“Both," he said.
“That’s not fair.” In most cases, the idea of him punishing me for mischief made me happy. But I couldn’t control my family. Sniffling hard, I pointed at his chest. “You shouldn’t punish me for somethingtheydid. I like our relationship. I’m trying to protect it. I’ve always gotten them away from us, even at the cost of my job performance. Everybody’s mad at me and…and…” My job was to makehappymemories.
Oh, sugarcane, the tears were welling up. I didn’t want to regress. But after the day I’d had, I wasn’t sure how much more I could keep inside. I couldn’t have a full-on breakdown in front of Harvey and give himanotherreason to go running besides my family. I kicked a mound of snow in frustration, accidentally catching Harvey’s pants with some side spray. “Ah, sorry.”
He brushed his leg off. “What the hell, Shelby?”
I couldn’t verbalize what was in my head–my heart was too loud for that. My chest was tight and my eyes stung. Didn’t he say it was okay to be myself around him? Sinking into my instincts, I spread my stance and curled my hands into fists. “You’re being a meanie.”
His eyes flashed as he took a step back. “What? How?”
“You…you said I’d get in trouble over stuff someone else did.”
“No, I didn’t. I said there’d be consequences.” He glanced down the aisle, which, thankfully, had nobody else around, and tugged his hat down further.
“S-same difference.” I rubbed my eyes, fighting the urge to whimper. Him, Hoynes, and my family, they all wanted different things from me. They thought I was failing. I was going to lose my job and my boyfriend, two things I really loved. Hot tears slipped down my cheeks, so I ran to the other side of the car and crouched, wiping my face. Harvey shouldn’t see me crying.
He started to follow me. “What are you doing?”
“Hiding.” I pulled up my fluffy hood as a shield.
Harvey stepped onto his tailpipe and peered at me over the hood of his car. “You don’t want to talk?”
I played with the icicles hanging by his tires. “I can't. You’re just going to yell at me.” Or break up with me. I squeezed my eyes shut and curled into a ball.
“No yelling. We need to talk, Shelby.”
Oh, no. He was definitely going to break up with me.
He unlocked the doors. “Get in the car.”
I huffed and turned away. “No, I don’t wanna.”
“Are you…?" He snorted. "I recognize that tone, Shelby.” He hopped down, then got into the driver’s seat, the engine rumbling to life a second later.
I stood up and rubbed my hot face. Was he going to leave me like this?
He rolled the passenger’s side window about halfway down and held up his fingers. “I’m giving you three seconds to get in with me. One… Two…”
I yanked open the back seat and flung myself inside. My heart raced, heat flooding my limbs. I grinned and spread my limbs out, victorious. “I did it. I got in.”
“You were supposed to sit by me. You purposely disobeyed me.” Harvey peeled his jacket off, his eyes glinting. “Now, you’ll get a punishment.”
30
Brats Get Swats
The driver’s door slammed shut as Harvey ripped open the back one to join me. He stood there for a second, a strong figure against the cold wind. I shivered, my thighs quivering. How did he manage to be so hot and intimidating?
I slipped out of my jacket and propped one leg up. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh yes I would, troublemaker.” He clambered in and shut the door behind him.
Nothing was locked, not that I’d try escaping. In fact, I was bouncing in my seat.
Harvey’s hand wandered up my thigh, my skin simmering under peppermint-striped leggings. “You told me to give you rules and boundaries…and punish you when you broke them. You were being naughty.”
I spread my other leg across his lap. “What are you going to do to me?”
