SIX
“No!Stop!Don’thit the—”
I cringed as the car swerved from the driveway and slammed into the birdbath fountain.
“Oh no, I didn’t hit any, did I?” I peered through the windshield at the birds flying away from the impact of the car that had disturbed their vibrant chatter.
“A bird is the last thing you should be worried about.” Liam flung open the car door. He stumbled out onto the lawn and threw himself down onto the grass. “I can’t believe I survived.”
“What the fuck happened?” Sully stormed out of the house and down the steps.
Oh shit. Oh shit.
Of all the mailboxes I’d hit today and the one squirrel I nearly ran over, this was the worst thing I could have done. Plowing into his property and fucking things up.
I pushed the door open and scrambled out of the car. “I can explain.”
“You cracked the birdbath!” He rounded in on Liam. “How the hell could you have let this happen?”
“Me?” Liam stumbled to his feet, one arm wrapped around his stomach, his face slightly green. “I should ask you where the hell did you find that maniac of a driver?” He turned toward me. “Forgive me, Kit. You know I love you to death, and you’re helluva sweet and gorgeous, but—” He rushed toward a bush and puked.
And there went the rest of that compliment.
I winced as Sully leveled his gaze on me.
“It’s his fault!” I pointed at Liam, who was still throwing up. “He’s not a very good teacher.”
Sully frowned hard enough I squirmed under his gaze. “I’m starting to think it’s the student who’s the problem. Were you faking this incompetence too?”
If only. I would have loved having his hands wrapped around my neck again, his body pressing mine into the couch, but the way he’d run out on me after hadn’t been fun. I’d spent the rest of the evening wondering if I’d gone too far. I shouldn’t have ground up against him like that, knowing he was straight, but he made it so hard for me when he was doing things like throwing me down onto a sofa and climbing on top of me. How the hell could he have missed how that would be a huge turn-on for me? I had been on the verge of telling him to fuck me.
“To be fair, this is only the first day. I told you I wasn’t ready to get behind the wheel.”
When Liam had brought me by his place this morning, I thought we’d go through the book, but Sully had insisted being practical was a better way of learning. “So technically, it’s your fault. You should listen more to me, Sully.”
His face turned red. He opened his mouth, and I cringed, bracing myself for a scathing retort about my lack of abilities. His gaze shifted to a point behind me, and his eyes grew wide. And then I heard it. I pivoted, slapping a hand to my mouth as the car rolled back down the driveway, picked up speed, and crashed into the massive double gates.
“Let me take a wild guess,” he said quietly. “You forgot to use the handbrake.”
“He’s a menace on the road, Sullivan.” Liam slowly walked toward the house, still moaning. “There’s no way in hell I’m taking him driving again. Consider him all yours.”
Sully said nothing for a long time. Too long. It was the kind of silence that preceded a well-thought-out murder. I took a step back. And another, just in case.
“I’ll fix it.”
“And how are you going to do that?” he asked calmly. Too calmly for my peace of mind.
“I-I’m not sure, but maybe you know a guy.”
“You think I know a guy?”
I shrugged. “You look like you know several guys.”
His lips flattened, and he narrowed his eyes to slits. “Wouldn’t it be fair to have you pay for the repairs of the birdbath, the gate, and the car out of your upcoming earnings?”
My stomach sank. Shit. I’d been depending on that money. Sully took care of my living arrangements. I didn’t pay rent, groceries, not even clothes, but I had friends I wanted to help get out of Nolan’s employ. That money was supposed to go to a good cause.
“Yes, it’s fair.”