He left the car idling, put it in Park, and everyone sat there for a moment, the music droning on a low volume. I swallowed through the dryness in my throat.
He wasn’t explaining why he’d stopped, and she didn’t ask. As if they already had a plan and knew what was about to happen.
Astrid turned toward me on my right, her voice low. “You’re really pretty,” she said.
Something about her tone was…intimate. My mouth was so dry.
“Thank you,” I replied, but it came out as a whisper.
I could feel his eyes on me, too.
“We see you around school,” she said. “You seem scared to live it up sometimes. As if you don’t belong.”
I fisted the hem of my skirt. “It’s complicated,” I told her.
I just wanted to go home.
“We like to have fun,” Miles chimed in. “We live it up.”
And then Astrid’s whisper brushed my ear, “And we want to take you with us.”
I lost my breath and jerked away.
But she didn’t stop. “We’ll show you so much fun,” she taunted. And then she flicked my ear with her tongue and trailed her fingers up the inside of my thigh.
Oh, God.
I slapped her away, gritting out, “Get away from me!”
“You’ll like us,” Miles told me in a hard voice as he gripped the back of my neck and forced me to face him. “Once you try us.”
“No!” And I slapped at him, hitting him right in the face.
Asshole.
He jostled me, angry. “You little b—”
But he stopped, something seeming to catch his attention.
“Did you hear that?” he asked.
“What?” Astrid inquired.
I tried to push away from him, thankful he was distracted by something. I hoped
it was a cop or people or anyone I could get out of this car and run to.
And then I heard it, too. Howls.
Yelps and barks. Hoots and yells.
“What is that?” Miles said more to himself.
Did we have wolves in our area? I didn’t think so, but I would rather take my chances with wild animals than these two.
The sounds disappeared, and Miles and Astrid barely breathed as they remained completely still and listened for a few more moments.
The branches of the trees whined in the wind above us, and I thought I heard leaves shuffling around the car, but I couldn’t be certain with the music still on.