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I chuckle, grab the joint and light it. “Don’t worry, firefly.” I cough out a giant puff of smoke. “Your secrets are safe with me.” I suck on it a few more times to get it going and hand it to her. “Careful. This stuff’s strong.” I blow the remaining smoke out of my nose.

She grabs it from my hand and takes a small toke and passes it back to me, while I take in the small bruise on her cheek. I resist the urge to run my fingers over it and ask her how she got it.

“What kind of music do you like?” I ask her instead.

She shakes her head. “I don’t…I don’t know much about music. Mama doesn’t like it. Say’s rock n’ roll is the devil’s music.”

“Fine…no music. I like to hear the wind while I drive, anyway.” I fire the engine back up.

“Where are we going?” she asks, leaning her head against the seat.

“We’re taking the long way home,” I joke.

She gives me a blank stare.

“No…nothing?”

Guess she’s never heard of Supertramp. Now I sound like Bax. I’m not that funny.

I lean toward her. “Do you trust me, Didi?” I say over the purring and rumble of the engine.

She blinks at me. “I’m starting to…” she says over the chaos.

I sneak my hand around her seat and grab the back of her neck, massaging it with my fingers. Her hair is so soft and beautiful. Her eyes sparkle as she lets me touch her. I admire her, and she lets me play with her hair. I try not to pine over her like the horny teenager I am, but my dick grows hard the second I make contact.

“Alright, buckle up.” I give her an ounce of warning before I go full throttle on the engine.

Her eyes grow like saucers and her head pins to the seat. “Tommy…”

She’s petrified, so I grab her hand. I want to make her comfortable, and if I have to scare her shitless for her to fall in love with me, then so be it.

She squeals beside me, and I don’t let up. I pull the gear into third, and then fourth, taking the car as fast as I can through the back roads into town. I push even further, testing my own limits on what’s comfortable.

Like hell I’d let her know that though.

The force of the car is strong. Winding, twisting and turning, the wind in my hair from the warm spring night, and when I glance over at her she’s smiling.

I want to spend more time making this girl smile. In fact, I want to spend a hell of a lot more time making her smile.

It’s the only smile I ever want to see.

I pull over when the road ends. Beyond this point is nothing but forest and trees that span for miles.

Darkness and shadows. No one is out here…nothing is out here. Shadowface doesn’t belong here…because there is no way I can kill this girl.

Once I’m parked, I kill the engine again. Her hair is wild— windblown and gorgeous.

“Tommy, that was…” She looks over at me and grins. “I want to do that again.”

Her eyelashes shine in the sunlight as if they have a hint of frost in them.

“Do you want to drive?”

She frowns and gives her head a half shake. “I…I don’t know how to drive.”

I reach over, my fingers lingering on her waist just below the seatbelt clip. “Come sit on my lap. I’ll teach you how. Just steer; I will handle the gas and gear changes.”

She flinches and the expression on her face is agonizing, so I second-guess myself.