He knows what he’s fucking doing.
“Yeah…” He puckers his lips, soft and kissable. Fuckable. “I’d love a ride.”
His jawline is refined, cut at a sharp angle with only the slightest evidence of a beard. Been about a day since he’s shaved his face. Cheap cologne envelopes him with a hint of smoke and embers—like someone trying to cover up the scent of a bonfire. He’s slouched to the side, the back of his head angled against the window as he watches me. He’s a watcher. Looks for things. Notices things. Watches a little too long.
I turn to him and stare back. Stare a little too long.
He points to the road ahead. “Might want to keep your eyes on the road. I don’t want to be an accessory the next time you almost run someone over.”
He’s got spunk. Got a very noticeable habit of running his mouth. I kind of adore it. Kind of want to shut him up with my dick. Kind of want to spray cum all over his lips. Kind of want what I always want, to come and run.
“Are you always this ungrateful to people who are doing you a solid?”
“No, I usually thank them in other ways.”
It’s a pointed statement. One I can’t quite ignore. “Is that what you’re doing out here in the middle of the night?” My dick twitches, miles ahead of my mind. Thinkingheis just what the doctor ordered. “There are much easier ways to cruise.”
“Maybe I like a challenge.” He palms a fist over the knob of the shifter. “Or maybe my car brokedown a while back and I’ve been walking all night, hoping to stumble upon a kind stranger such as yourself to pick me up.”
I knock his hand away from the shifter. This car is the last thing I have in this world and if he accidentally destroys my transmission, he’s going to wish I ran him over. “So you need me to take you to a shop or something? Bad news, but I doubt a single shop in the world is open this late.”
“That car is good as gone. It’s almost as old as this one, but nowhere near as nice. That thing is dead-dead-dead and it ain’t coming back to life. I just need to go—” He points ahead. “That way.”
“You’re just going to leave your car on the side of the road? That has to be some sort of crime.”
“Misdemeanor at most. I pulled it all the way off the side of the road to make sure nobody could accidentally pull ayouand crash into it…” He continues talking, but all I can make out are mumbles as a fire steals my attention.
On the side of the road, a car that’s been burnt to a crisp. Only a gentle smolder remains. The light of the fire paints half his face in an orange glow as I slow down to a crawl. The other half of his face is hidden in shadows.
He stops talking and cocks his head to the right. Now, it’s the other half of his face hidden in shadow. He swallows nervously, and I have no doubt he’s the arsonist.
“So tell me, did you light your car on fire before you decided to hitch?”
“I pulled it all the way off the side of the road, doused it in gas, and then lit it on fire.”
“We’re getting into felony territory.”
“Which is why it’s important that we keep on driving—” He points ahead again. “That way.”
“That way we’ll go.” I turn on the radio, only to be shouted at by a preacher. The sermon, told in shouts and cries of war, speaks of Noah and the flood, and that it’s coming again. This time, nobody will be saved. The righteous and the wicked will drown together. It’d be terrifying, if I were to believe in that shit.
He juts forward and punches the power button, turning the radio off. “That’s enough of that.”
Back to silence again.
The silence normally comforts me, but not right now. “Why did you tell me the truth? You could have said that wasn’t your car. You could have said it caught fire as you were driving. You could have told a million lies, and yet you told the truth.”
He shrugs. “Lying is a short-term solution. It always comes back to bite you in the ass when you need your ass to remain unbitten the most.”
This world is filled with cheats and liars. Though I haven’t ruled out him being a charming sociopath, I can bank on the fact that at least he’s honest. In his shoes, I would have lied through mypretty teeth.
I just nod.
He cracks a smile and shakes his head.
“Something amusing?” I ask.
“I knew someone that was murdered hitchhiking.”
