and pushes open the heavy door. The minute it’s closed, I turn to him.

“He—” my greeting is cut short as we burst out of the parking lot, my laughter filtering out of the car. The hint of a smile unmistakable on his lips as the cars speed out, following us, and Dominic unleashes every bit of horsepower under the hood. Braced with one hand on the dash and the other on the car door, I squeal as we tear down the road.

This only seems to fuel him as he races down the straightaway for a mile or two before he slows considerably, taking turns, tracing every curve of the road.

I turn the radio down and he glances at me. “Are we ever going to have a real conversation?”

One side of his mouth lifts. “We had a good one not too long ago.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Want to start with politics or religion?” He chuckles darkly at my answering scowl before he shifts, pinning me to my seat as we race forward. “Eggs—runny, coffee—black, beer—cold, music—loud, cars,” he floors the gas.

“Fast,” I say through a laugh.

“Woman,” he turns and rolls his mirror colored gaze over me.

Woman, not women. I feel that comment so much I move to grip his hand, and he pulls it away before I reach it.

“I save that for when I can do something about it.”

“And you think that’s affection?”

“Isn’t it?” he takes a turn that has me yelping. That’s exactly what it felt like on the float. Like he’d been waiting for an eternity to touch me.

He’s the opposite of Sean in a lot of ways.

It’s not a fault, but something to look forward to.

“What makes you happy?”

He takes another turn, his forearm flexing when he shifts. “All of the above.”

“Runny eggs and coffee make you happy?”

“What if you woke up tomorrow and there was no coffee?”

I feel my brows pinch together. “That would…be tragic.”

“Next time you drink it, pretend it’s the last time you can have it.”

I roll my eyes. “Great, there’s two of you. Is that some life philosophy? Okay, Plato.”

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than you can in a year of con