I glare at him in silence. He heard me. Asshole.
His smirk remains firm as I climb into the car, running my hands over the steering wheel once I’m seated. I haven’t driven anywhere in weeks, Tanner has been my personal taxi service, and I can’t help the gentle hum of satisfaction now that I’m in the driver’s seat again.
The passenger side door closes once Tanner is inside, and he makes me jump as he leans across to grab my seatbelt.
“What are you do—”
He cuts me off by slamming his lips against mine in a searingly hot kiss, then he moves away with the click of the seatbelt.
“Safety first.” He winks at me while continuing to face forward. “Just follow the navigation.” He straps himself in and faces forward without another word.
Choosing the non-violent option because it is my birthday, after all, I close my eyes and revel in the rumble of the engine for a moment. The GPS is set up on the dash and it’s showing that we are fifty-six minutes from our location. I can’t see the address or the final destination, only the immediate route, so I guess that’s the way we’re going.
The drive is smooth—of course it is, my Firebird is a dream—and when the navigation system says that we’re five minutes away, in what feels like the middle of nowhere, I decide now is the time to ask questions.
“Why are we here?” I’m not blind, I can read the road signs, and we’re up near Stormville, about to enter a dirt track road leading to I don’t know what.
“It’s your birthday.”
That’s it, he doesn’t elaborate.
“A cake would have been enough. I’m not sure I’m a camping in the woods kinda gal.” Silence… “Faux-leather pants aren’t exactly hiking-wear, either.”
He takes in a deep breath and slowly exhales. “You’ll thank me later when your legs aren’t covered in blood.”
The car screeches to a halt, foot heavy on the brake, and I turn my wide eyes to look at the crazy man in my passenger seat. I manage to resist stroking the wheel to apologize to my car for the mistreatment.
“I want to laugh awkwardly and pretend that’s a joke, but you’re being serious?” I can’t tell whether I’m horrified or intrigued. Only one of those is the correct response.
“Deadly.” The smirk permanently tattooed across his face doesn’t move and he pats the dash. “Get her moving, we’re almost there.”
The completely unwarranted trust I have in Tanner makes me obey, albeit with a side-eye in his direction and a pout on my lips. Intrigue is winning over horror, for now.
The building in front of me when we reach our destination is a woodland home dream. A single-story log cabin surrounded by beautiful decking to match, trees all around, and there’s even a covered area where Tanner directs me to park.
Nothing about my outfit and the location would automatically go together, and his vague explanation hasn’t given anything away, either, but this is the most exciting thing I’ve ever done for my birthday and I’m here for it.
I don’t know why, but when Tanner gets out of the car, I wait for him to open my door for me and help me out like a gentleman. A few minutes pass and instead of feeling all special, I feel like a dickhead. He’s there, at the bottom of the steps leading up to the front door, watching, waiting for me to follow him. Flipping down my visor, I pretend I stayed in the car for a reason by applying some lip balm from my center console before getting out.
The trademark smirk is in place and Tanner raises his brows as I approach. I’m thankful for my new ankle boots because the rough terrain would be hazardous on my usual footwear. They’re probably the only thing I’m wearing that have any relevance to where we are.
“Are you going to just stand there and look pretty or are we doing something here?” I fold my arms across my chest when I reach him and lean against the barrier opposite him.
“I’m not pretty, I’m rugged and mean.” He scowls as if to prove his point before turning and unlocking the door. “Come on, birthday girl. You have a gift waiting.”
I’d call him an asshole, but it doesn’t mean what it used to. Now, there is a kind of sentimentality to the word. He’s an asshole, but he’smyasshole.
Okay, so he isn’t mine, and this whole whirlwind of whatever the fuck is happening will, no doubt, come to an end soon enough. A part of me wishes it wouldn’t, but the educated side of me knows this strange trust I have with Tanner won’t last. It’s tentative, at best, because I can’t forget the hell he contributed to when we were kids.
Metaphorically pulling up my big girl pants, I follow him inside, barely taking anything in as he charges forward and down into a basement. Maybe that trust is running out sooner than I thought because this is clearly where I die. That silly girl who followed one of her bullies into a basement in a secluded cabin in the woods…she happily drove herself there, to her death.
I huff a laugh at where my mind is taking me, a laugh that catches in my throat the moment I see something that both terrifies and excites me. I’m not entirely sure I’m processing anything like a decent human being because the excited side is winning, and it most definitely shouldn’t be.
“What the…?” Words have jumbled in my brain so I let the sentence trail off. Tanner knows what I’m asking.
“Happy birthday, Sweet Bee, you can make it as fast or as slow as you like, but we aren’t leaving here until she’s dead.” Standing in front of me, Tanner blocks my view of Taylor Frey. Head bitch. The bully of bullies from school and college. She was even worse than Tanner, by a whole fuckload.
Tanner’s bullying was hard to take, but compared to the things Taylor did, he was a pussycat.
