door. I gauged the distance to the seat and backed up a few steps, preparing to jump for it. He sighed and caught me mid-leap, gently lifting me with a single hand. I hoped Charlie didn't notice.
"Make sure you buckle her in, too," Charlie said, all chuckles. Fredward used one hand to buckle me up and the other to stroke my jaw line, smartly blocking Charlie's view with himself.
"Good one," called my father, holding up a can of Vitamin R. At that instant I hoped he would drink himself to death in front of the TV tonight. Although I'd never felt this way about my father before, at that time I wasn't sure if I ever hadn't felt this way about him... I watched as he tilted the tall boy back and guzzled, beer splashing down his chin.
As Fredward went around to the driver's side at a normal, human pace, I looked down at the seat belt he'd put on me and all I saw were buckles.
"What the fuck is this?" I asked when he opened the door.
"It's an off-roading harness."
"Uh-oh."
I tried to figure out how it all stayed together, confused and angry that I'd been tricked into another off-road adventure. Is this how things would be with Fredward? Hikes every day? Monster Jeeps? As if he could read my mind, Fredward reached over and began to pretend to adjust my harness; a mere pretens
e to touch my neck, graze my collarbone, squeeze my arms. I looked out my window for my father, but he'd retreated back to the porch. All I could see of him through the curtain of rain was the white can glinting as he took another swig. With any luck he couldn't see Fredward ravishing me not twenty feet away.
I was close to hyperventilating when Fredward suddenly announced, "Great, looks like you're all set," and turned the key. Like a true monster, the engine roared to life. We pulled away from the house.
"This is a... big Jeep you have."
"...it's Emmett's," he said, frowning. "I didn't think you'd want to run the whole way."
"Where does he keep this thing?"
"We remodeled one of the outbuildings into a garage. He parks it in there just like the rest of us."
"Aren't you going to put on your seat belt?"
He threw me a disbelieving look.
Then something sunk in.
"Run the whole way? As in, we're still going to run part of the way?" My voice edged up a few octaves.
He grinned tightly. "Well, you're not going to run."

361

Chapter 17

←

→

main contents contact