My car looked like a heap of trash sitting in the front of her house and part of me wanted to ram my big rust bucket into that expensive-ass Jag.

She turned toward me and the side of her mouth tilted into a tiny half smile.

“Thanks for the ride. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Maybe.” I didn’t smile back.

She continued to sit there like she was waiting for something.

“Are you waiting for a goodnight kiss, snowflake? Because you’re not going to get one.” I leaned over her and popped open the door.

Her scent invaded my senses and I felt her warm breath against the side of my face as I leaned across her. For a brief moment, I contemplated a tiny kiss. Mostly because I hadn’t kissed a girl since I was fourteen—kissing was too personal—but also because her lips looked so sweet and juicy that they made me wonder what it would feel like to kiss her.

She cut her eyes at me and sighed and then she jumped out of my car like it was on fire while she muttered something that sounded like “asshole.” I laughed as she slammed my door and turned toward her house. I waited for a few seconds and then sped off. The quicker I got back to my stomping grounds, the better.

Eight

Patience

I cursed Megan’s car the entire ride to my house. Go figure her alternator would go out the minute I needed her to get me. And go figure I’d get stuck riding with someone who very obviously despised me for some unknown reason.

I suffered through another uncomfortable ride as I called out directions. When he pulled up to my house, the first thing I noticed was my dad standing in his office window, looking down at me. I knew in that moment I was going to have a bad night and I contemplated having him drive off and drop me off at Megan’s house. Had it not been for the fact that my baby sister was stuck in that house, I would have.

I looked over at him and attempted to smile through my fear. His eyes looked even darker in the night. His piercings kept catching the light and drawing my attention to his mouth and eyes. I thought of a way to kill time. I never thought I’d ever feel this way, but the last thing I wanted to do was get out of Zeke’s old, ragged-out car. He wasn’t safe, but he was safer than what waited for me inside that huge house full of lies and death.

“Thanks for the ride. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.

I was hoping he would say something about the Boy’s Club or his community service. I was hoping he’d say anything to start some kind of conversation. I’d even settle for a sarcastic asshole response. Instead, he barely responded.

“Maybe,” he said with a straight face.

He wanted me to get out of his car. I could tell he wanted to be rid of me and out of this fancy smancy neighborhood. I couldn’t blame him. I wanted the same thing.

“Are you waiting for a goodnight kiss, snowflake? Because you’re not going to get one,” he said.

He leaned into my lap and my entire body tensed up. I thought for sure he was about to do something crazy, but instead, he popped open my door and leaned back. His warm breath caught the side of my cheek on his way up. It was minty, which was surprising to me. I expected him to smell like weed or something equally appalling.

I knew my time was up and I had to face the music. My dad had seen me pull up in Zeke’s hunk of junk and he would know the car didn’t belong to anyone he was okay with me spending time with. A swarm of irrational anger rang through me and I jumped out of the car. Why couldn’t he just be social for once? I just needed a reason to not go inside. Was that too much to ask?

“Asshole,” I muttered as I slammed his door.

I heard his laughter as he drove away.

Once inside, I was met with Sydney who was making herself a bowl of ice cream in the kitchen.

“Hey, you. How was practice?” she asked around a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream.

“Good. We have a game Saturday against Fort Dorchester. I’m going to go get a shower. I’ll come tuck you in, okay?” I called out as I made my way to the stairs.

The quicker I got my shower, the quicker I could go see my mom and the quicker I could go to bed.

I stood under the steaming water and let the heat take the tension out of my tight muscles. I’m not sure how long I stood that way until finally my skin started to feel numb. After I dried off, I cleared the foggy mirror and checked my bruise. It was looking much better, but I was sure Zeke knew how I’d gotten it. It was strange that someone who knew nothing about me knew more about the inner workings of my home life than my best friend. I guess it was a good thing Zeke was so uninvolved with other people. Otherwise, he might be tempted to tell everyone the governor was an abusive asshole.