He didn’t take the termfriendlightly and he didn’t like the offhanded way she used it. It was very clear that she didn’t know what it meant. She seemed taken aback for a second and he understood why. The comment hadn’t exactly been polite. Barely ten minutes with her and already his asshole side was rearing its ugly head.
“I know.” She looked up at him with light brown eyes that were almost hopeful. “But maybe…we could be.”
Something about the way she said it, that silent plea, made it impossible for him to grab his bags and turn away. It was a peculiar change of events. One minute he was desperate for her to give him a ride and now she was the one who seemed desperate for him to go along. He wanted to say no. For the sake of his sanity, he should say no, but there were other reasons why he felt compelled to go with her. A girl travelling all by herself—she was an easy, unsuspecting target. Judging by how easily he convinced her that he wasn’t a killer, it was likely that she would end up hacked up and buried in the woods somewhere. He didn’t want to have added guilt when he eventually saw her face on the news with the word MISSING flashing below her picture.
I’m gonna regret this, he thought with a heavy sigh. “Okay.”
“Great! This is going to be great, I just know it.”
He hopped into the passenger seat. “I’m Kevin,” he said once she got in too.
“Jasmintha,” she responded, shrugging off her oversized jacket and tossing it into the backseat. She pulled off her knit capnext and it was then that he noticed her hair: thick, pitch black hair twisted into a single braid, so long it probably reached her backside.
The car was like a small furnace, but he said nothing about it as he strapped on his seatbelt. “Jasminda.”
She smiled, looking slightly irritated. “No. Jasmintha.”
“That’s what I said.”
She started the car and slowly backed out of the parking bay. “No, you didn’t.”
He tried again. “Jasminda.”
“No. Jasmintha.”
“That’s what I said!”
“Tha.Tha. With a TH, not with a D.”
This was a lot of tension and they hadn’t even gotten onto the road yet. “Look, it seems like we agree until Jasmin, so that’s what I’m gonna call you. I’m gonna call you Jasmin.”
She glanced over at him as she maneuvered around the gas pumps. “Jasmin? It’s a little flowery. And very girly. A little too girly.”
“I’m not sure if you know this, but you are…a girl.”
“What?!” She slammed the brakes, jerking forward. “I’m a girl?” She ran a hand over her hair, then tapped her hands over chest as if searching for breasts. “It’s okay. False alarm, everyone. I am a girl. I was so confused for a second.”
She glanced at him again, looking very amused with herself, and he just shook his head. She was fucking bat-shit crazy. Now that he was facing her, he noticed something. He unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over into the driver’s seat.
She immediately tensed, shrinking back into her seat, and fast as lightning, her hand shot up holding a small canister. “P-pepper spray.”
It was barely a threat, seeing as though the nozzle was aimed at her and not him. He grabbed it and tossed it into the backseat before she hurt herself.
“I’m a black belt in tae-kwon-do,” she warned.
“I quiver.” He leaned closer, so close he caught her strawberry scent again, so close it was uncomfortable for both of them. “Seatbelt.” Reaching over to grab the strap, he pulled it across her chest and clicked it into place. He sat back and clipped his own seatbelt on again.
“Oh, yeah,” she said sheepishly. “Safety first. For a moment I thought you were coming on to me.”
Like that wouldeverhappen. “Highly unlikely.”
She turned left onto the road and went straight through the first traffic light.
Kevin quickly glanced back. “Hey, aren’t we supposed to be taking the I-90 East?”
“I-90 West.”
He was almost positive Brady said I-90 East. “Are you sure?”
