My Wolf’s Bane(16)
I turned my head. “If you don’t get off me right now, I’m going to scream.” My arms thrashed until my palm connected with his chin. He yelped. “I’m not kidding. Let me go.”
“Fine.” He clambered over to his own seat and rubbed his jaw. “But I’m done waiting, Autumn. You’d better start getting your priorities straight.”
“Screw you, Daniel.” I shifted in the seat so my back faced him. The creep didn’t speak another word after he started up the Audi. A few blocks from the school, I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to be in the same city with him, much less the confined space of a car. “Pull over and let me out.”
“What?” He glanced at me briefly.
“I said stop. I can walk the rest of the way.”
“Whatever.” Daniel swerved dangerously and bumped the curb.
“Don’t you dare come near me ever again,” I hissed. Without looking at him, I swung the door open, leaped out and slammed the door shut. His tires screeched behind me.
Still trembling from rage, I texted my mom to tell her I’d been delayed, then sprinted to the school. The run felt good, liberating. Barely winded from the exertion, I climbed into my car and leaned back in the driver’s seat.
What an ass. I shouldn’t have waited so long to dump him.
A knock on my window made me jump and my stomach clenched, thinking it was Daniel. Not out of fear, but revulsion.
Zack motioned for me to roll the window down and I did. A whiff of his woodsy, earthy scent invaded my nose and I stared into piercing green eyes.
“Car not starting again?” He pulled his cell out and looked at the screen.
To check the time, I assumed. Apparently, subtlety wasn’t a quality Zack possessed. If he was short on time, why did he bother stopping at all? “What are you still doing here?” I asked.
“Detention.”
“On your second day at a new school?” I scrunched my nose.
He exhaled and aimed his eyes at the sky. “Tried to break up a fight, then your boyfriend said I started it.”
Daniel rated high on the douche meter, for sure, but that high? “What about the guys who were fighting? They pin it on you too?”
“Yep.” He straightened and folded his arms over his chest.
I made a conscious effort to keep my jaw from dropping. Zack didn’t seem the type of guy to let someone walk all over him that way. Daniel and his creepy friends would fully deserve anything Zack dished out.
He rolled his eyes. “Are you stranded or not?”
I blinked, still stuck on Daniel and his evil deed. “I haven’t tried.”
“Why don’t you try it now?” He lifted one brow.
“Geez, no one’s forcing you to stay. I’m sure you have more interesting things to do.”
“Yeah, like get to work, which I’ll be even later for if you don’t speed things up.” He gave me the hurry up motion with his hand. “Start it.”
I turned the key and the car fired to life right away. My gaze returned to the open window, but Zack was already yards away.
“Zack. Wait.” Leaving the motor running, I scrambled out of my car and chased after him.
He pivoted on his heel and faced me. “What?”
“Did you fix my flat?”
His eyes darted to my tire. “Somebody did.”
“So it wasn’t you?”
“You think I fixed it for you?” Zack gave me a really good are-you-crazy-look.
I lifted my chin. “You didn’t answer the question.”
“Really?” Zack laughed once. “You’re going to make me even later to work for small talk?”
“I just want to know if I should thank you for fixing my tire. You don’t have to be such an ass.”
“You and Daniel act like you’re better than everyone else, but I’m an ass?” He shook his head, his mouth twisting.
The thought of being lumped in with a guy like Daniel made my stomach churn. I opened my mouth to tell him that Daniel and I were so over. “Listen—”
“Spare me your devotion to him, okay?” Zack grimaced. “You guys remind me of this lady when I was a stock boy at Dollars and Deals. She’d come in with her fake blond hair and fake boobs and treat me like her personal slave. Ran me around and never once thanked me.”
“Uhm…” I didn’t get it. My boobs were real and I wasn’t blond. He should’ve been able to figure out by looking at my car that I wasn’t rich either.
“One day, this guy came in and we ended up talking about cars. After a while, he shook my hand and thanked me for my help. All I did was point him to the paper towels.”