“’Kay then. Love you. Bye-bye.”
“Don’t you—” She'd hung up! That little—I hit redial. “You hung up on me?”
She groaned. “Why in the hell are you calling me at this hour, woman?”
“Because…” I drew it out, my heart beating a mile a minute as I traversed the streets uneasily. I glanced down at my phone on speaker on the passenger seat cushion, and the car swerved.
Shit! I swung it back sharply. So, I had my license, but I probably shouldn’t honestly. I likely wouldn’t crash—providing I kept my eyes on the road. I drove like Miss Daisy rode shotgun.
“I’m driving to your place. I’ll be out front in about five minutes.” My eyes shifted to the speedometer. “Uh, make that ten. Maybe fifteen.”
“You’re speaking gibberish to me. It’s way too late, or early, for this crazy behaviour. Wait, you’re driving?”
Now I had her attention.
“Yep,” I proclaimed proudly, as a squirrel overtook me. Oh well. She didn’t need to know that. I applied a tiny bit more pressure to the gas. The squirrel jerked, then disappeared into the tree line. Well, that’s what you get for being a damned show off.
“Riley!!” Liss screeched for my attention, not for the first time by the sounds of it.
“Yes?” I asked, innocently.
“Why are you driving? More importantly, why are you driving here? And why am I being woken up at the ass crack of dawn?”
“Oh, calm down. It’s only one a.m., Grandma, and I’m coming to pick you up because we have a party to go to.”
Silence. Rustling. More silence. “Did you snap? Did you go crazy? Lose your marbles? That it?”
“Nope. Now, get up and get dressed. I’m getting the hang of this thing. I might be there in seven.”
“Seriously, I was sleeping like three minutes ago. Snoring, drool, dreams, the works. I can’t go to a party, you freakin’ lunatic. I look like an extra from The Walking Dead! Why would I go to a party?”
When I thought about why, my heart sank a little. Yeah, I had a newfound determination. And yes, I knew what I wanted now, that it was worth fighting through my fear, and the defenses Reno had erected. That didn’t mean the thought of what I might find there, what I might walk into, didn’t terrify me. But he was mine, and I would damn well convince him I wasn’t going anywhere.
“It’s in Richmond East,” I told Liss quietly, my voice heavy and sober, “with some fight scene crowd. Reno’s there. With a girl.”
She went quiet for a few drawn out seconds. “Give me five minutes.”
A breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding eased out of me. My lips formed a flat line of relief.
“You’ve got six,” I
said, and hung up. Then looked at the speedometer and grimaced. “... teen.”
I ignored the look of trepidation Liss wore as she lowered herself into the seat and secured the belt snugly around her waist. Neither of us said anything for the first few minutes as I drove the short distance out of town, my mind preoccupied with getting us to our destination without incident. When my eyes flickered briefly to Liss, it didn’t surprise me to see she harbored similar concerns. It would have been hard not to notice her white-knuckled grip on the handle, or the stiff way she held her frame, like her very life was in jeopardy.
Side eyeing her, I muttered, “You know, you could probably run faster than I’m driving. Plus, the roads are empty, like-wide-open-haven’t-seen-another-vehicle-the-entire-time-I’ve-been-driving empty. So, why the hell are you acting as if you’re about to croak?”
Without glancing my way, thumb nail wedged firmly between her front teeth, she said, “Trees, lots of trees. And street lamps. You could easily wrap this bad boy around one of those. Oh, and just FYI, we drive on the right side of the road in America. You know, in case you decided you might want to actually pick one lane and stick with it at any point during this delightful middle of the night road trip.”
Shooting a sharp glance in her direction, I grumbled, “I have remained within my lane at all times, thank you.”
She turned her head a fraction and arched a brow. Seeing an opportunity, I quickly twisted my face in horror and screeched, “Oh my God!” while swinging the car sharply to the left.
Liss’ face morphed into an expression of terror as she screamed, head swivelling back to front so quickly I worried she’d give herself whiplash. Righting the car smoothly, I looked through the window, a satisfied smirk playing over my lips.
Panting, one hand clutching her neck as if searching for a string of pearls, the other pushing into her chest like she was trying to force her heart back behind her rib cage, she turned on me. “You evil... I almost died there. I hope you know that!”
Head pivoting to look at her, I hitched a shoulder, my face a picture of innocence. “Sorry, thought I saw a squirrel.”