Fireball (Cheap Thrills 1)

It had been Hurst who’d led me to the cell this time, laughing the whole way. Thankfully, good old Jarrod had joined me an hour ago. Right now, I was listening to him sing Falling in Love (is hard on the knees) by none other than Aerosmith.

Flipping fantastic!

This time I was waiting for Dave though when he opened the window in my door and peered through it at me. “Have you decided what your answer is?”

Giving him a sweet smile and tilting my head, I took a step forward so that I was inches away from the space…and left him with a soaked face when the water from the cup in my hand. It was an immature thing to do, but the guy had arrested me after accusing me of theft in front of the whole school. I will repeat those words even with my last breath, hopefully in seventy years, but they would be my last. He deserved what I’d just done and more.

Not saying a word, but making snorting sounds as he cleared his nose, he closed the window and walked away. He should thank his lucky stars, I’d considered spraying it out of my mouth until Alex had dropped the cup through the opening in the door.DBThirty-seven minutes later…

“Thanks,” I muttered sarcastically as Dad threw a towel at me as I walked past him on my way back to Tabby.

I refused to feel guilty for how I’d proposed to her. I’d planned it out carefully, making sure the other teachers, the principal, and even some of the students knew what was going to happen. Had I expected her to say yes? Well, yeah I’d expected her to burst out laughing, maybe even cry, and then say it. I should’ve known we’d end up back here.

Thankfully Ren hadn’t minded me taking Jarrod for half of the day seeing as how they were up to date on the work that needed done in his garage. He’d also been part of the plan, so he loved the extra turn it had taken. In fact, him and his brothers were still sitting there eating popcorn and drinking beer in the break room while they waited for the next thing to happen.

Why had I involved them again? Oh yeah, I hadn’t. Dad had told Hurst, and he’d invited them along.

“Good luck, DB,” they all yelled at my back.

Giving them the bird over my shoulder, I took a deep breath and opened the door, hearing Jarrod singing yet another Aerosmith song, Crazy. Yeah, no shit! Reaching her door, I counted back from five and then opened the window, bracing myself for a face full of water. When nothing happened, I leaned closer and looked inside, not seeing her anywhere.

Where the hell had she gone?

Pulling out my keys and opening the door, I moved quickly into the room and turned around in a circle trying to find her. There wasn’t anywhere for her to hide in here, and I couldn’t see a damn thing apart from the cot, sink and toilet, so where the fuck was she? Moving over to the bed, I squatted down and checked underneath it. That was when I heard the creaking hinges of the door behind me, followed by it slamming shut and the lock engaging.

“See ya in a bit, Sheriff,” Tabby called through it, the sound of her laughter moving down the hallway as she walked toward the door that led out to where the Townsends were waiting.

The Townsends…of fucking course they were involved. The big betraying bastards!Four hours later…

Four hours they had left me in here on my own. And, yes, I was on my own because Raoul had let Jarrod out an hour after I’d been locked in, laughing when he’d wished me luck as he left. It hadn’t seemed so bad when I’d been on the other side of the door and Tabby had been the one in here. Now? Yeah, I wasn’t finding this shit amusing anymore. An hour I could have tolerated, even two at a push. Three I’d have been irritated at, so four? Fucking. Pissed. Off.

Just then, the window in the door opened, and she looked through it at me wearing swimming goggles. Goggles! I wasn’t going to lower myself to her level though – plus I’d been too focused on nursing my snit that it hadn’t occurred to me to use her own tricks against her. Instead, I turned my head away from her to look at the wall.

“Dave?” I wasn’t giving her anything, so I shifted my body further away from her. “You can’t be pissed at me.”

Yes, yes, I could be pissed at her.

“Right,” she drawled. “Anyway, I only came down to ask if you’d changed your mind yet?”

That had spinning around to face her in shock.

“What do you mean?” I asked, wondering if I’d finally pushed her over the edge. I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Hurst. I should’ve just put it in her drink, or asked when we were eating – both of which weren’t what I’d originally had planned either. To be fair, I’d planned on putting her in here if she said no, but I’d been so sure that she’d say yes that it had only been an option, not part of the plan.