“Just tell me what the fuck happened. I've got a pretty good idea, but I wanna hear it from you. Your text sounded happy. How did things turn to hell in ten minutes?”
“He made a move on me, Ty,” she says softly. “I turned him down. I didn't want to date him, and I wasn't interested in the long-term position he offered neither. I said no, and I guess he couldn't take it.”
Christ. The steering wheel blazes like hot iron on my hands. It takes everything I've got not to whip this car around, head to the motherfucker's house, and put him in a body bag.
“Fuck,” I growl. “I knew I should've busted his nose after all.”
Nobody fucks with my girl, and he sure as shit doesn't make a move on her. An image flashes in my mind. I pick that skinny fucker up and snap his spine across my thigh like a junk branch.
But I can't do that. We're in too damned deep. I've done my damage to the little cocksucker in the suit, and now I've gotta figure the rest out for her. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to comprehend us.
Claire scrunches her eyebrows, but I can tell she's suppressing a smile. “Let's just call this done. God, now I need to worry about what I'm going to do with the rest of the summer. And explain to Mom why I've blown my first real job.”
“Don't bother. You don't need to tell anybody shit about today, babe.”
“What? Why? We can sneak into the house tonight and hide it, sure, but it'll come out by morning. She'll ask me why I'm staying home, assuming your asshole dad doesn't notice first.”
“He won't. Neither of them will. They'll have a lot more to worry about when they realize we're not home.”
I stomp the gas harder and we pick up steam. I've fucking had it. Me and this girl aren't gonna sort out shit while we're bogged down in Bellingham, pinned down by the weight of our parent's disappointment. We need to forge our own path, and I'll do anything to find it.
We're just a few more minutes from home. Claire keeps staring in stunned silence, her beautiful eyes flickering like the high summer moon.#p#分页标题#e#
“Ty...I'm afraid to ask what you're talking about. I can't run away with you to Canada or something. You know that?”
I snort. “You bullshitting me? I'm not a big fan of Vancouver myself. Besides, it's summer. I've got somewhere warmer in mind.”
She shakes her head again, but she doesn't protest. I watch her hands move tensely in the darkness as I push the car onward. She doesn't open her mouth 'til we drive right past the gate and keep going down our private drive. There's another gate at the end of the road, but this one has an automatic opener.
I reach up, tap it, and start humming softly to myself.
I can't believe I've let almost June slip by without a cruising the Pacific. The night lamps illuminate the family boathouse like spotlights. Pulling the car to the curb, I hit the lock and order Claire out.
“Let's go. There's already some supplies on board. We can worry about our clothes and shit later.”
“On board what?” She looks at me pointedly, but I'm moving. “Hey, wait up!”
I don't slow down 'til we're inside the boathouse, and I hit the automatic door opener on the way inside. The place lights up like a huge garage and the Stingray wakes to the light. The big white boat can easily handle ten or twenty people. For us, it's a moving palace.
My old man always hired a pro to take the wheel half the time for our outings, but I've learned to steer it myself over the years. Nothing but the best tech and several upgrades means it only takes one man to captain this sucker.
I climb up the stairs leading to the deck and look down at her with a big grin on my face.
“Come on! This thing's not gonna wait all night. We need to get a start if we wanna make some progress toward the Oregon coast by morning.”
She freezes. Her eyes go dark. For a second, I think she's gonna turn tail and run, fleeing back into the safe, fucked up world she knows.
Then she shakes her head, flipping that sugary sweet chestnut hair over her shoulder. She gives a little shrug and takes the stairs after me. I can't help but throw my arms around her once she's on the deck, smashing my lips to hers.
My hands slide down her waist, cup her ass, and squeeze. Her moan joins the thunder gushing from my throat, a voice to the demon need to take her here and now.
“Thought you said you couldn't run away?” I growl, pressing my forehead to hers, giving her one last chance to run.
“Maybe for just a little while,” she whispers. “I trust you. You're the only one I trust anymore.”
Just a little bit longer, I think, eyeballing the massive erection tenting in my pants.
Next time we fuck, it'll be on the open waves. And something tells me we're gonna be doing a lot of that for the next few weeks, 'til we decide to abandon ship or else my old man has the Coast Guard drag us home.