Page 85 of Breathe Like Hell

The only nice thing about actually fracturing was the emotion and instability that came with it didn’t last very long if Micah was there to take it away from me. It wasn’t like sadness or anger or some other emotion that would continue generating in my mind. The fracture expended energy and caused instability, but once the initial bout of that was gone, it didn’t continue to affect me.

If Micah wasn’t here, however…

It was a different story.

I pulled up next to the trailer then helped Micah into the car.

Dakota sat in the passenger seat and Micah was slumped in the back, his large body splayed across the seats. His face was stone, but he was still breathing hard.

As I pulled out onto the road, Dakota put her friend’s address into my phone.

Micah reached up between the front seats and grabbed Dakota’s arm, then dragged her between the seats and into his hold. He wrapped her in a hug, laying her on his chest, inhaling the scent of her with his eyes closed. I tried to keep my eyes on the road, but my view in the mirror was distracting me. I tilted the mirror to see them better.

His fingers tracing patterns on her shoulder. Their bodies tangled together. The size of him compared to her.

I reached down to adjust my dick in my pants and focused on driving.

He looked so gorgeously exhausted. Like a statue of a Greek god, every perfect curve of muscle, the carved features of his face, the laxity in his posture.

“You’re still taking me to my friend’s apartment, right?” Dakota called up to the front. I felt like a taxi driver now with them both in the back seat, and I wasn’t enjoying it.

“Yeah.”

“She’s going to be happy you’re delivering me to her instead of taking me from her for once.”

“That’s great.”

I was disgustingly envious, and I didn’t usually feel that way. I got possessive over her, but I didn’t often find myself actually wishing for what Dakota and Micah had. I liked what we had. But now I was wondering about things.

She was rubbing her palm over the bulk of his shoulder, whimpering quiet little words in his ear. He still had his head tipped back, eyes closed, his hand groping her ass.

I’m going to get in a car crash if I keep watching this.

My eyes snapped back to the road, but I could smell him now. That shower didn’t last for very long.

In a very perverse, masochistic way, I almost wished they would fuck right now. Parts of me wanted to see it, even if just to deepen my rage and hatred towards him. I was feeling too grounded by him. I needed to shut that shit down.

I managed to make it a few minutes before I checked the mirror again, but the sight was different this time.

Micah was sleeping. Fully knocked out. Deep breathing and heavy limbs. Dakota looked up at the rearview mirror, her eyes finding mine.

Drive, she mouthed.

I didn’t reply to her, but I turned off the map, so I was no longer following the route to her friend’s apartment. Dakota laid her head back down so she was cuddled up against him, his arms instinctively holding her closer while he slept. I forced myself to look at the road, but my eyes kept drifting back up to the mirror so I could see him sleeping with her.

Gritting my teeth, I gripped the mirror and tilted it back to normal so all I could see was out the back window. It was getting dark outside, shades of blue painting everything. The road, the trees, the sky. Even my hands on the steering wheel were washed with sapphire.

I drove around aimlessly as the sun set the rest of the way and onyx stole the sky, my mind consistently fixated on the two people in my backseat. I’d never known Micah to take naps; he must’ve been drained to fall asleep that quickly and stay asleep for this long.

Eventually, Dakota poked her head up between the seats.

“You can go to Mila’s now,” she said softly. The lights from the screen of my car were glowing on her face. “Do you need me to put the address in again?”

“No, I’ve got it. Is he still asleep?”

“Yes. But I think he’s waking up a little bit.”

“Alright.”