I blink the memories away as Emery whispers, “I don’t know what I want anymore.”
“Then you’d better kill us,” I snarl. “Because if we survive… You’re going to wish you’d ended it in the car.”
“Promises, promises,” she tuts. We’re doing over one-fifty now. Perhaps twenty seconds until impact. “Unfortunately, you’ve helped me realize how little I can trust men. I just don’t believe you, Adrik.”
“Emery, stop the motherfucking car, now.”
She ignores me. “Any final words? Any sins you want to get off your chest before the end?”
Even if I were the type of man to have regrets, there’s no time for them now. The last opportunity to turn away is hurtling towards us.
For one fleeting second, I truly think she's not going to stop. That this is how it ends for me. In a way, it would be a fitting irony.
And then, at the very final moment, she slams on the brakes.
The whole car screams in protest. We slow, wobble, the weight shifting from side to side and front to back as Emery’s loose control of the wheel has us fishtailing in every direction.
I reach over to grab the wheel and wrench it hard so our momentum carries us into the drift. Through the window, the trees loom closer and closer. Silent watchers.
It takes every bit of space we had left to make it.
But, finally, the car comes to a stop.
She lets out a long breath, but before her lungs are empty, I wrench the key out of the ignition and grab her by the hair.
Emery screams. “Let go of me! What are you—”
I open my door and step out as I drag her across the center console and into the passenger seat. “Sit the fuck down and, for the love of God, shut up.”
“Adrik, I—”
“Fucked up,” I finish for her. “You fucked up, Emery.”
“It was a joke.” She blinks up at me and I can’t tell if she means it or not. If she’s truly that stupid, that careless, that blind.
“I’m not laughing,” I growl.
I slam her car door closed and storm around to the driver’s seat. Emery is sitting with her arms crossed. She’s made herself small, pulling all her limbs in tightly, as if she can disappear. As if she can hide from me.
But there’s nowhere to hide now.
“Put your seatbelt on.”
“Like you care,” she grumbles.
I don’t have time for this shit. I lunge across the cabin, yank the belt across her chest, and click it in place.
“Unlike you, I do know what I want. And I don’t want you to get hurt in a fucking car accident,” I snarl. “I want to hurt you myself.”