Damien crawled in beside me, still refusing to look me in the eye as he did everything possible to widen the gap between us. I could smell the sweat permeating around him.
Callen slammed his door shut, pulling my attention away from Damien, and said, “Let’s do this.” There was an unsettling fervor brightening his eyes that made me shift in my seat. I did my best to dismiss it though when he added, “That babe from Psych 101 is supposed to be there and tonight’s the night I score her number.”
“Hell yeah, bro!” Andrew returned, revving the engine and throwing the car forward at break neck speed. Tires screeched along the pavement as we sped into the night.
While Callen and Andrew carried on up front, I watched Damien. Was it the yellowed street lights making him look sick?
I leaned in and whispered, “Hey. Are you okay?”
Too lost in whatever thoughts plagued his mind, Damien continued to stare out the window with a clenched jaw as if he didn’t hear me. And, for all I knew, maybe he hadn’t.
So, I tried again. I reached out, giving his arm a gentle shake as I whispered sharply, “I said are you ok–”
Damien’s head hit the roof, making a jarring thump that could be heardeven over the roaring wind and engine. He shook off my arm as if I’d splashed it with acid, cringing into his side of the car with a horrified expression.
I pulled my arm back in alarm, watching him closely as every anxious emotion played over his face.
“Everything okay back there, D?”
At the sound of Callen’s voice, Damien shut down. Though his muscles were still tense, his position changed into one submission – hands clenched in his lap, stiffened back pushing into the leather and head bowed. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the tips of his hair were plastered to his forehead, saturated with sweat that rolled down both temples.
“Fine,” was his reply.
Callen couldn’t see Damien from the front seat, however it didn’t ease the intensity of his presence. For the umpteenth time that night, I watched the unsettling interaction between the two brothers.
“Dany?”
Andrew’s blue eyes were looking pointedly into the rearview mirror, straight into mine.
“Yeah,” I answered breathlessly. “Everything is okay. I think I just scared him is all.”
“You’re not putting your hands on my girl are you, Damien?”
Even though Andrew’s tone was teasing, Callen’s was all menace as he answered, “He doesn’t have the balls.” His sneer was almost imperceptible, but the cast shadows from passing street lights were what gave him away.
My heart stuttered before picking up speed. I was so fucking ready to be out of this car; thank god we were nearing my home. The desperation I felt to be there was nothing I’d ever felt before. Another other night I’d be begging to be anywhere other than under the same roof as my parents.
I scanned the passing houses, disconcerted when I realized we’d already passed my street.
Leather creaked as I leaned against the driver’s seat. With my lips as close to his ear as I could get them, I asked “Andrew?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Youmissed my street back there. If you make a right up here on Hillbridge, though, we can circle back.”
“I know.”
His answer hit me like a stone wall.
“You know? What do you meanyou know?”
“I was thinking,” he said, drawing out the last syllable of his words. “We could make one more stop for the night.” Andrew’s knuckles whitened around the steering wheel.
Callen smiled beside him.
Something… Something wasn’t right.
My pulse thundered like the crash of a waterfall through my ears.
