Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 78912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 78912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 395(@200wpm)___ 316(@250wpm)___ 263(@300wpm)
"Nicolai!"
"Yeah."
"That truck was high-jacked this morning! Somewhere south of us!"
"Son of a bitch. So he was in on this. You said you saw him at Eric's house?"
"I... I think so," she says. "But I can't be sure."
I pick up my phone and dial Raf. I fill him in, giving him a description Marissa gives me, then hang up the phone. We've lost whoever was tracking us for now, but I wonder who he's in communication with. Does he know where we're going? She doesn't know I ditched her phone by flushing it down the toilet in the hotel room this morning. Has someone tracked us? How would they know where we are or where we're going?
Raf knows nothing, and says according to Laina, everyone still believes that Marissa is at her friend's house.
"We'll take a more scenic route to our next stop," I tell her. "We are less likely to draw unwanted attention."
She nods. Her eyes are closed, and I wonder what troubles her. I reach for her hand and take it in mine, ignoring the warning bells that clang in my mind at the knowledge of what I'm about to do next. Time passes until both of us are breathing normally again, though I swear my pulse beats faster holding her hand.
"Tonight, we'll find a place to celebrate your birthday." After I ditch this fucking car and get another one.
Her eyes fly open. "What?" she whispers.
"Your birthday," I repeat. "You're eighteen years old today, and legal. That means we need to celebrate."
"Legal," she repeats.
The word hangs in the air between us as we both lapse into silence.
"I did something I didn’t tell you," she says.
"Oh?"
I give her a sidelong look. I spanked her once but I knew then it wouldn't be enough to keep this feisty, headstrong, beautiful woman in line.
And part of me is glad about that.
"Marissa," I say warningly. "Spill."
"I sent Eric a text and told him I was breaking up with him," she says.
"When?"
"Right before you took my phone."
"Why the fuck would I not like that?" I ask. "I hate the douchebag."
She snorts with laughter, and it takes me by surprise.
"What? I mean it."
But she's laughing so hard tears are streaming down her face now. She's wiping them away but they're coming faster and harder.
"It's not that funny," I mutter.
"It is, though." She sobers a little, but her voice is still colored with laughter when she shakes her head sadly and sighs. "I just didn't know if that tipped him off or made him angry or set any of this into motion. He tried to push me to have sex with him after the party. He was drunk, and he was pressuring me—"
"What?"
She freezes at the deadly tone of my voice. My vision is suddenly blurred, and I clench the steering wheel tighter. I knew I should've beaten that boy's ass when I had the chance. If I could get to him now, I would teach him a lesson he'd never forget. The motherfucking bastard.
Hell, I'll still find him. He'll pay for that.
I keep my voice steady and reassure her. She thinks she is somehow responsible for this. I shake my head and squeeze her hand. "Baby," I say softly, without meaning to, the word coming out of my mouth of its own accord. "None of this is your fault. None of it."
She pulls closer to me and rests her head on my shoulder, and fuck me if right then and there all is right in my world. All is fucking right.
My voice is choked with meaning when I tell her, "Let's make our way to our next stop, Marissa. Someone deserves a birthday cake."
Chapter 6
Marissa
It's the worst and most wonderful day of my life.
I'm on the run on a day that's supposed to be full of love and laughter and celebration, still wearing rumpled clothing, my stomach rumbling with hunger because those measly donuts have been long since forgotten.
But I'm sitting beside Nicolai, the man I've loved since before I even knew what love was. The man I thought hated me, and now... now I hope and pray with everything I’ve got that somehow, some way, we escape the danger we're in. That we get a second chance.
The way we both realized I'm legal now.
Sweet Jesus.
My heart goes all fluttery in my chest at the memory.
We ride in comfortable silence, and I'm not even sure where we're going.
"We need to ditch this car," he says. "Don't be alarmed. I know what I'm doing."
Of course he does. I know I can trust him. I'm with the only person in the world I really can trust.
"Alright," I say, nodding. "Oh, maybe we can get a motorcycle somewhere. Wouldn't that be fun?"
"Fun?" he says, giving my knee a squeeze.
"Think about it," I say. "If anyone else pursues us, we can weave in and out of traffic easily, and they won't be able to catch us. Plus, it's easy to ditch."