I’m expecting her to continue on, but she stops in her tracks, andI slam on the brakes. That was quick. I’m disappointed. One point to me, though.
“Shit, take it easy, Lane,” Donovan grumbles, his voice muffled by the weight of Lewis’s body.
“You wanted to come along—deal with it!”
I flick the door lock open, and Lois slides into the front seat, shooting the back seat a quick glare, before buckling her seat belt. Seeing Lewis straddling Don and Adam has definitely been worth it.
“So?” I swing back into the road. “How was it?”
“I didn’t realize chitchat was part of the service,” she snaps back.
Someone in the back seat calls out. “Burn!”
“I’m a five-star driver.”
“You don’t say.” She stares down at her phone before twisting around to flash her screen at me. “The fuck? Twenty-four bucks for a ride? It’s four miles, if that!”
“Sure, but it’s late—”
“And you’ve tacked on a ‘red flag passenger’ add-on fee? What the hell does that even mean?”
I keep my eyes glued to the road. “I feel unsafe.”
“Okay, well, in that case, I might as well make the most of the extra five dollars.” She punches me in the shoulder.
“That weak slap is barely worth a dollar, Lois.”
I glance in my rearview mirror and find three faces staring back at me.
“We need popcorn,” whispers Adam.
“And more space,” Don pants.
“Shut up! This is the highlight of my week!” Lewis crows, leaning between the front seats.
Lois glowers at him before hunching up against the door.
“I like your friends,” Lewis continues, slinging his arms over our backrests. “Hope and Prudence. So cute.”
I glance at her. “Hope and Prudence, huh? Sounds perfect for you. Did you meet anyone else? Sex and Decadence, maybe?”
“I did, actually.” She turns back to me. “They gave me their business cards, wait a sec…” She rummages in her pocket for a moment. “Here you go!” She thrusts her middle finger in Lewis’s face, and he bursts out laughing, falling back onto the other two, ignoring their cussing.
“Can you introduce us?” I turn down my street. “I’m pretty sure they’ll love me.”
She’s scowling, and I don’t think I’ve ever been happier.
“They were supposed to get back at you for being such a cocky little ‘whippersnapper’…”
“Hey! What did I do to deserve this?”
“You said they were three seconds aways from breaking a hip.” She glances at me. “Yeah, that’s right: I told them everything.”
“Oh, come on! So it was a trap, then!”
On that note, I put the car in park and help Lewis clamber out, while Donovan crawls his way onto the sidewalk.
“I’ll never walk again! I’m gonna tell Dad to up your training, Lewis. You could do with losing a few pounds—my legs are dead.”
