Corrupt

My breathing turned shallow, and I shot my eyes up, seeing the two trucks spread apart to the outside, driving half on the road and half on the shoulder.

Their headlights shined brighter and brighter, and I breathed hard, seeing them get closer and closer.

And then all of a sudden, I widened my eyes, feeling Michael’s finger graze my stomach, back and forth, nice and slow.

Oh, God.

I couldn’t help it. I arched my back, pressing my ass into him, and staring ahead at the trucks coming at us.

I heard his groan, and then his phone hit my ankle where he dropped it. His hand left my stomach and came up to wrap around the front of my neck, pulling me back to him as his other hand gripped my waist.

“Knock that off,” he whispered in my ear, sounding out of breath. “You’re driving me crazy.”

His hand tightened around my neck, and I dragged my bottom lip in between my teeth, feeling my pulse throb in my neck and hearing it in my ears.

Fuck. I squirmed despite his warning.

The trucks started honking and the lights flashed at us, and I whimpered, fear racing under my skin and my stomach flipping again and again.

“Jesus,” Michael whispered in my ear, slipping his hand under my sweatshirt to my stomach again. “You’re about to come, aren’t you?”

He breathed hard in my ear, and I squeezed my eyes shut, lights flashing, and then my breath caught in my throat and the trucks blew past, horns honking and gusts of wind bursting through the open windows, blowing my hair.

“Fuck yeah!” Will shouted, holding up the same phone from before and recording.

Damon laughed, and Kai slowed the car. Michael released his grip on my neck, everyone spinning their heads around to peer out the back window.

Kai stopped the car in the middle of the road, and I sucked in air, watching in confusion as the trucks both turned inward toward the road, stopping to face each other, grill to grill.

The headlights went dead, and the next thing I knew, one guy was jumping out of each cab and racing for us on foot.

The trucks were left blocking the road and the shoulders, leaving no room for anyone to get through. Ditches lined each shoulder, so driving off-road wasn’t a possibility either unless you had a pretty touch vehicle.

The back doors opened, and two young men rushed inside Michael’s car, laughing and gasping for breath.

“Son of a bitch, that was awesome,” the brown-haired one chuckled, climbing into the back with Damon.

Will slapped him on the back as he went, and then a blond one climbed in, taking my old seat. He pushed his hair back off his forehead and tapped Kai on the shoulder, handing him two sets of keys.

“I set the alarm, so your uncle shouldn’t know the trucks are missing until morning,” he breathed out.

I recognized both of the boys. Simon Ulrich and Brace Salinger, both basketball players at my school.

So that’s what Michael meant by needing the room and making me sit on his lap. We were picking up more people.

I dropped my eyes, narrowing them as I thought about what Brace said. The trucks belonged to Kai’s family. His uncle owned a construction company, and they’d taken the trucks and just planted them in the middle of the road. That was Kai’s prank for the night.

But…

I looked up at Michael, seeing his eyebrows raise in a challenge.

“You’re blocking the road,” I stated, finally figuring it out. “So Fire and Police can’t get back.”

The corners of his mouth lifted. “Are you impressed yet?”

AFTER DROPPING OFF BRACE AND SIMON at a local hangout diner, I moved back to my original seat, seeing no logical reason to stay in Michael’s lap. Even though the last thing I wanted to do was leave him.

Unfortunately, I was more afraid he’d have to ask me to hop off, and then I’d be embarrassed that he was forced to ask.

Michael took over driving again, and we cruised back through his and my neighborhood parking alongside the dark, quiet road about a mile from my house. We sat outside a huge iron gate, and I gazed at the tall stone wall, knowing it was the mayor’s house on the other side.

Thunder Bay was a small community, maybe twenty thousand people, not counting the students who commuted from surrounding areas to attend Thunder Bay Prep. Our mayor had held his position for a long time, and as rarely as things changed in our town, it made sense why.

Damon had left the car over half an hour ago as we all sat there with the engine running and the heat on, and I was trying very hard not to ask questions. Like, why were we waiting here? What was he doing in there? And, if it was something bad, should we just wait here like sitting ducks knowing the police might already be on their way?

Of course, several police officers were held up with the fire we’d distracted them with on the other side of town, but there were still a few left in the area.

“Here he comes.”

Kai peered out Michael’s window, and I followed his gaze, seeing Damon hop from a tree on the other side of the stone wall and immediately drop feet first to the ground.

He pulled on his hood and jogged to the car, opening Will’s side and laughing as he crawled over his friend’s legs and fell into his seat in the back.

His cold sweatshirt brushed my cheek, but instead of the cigarette smoke I usually smelled on him, it was a subtle perfume.

“How was she?” Will asked Damon over his shoulder.

“Tasted better than a Popsicle.”

I twisted up my lips. Really? We’d been waiting on him this whole time so he could get

laid?

Over the years, I’d gauged that the guys definitely loved women, and they didn’t hide it.