“Sera. I’m going to drive you. That’s all there is to it.”
That thumb is causing shivers to erupt along my spine, down to fingers and toes. I don’t want it, I don’t want this reaction, not when I’m not sure of anything.
“I would really, really like to take the metro. Have a good day at daycare, little buddy, but-”
“Matty, cover your ears. Now.”
I swallow whatever little saliva I have left, and shake my head.
“Don’t, it’s okay, Matty-”
Hunter’s nostrils flare, like a dragon about to blow fire. “Block your ears, kid. Now.”
We march into the elevator, a smile on Matty’s face, hands clapped over his ears.
Hunter’s hands go to my shoulders, cupping them, then sliding down to my wrists, down to my good hand, where our fingers entwine. I’m not sure if I want to pull away or not.
“Sera. What the fuck? What happened after I left?” His face is soft, eyes pin-balling all over my face, fingers holding me close. I’m scared; I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared in my life.
I clear my throat, chew on my bottom lip.
“We just kissed, okay? It was just a kiss. No big deal.” Fraking hell, it was a big deal, it was. At least to me.
I stare down at my blue shoes, and Hunt’s badass biker boots. Nerd and badass. Yeah, right.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now? What the hell happened after I left? Who did you talk to? Who twisted everything around? Sera?” He punctuates each word with a twisting of our fingers, making sure we stay locked together.
My throat gets thick. “Nobody twisted anything around,” I shrug, like that should answer everything. “We just kissed, and it was a bad idea. This...whatever this is. For the love of the Winchesters, this chemistry, attraction, what-the-frak-ever – why did Aly come see you the night before? For what reason?”
I can’t believe I kissed that mouth, now set into a straight line, jaw locked and eyes hard. “She came to see me. I haven’t been answering her calls or texts for over two months. Ever since that day I went to the hospital. I’ve told you this already.”
I yank my fingers out of his, twinging a couple of knuckles, ignoring the pain in my bad hand. I’m just a giant mess right now, using the emotional spectrum like a roller coaster and I’m in the front seat, feeling the brunt of every single one.
“I won’t be a sidepiece.” Frak, I knew he would hurt me like this. I knew it, I knew it.
“I didn’t ask you to be one. I want to be with you. I thought I made myself very clear,” he says. The words hit the empty space between us, the bing of the elevator doors opening jarring us both.
“I don’t understand what’s happening.” I shove a hunk of hair behind my ear, adjust my glasses up my nose. “Are we in a relationship? Because we’re not following the traditional steps and all.”
Hunt grins at me. “Fuck. Even when you drive me crazy, you do it all cute-like.” His palm smoothes along one of my cheeks, landing a kiss to my mouth right before he leads us out the doors to his car.
“Can I listen now?” Matty pipes up from thigh-level. He looks between us both, from Hunt to me and back again, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
“Can I? Can I?”
“Sure, kiddo,” Hunt says, ruffling his hair. “Let’s get you to daycare, yeah?”
“Shotgun!” he yells, bolting out into the parking lot to head to Hunt’s car just when screeching rubber echoes about the underground lot. Ohgodohgodohgod. No, no, no. I scan the whole parking lot in a quick sweep, unsure of where the sound is coming from the underground acoustics.
No, no, no.
Stomach knotted, heart in my mouth, I watch as if my legs are stuck in molasses; the signals my brain puts out to my muscles are lazy and sluggish. I won’t have enough time to catch him if the car I’m hearing whips around the corner.
I watch that tuft of hair at the back of Matty’s head bounce in time with each footfall as he runs to Hunt’s car in slow-motion. I watch as he turns around at the sound of burning rubber, and trips on his feet, stumbling to the ground. I watch as the hood of a blue Mustang comes around the corner, gleaming in the fluorescent lighting, too bright. And moving too fast.
I’m going to be too slow.
I’m going to be too slow!
Hunter bolts out of my peripheral vision, sprinting across the lot, boots biting into the pavement with a thudding sound. I can’t breathe, I can’t breathe. A screech of brakes ricochets around the jip-rocked walls, over and over again hitting me from all angles.
Matty’s on the ground, and Hunt’s almost there, God, he’s almost there-